Stephen A. Smith Offended By ESPN Co-Host Monica McNutt's Comments On 'First Take': I'm Taking S**t From Who?!
She shoots … she misses … she pisses off Stephen A. Smith.
"First Take" co-host Monica McNutt took a jab at ESPN's top-paid talent — Stephen A. — on Monday's episode over the topic of ‘spotlighting’ women's basketball.
On McNutt's behalf, going after the network's top dog wasn't the smartest choice.
Smith and others are calling out the WNBA for not maximizing the league's spike in notoriety with Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark and deliberately stepping on Clark rather than building her up. Clark's become a phenom off the court but something of a pariah among her WNBA cohort.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 14: Head coach Stephen A. Smith of Team Stephen A. looks on before the 2020 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game Presented By Ruffles at Wintrust Arena on February 14, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 29: Monica McNutt attends "Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story" New York premiere at WNBPA Offices on January 29, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
McNutt took the discussion a step further, saying Smith couldn't criticize the league if he had never built it up before Clark's introduction.
"Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women’s sports more than ‘First Take’?" Smith asked during the segment, as relayed by OutKick's Zach Dean.
McNutt responded with a tone that could be easily confused as a personal jab at SAS.
"Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to," she responded.
Smith didn't take kindly to McNutt's accusation that the ESPN pundit scarcely supported or discussed women's basketball. He appeared visibly bothered by McNutt's assertion and later responded on his YouTube show, blasting McNutt for calling him out on his own show.
The ESPN vet torched Monica McNutt, taking credit for making her relevant — reminding her of the platform that he said "First Take" has been for female sports and female sports pundits.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 08: Stephen A. Smith attends a playoff basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on May 08, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
"You ever heard of Monica McNutt? You have now," SAS said on his YouTube show.
He added, "I have sat back for years and taken a lot of s**t from people. Some who don't know what the hell they're talking about. Some who act like they don't know just because they want to get at me. I could care less about people getting at me; I just want you to be accurate.
"And it is highly offensive to me when somebody implies or flat-out states like Monica McNutt did this morning, which was factually incorrect. I challenge anybody to find a show on sports television that discusses women's issues. That discusses the WNBA or women's sports. That highlights and profiles female analysts more than ‘First Take.’"
Following a trend by women's basketball pundits, McNutt claimed to have an issue with the current coverage of the WNBA, which she said has been overshadowed by the league's ‘pettiness’ toward the very white and straight Caitlin Clark.
WNBA coaches and players have warped the view of Caitlin Clark — taking verbal or physical jabs at Clark for her newfound status as the face of the league. Female sports pundits are jumping in on the bashing, alluding to Clark's race as a variable for her "victim" status.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 02: Caitlin Clark #22 talks with head coach Christie Sides of the Indiana Fever during the second half of a game against the New York Liberty at Barclays Center on June 02, 2024 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
As Clark's adversaries gravitate toward microphones to give their comments on the Fever star, Clark remains out of the spotlight, evidently willing to take the hazing as part of her WNBA journey.
McNutt justified the ‘extra elbows’ coming Clark's way, saying that's how the league's been for a while and that Stephen A. is only just now catching on.
If that's how the WNBA rolls, it's hard not to go from being bullish to bearish on the league's longevity.
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