ESPN host hits back after NBA star questioned brutal injury verdict
ESPN TV personality Stephen A. Smith defended himself from backlash Wednesday after Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball mocked his reporting. Smith has faced public ridicule after Ball emphatically disproved claims about his mobility in a widely circulated video.
Smith, a ubiquitous U.S. sports personality, moved the goalposts of the discussion as he fought off criticism. The "First Take" host initially said Ball couldn't stand up or sit down on his own, but after the NBA pro showed that assertion was wrong, he shifted to insisting Ball isn't healthy in general, which was never up for debate. The Bulls star will miss the 2023/24 season because of ongoing knee problems.
"You really gonna sit poolside on a bench and think because you're getting up and sitting down and getting up and sitting down, that makes you healthy?" Smith said. "Does that have anything to do with running up and down a damn court for 30-35 minutes a night? C'mon bro. C'mon now. Stop the nonsense. Maybe you can get up and get down. All right, you can stand up and sit down. Bro, you ain't healthy.
"And then, you've got these idiotic trolls all over social media. And, of course, you know, these websites, the Bleacher Report and others. 'Oh, he really tore into Stephen A! Don't you have the stats? Don't you know how many games he's missed?
"Sit your a** down… until another time. And I'm wishing you luck! … Stop it! Just stop it!"
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For full context, the crucial part of Smith's original comment Ball disputed was: "Those are doctors, something went wrong in terms of these procedures that he has had. I don't think he'll ever be the same, based off of what we're seeing and hearing and reading about. I've heard that it's even hard for him to get up from the sitting position."
In any case, Ball's health has concerned the entire Bulls organisation and fan base. He's not played in an NBA game since Jan. 14, 2022, and won't return until late-2024 at the earliest. He's had three knee surgeries.
Lonzo Ball has missed more than a season after a mistreated knee injury led to three surgeries and ongoing recovery. (Getty Images)Ball was turning a corner in his NBA career before injuries derailed his progress. After Chicago signed him in 2021, the point guard reduced his shot volume for the sake of efficiency, and it worked wonders. His overall shooting and 3-point shooting improved to career highs. Meanwhile, his hallmark defence looked as ferocious as ever, and the Bulls were the top seed in the Eastern Conference when he went down.
"It's going to be a big what-if," Ball said about how that season might have gone if he never got hurt. "I feel bad, just for the [Bulls'] GMs because I feel like they made the perfect team around me. I felt like that was the most I've ever been involved in an organization. And I finally got the perfect team that I felt like could fit my game and play my way and really just do what I wanted to do.
"That injury — I'm still going through it right now, but that one messed me up early because I felt like we had a chance and never got to see what it was."
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