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Stephen A. Smith Claps Back At Charles Barkley's "Fools" Comments

Shandel Richardson

Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith on the ESPN First Take set at the CFP Fan Central at the George World Congress Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith on the ESPN First Take set at the CFP Fan Central at the George World Congress Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It was only a matter of time before Stephen A. Smith responded to Charles Barkley.

Barkley recently referred to ESPN's Kendrick Perkins as a "fool" while criticizing the network for focusing too much on the Los Angeles Lakers. Smith went on First Take Friday to defend his colleague.

“Barkley does television," Smith said. "He’d never be accused of knowing television. That would be Ernie Johnson who handles that responsibility,” Smith said. “Maybe Charles Barkley should look at its rundowns from time to time even though they are an NBA show as opposed to a show that talks about an abundance of things. The fact of the matter is, some stories get a higher profile than others because they resonate with the viewing public. And in television, it’s called ratings.”

The situation will get interesting next season when Barkley and TNT's Inside The NBA crew joins ESPN.

“I’m sick and tired of people acting like ‘oh my goodness, we only talk about the Cowboys during the season, we only talk about the Lakers during the basketball season,"' Smith said. "That is factually incorrect,” Smith insisted. “We run from nothing. I do a minimum of about 240 shows a year…we talk about a potpourri of topics. We talk about all sports. But we also pay attention to what’s resonating. That’s why we’re number one. We understand what the audience wants us to talk about.”

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com