Josh Hart Tells Stephen A. Smith to ‘Shut the Hell Up,’ ESPN Personality Responds

Josh Hart was not happy with recent criticism from Stephen A. Smith. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Knicks have enjoyed a successful season thus far. New York is one of the best teams in the East, sitting just behind the Celtics in the third seed entering Thursday. The roster has largely meshed under new coach Mike Brown and enjoys a clean bill of health among its star players with the postseason approaching. The Knicks seem to have as good a shot as anybody to win the East, which was the goal entering this season.

There’s been plenty to criticize about the team’s inconsistent play throughout this campaign, however, and Stephen A. Smith has often been one of the loudest critics. A self-proclaimed Knicks fan, the famous ESPN personality has not hesitated to take aim at the orange-and-blue on numerous occasions this season. Most recently Smith went after utility forward Josh Hart over Mikal Bridges.

Bridges is mired in a deep slump and his struggles have been obvious even though the Knicks have been mostly winning despite it. It’s put a big target on his back and Smith was one of the many who harshly criticized him. He went so far as to proclaim the big trade that landed Bridges in a Knicks uniform is the reason New York won’t make the Finals. Eventually the noise grew loud enough that Hart felt the need to defend his teammate. He didn’t issue a response to anyone in particular but said the criticism of Bridges is “unfair” and he’s doing everything the team is asking him to do.

Smith did not like that and went on ESPN to say Hart should “be quiet.”

“I need Josh Hart to be quiet. Sit down. The only time I want you standing up and talking is when you’re playing,” Smith said on First Take.

On Thursday, Hart issued a direct response to the talking head’s words.

“For me, I think Stephen A., as a part-time Knicks fan, needs to shut the hell up,” Hart said via Steve Popper of Newsday. “He barely knows guys that are on the team.”

Smith has been ripping the Knicks all season long. It is his role at the network to be the loudest, harshest voice in the media sphere. He will give credit where it’s due on occasion but Smith has mostly spent this season criticizing New York for poor defensive efforts and proclaiming any hopes of a Finals appearance dead on arrival.

But his specific demand for Hart to, essentially, shut up and dribble earned a response. Clearly it did not sit well with the NBA veteran and he snapped right back at the inflammatory face of ESPN.

This may only be the beginning of a Stephen A. Smith vs. Knicks feud

In most instances where a media personality is called out by name by an NBA player, they try to downplay the situation. Not many are interested in a public dispute of any type, especially not with players who they are actively covering as part of their job.

Smith is not one of those people. He went toe-to-toe with the most famous NBA player on the planet, LeBron James, only last year after the Lakers superstar expressed his displeasure at how Smith was talking about his son Bronny. He called James a liar on numerous occasions and said he would have taken a swing at the NBA star if a courtside confrontation got physical. It was ugly and benefitted nobody, but Smith refused to back down.

With that in mind, Smith will soon respond to Hart and odds are that response won’t come in the form of an apology. It is actually far more likely the ESPN personality chooses to escalate the situation.

Stephen A. Smith responds to Josh Hart

It did not take long for Smith to prove as much.

A few hours after Hart’s riposte, Smith went on his eponymous podcast and issued a response. He began with a long accounting of his career résumé and Knicks fandom, offended that Hart would question his credentials as not only a fan but a basketball analyst. Then Smith fired back with a somewhat threatening comment that Hart doesn’t grasp how close a relationship Smith has to the people who write his paychecks.

“First of all, you don’t who I know. Secondly, you don’t know who talks to me. Thirdly, you don’t even know how close I am to the people that cut your checks,” Smith said.

However, Smith took a slightly different tone on Friday when he appeared on ESPN to discuss the matter.

“Let me say this: I find nothing disrespectful about what he said because I instigated it when I told him to be quiet when he came to the defense of Mikal Bridges,” Smith admitted.

But then he went back on the offensive.

“But Josh Hart: No. 1, I don’t need to know you. I don’t need to talk to you. I get paid to talk about you. Somehow, someway they haven’t learned that. One of these days they’re going to learn that. They want to ignore the fact that I’ve been covering the NBA for over 30 years. The last time the New York Knicks won a championship was 22 years before Josh Hart was born, O.K.? This is the kind of stuff that I’m talking about. The last time the New York Knicks were in the NBA Finals, Josh Hart was four years old.

“I take no offense to what you said. You’re absolutely entitled to clap back. I don’t take it personal at all. But it don’t make you right.”

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