'I'm Disgusted!': Stephen A Smith Rant Takes Aim at Knicks Management

Smith went political to describe the reclusive New York front office.

One big ticket signing for the New York Knicks isn't going to be enough to turn off Stephen A. Smith's microphone. 

The ESPN host once again took aim at his favorite NBA team and target on the latest edition of First Take, calling out the team's management by name as the Donovan Mitchell saga continues to drag on. Smith outlined what he'd do if he was working in the Knicks' front office ... limiting the team to giving away at most "five picks" for a player "the New York Knicks franchise desperately needs" ... before taking his famous temper out on several names who currently occupy those positions. 

Smith admitted that while he was excited about the idea of Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, and Julius Randle teaming up at Madison Square Garden next season (even while begging them to become a bit more ambidextrous, lest MSG be renamed "Southpaw Central"), he won't be in attendance. 

"I am not going to The Garden this year. I’m not," Smith says, much to co-host Jay Williams' horror "I don't want any parts of it. I will never stop rooting for the New York Knicks, but I am not going there because I am just ticked off. I'm disgusted." 

The apparent protest is more aimed at current (and future) Knicks owner James Dolan, whom Smith claims is tying his legacy "to something he's trying to build in Vegas" (likely referring to a proposed MSG-branded concert venue). But Smith is further displeased with president Leon Rose, who earned the title in 2020 after a lucrative career as a sports agent, where his clientele included Carmelo Anthony, Devin Booker, and Allen Iverson.

"I do not know how much more disappointed I can be in Leon Rose. This man is actually petrified of talking to the media. Petrified! Now for those of you out there who say, ‘What do we care, all we care about is the product on the court,’ you are wrong. It is the Knicks. They’re a moribund, pathetic franchise ... you hired a guy that's scared, literally petrified, to sit on a podium and answer questions."

Smith caps off his rant by getting political.

"We have no representation," he said. "We might as well be (Washington) D.C.: taxation without representation." 

The Knicks, sans Smith, will open their 2022-23 MSG slate on Oct. 21 against the Detroit Pistons.