Stephen A. Smith fires back at New Orleans haters

Television commentator Stephen A. Smith is having some words with the New Orleans Pelicans. The two parties are engaged in some maybe not good-natured trolling after Smith initially criticized the basketball franchise. Smith is now defending himself as the conflict takes on a new chapter.

This is a complicated story. Smith’s latest response is due to the Pelicans’ social media department posting Smith’s basketball stats when he was a player at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. This includes Smith’s stat line of just 1.5 points per game, during the 1991 basketball season.

“LESS!!! Can’t score when you can’t play due to a devastating knee injury. That’s my fact. Now……what’s y’all excuse for never winning anything???” Smith clapped back following that social media post. Smith goes on in his response to say that he’s a fan of the Pelicans’ coach and players.

The back-and-forth began when Smith made some critical comments about Pelicans’ star forward Zion Williamson. Smith made comments on ESPN criticizing Williamson’s weight, which prompted the Pelicans to go on the offensive against Smith. Smith also received criticism from Pelicans’ broadcaster Antonio Daniels for his comments, per the New York Post. Williamson is listed as 6-foot-6, 284 pounds on the team’s website.

On the season, the Pelicans are 34-23, and in fifth place in the Western Conference. The team has won eight of their last 10 games. Williamson is a huge part of the team’s success, averaging just under 23 points a game. He is having an issue with rebounding, as his stats for boards are down compared to last season. Williamson is only grabbing 5.5 rebounds a contest.

Smith certainly doesn’t seem to mind defending his choice of words against the Pelicans. It will be interesting to see where the war-of-words goes from here. The Pelicans next play the Chicago Bulls on Sunday at 7:00 Eastern.