*Stephen A. Smith is under fire for comments he made on ESPN about the Nigerian men’s basketball team.
On Monday’s edition of “First Take,” Smith appeared to mock the players as he called out Team USA for losing to Nigeria in an exhibition game over the weekend, as reported by Fade Away World. Many took to Twitter to slam Smith for appearing to mispronounce the names of several Nigerian players.
“There’s no excuse to lose to Nigeria… [To lose to] some dude Gabe Nnamdi, who goes by Gabe Vincent and plays for the Miami Heat. Or Caleb Agada. Or Nma… however the hell you pronounce his name,” Smith declared. “You give up 60 points on 3’s? Excuse me, you can do better than that.”
Several players clapped back on Twitter, telling Smith to show some respect when speaking about the team. Watch the clip below.
You can critique the other team without disrespecting us. Put some respect on the flag and the mother land! Don’t forget where your ancestors came from !!!! ???????????? https://t.co/d7B1lK0nLW
— Josh Okogie (@CallMe_NonStop) July 12, 2021
Josh Okogie and Stan Okoye were reportedly among those who took to social media to put Smith on blast. On Twitter, Nigeria Basketball fired back, calling the ESPN segment “pure disrespect” and “low, even for you.”
Smith also made time on Monday to make controversial comments on Asian MLB star Shohei Ohtani because he uses a translator. He ultimately responded to the backlash over his remarks, and apologized, writing that he “never intended to offend ANY COMMUNITY, particularly the Asian community — and especially SHOHEI Ohtani, himself. … I screwed up. In this day and age, with all the violence being perpetrated against the Asian Community, my comments — albeit unintentional — were clearly insensitive and regrettable.”
Peep what he had to say about Ohtani below:
Stephen A. Smith on Shohei Ohtani: “I don’t think it helps that the number one face is a dude that needs an interpreter so you can understand what the hell he’s saying in this country.”
WTF pic.twitter.com/dTzvZuMM6U
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 12, 2021
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