Stephen A. Smith Tries To Torch Pelicans In Epic 'First Take' Rant

If there was ever anyone who thought they were bigger than the program, it’s Stephen A. Smith.

The ESPN frontman is back for his latest battle in his war against Zion Williamson, after the Pelicans star sat with NBA Today’s Malika Andrews and spoke about his weight always being the center of attention and hindering his progression.

Smith took to First Take and launched into a tirade claiming there were people very close to Williamson, both personally and within the franchise, who “encouraged us to get in his ass because of some of the things he was doing.”

“You got people who are alcoholics, you got people who are drug addicts. What was Zion’s problem? FOOD! Food addict,” Smith professes. “Everybody who cooked knew about Zion Williamson… they were on a first-name basis because that brother ate a lot. Someone told me to go on air and point out how he got busted hiding food under his bed.”

The Pelicans’ social media team was ready to ride for their star and responded with a very unflattering video of Smith putting up bricks in the gym.

Smith took offense and warned them, YOU ASKED FOR THiS!!!!” 

He made good on that promise Wednesday morning on First Take, starting off with “I’m at the top of the heap in this profession, and getting paid for it…And by the way, my popularity is more than anybody you got on your team outside of Zion Williamson.”

He continued by roasting their “trash” 19-44 record, which puts them at the 13th spot in the West. 

“You’re still searching for your 20th victory,” said Smith. “Y’all are horrible. You’ve been horrible.”

“In 24 years, you’ve won two playoff series,” he adds. “You’ve never been to a conference finals in the franchise’s history. That means you’ve never been to an NBA Finals… Only you and the hornets have never been to a conference finals.”

His 11-minute segment ended with him calling himself the “American dream” as he recalls his youth as a “little snot-nose skinny-ass Black kid growing up poor on the streets of Hollis, Queens.”

As for the Pelicans? He calls them an “American nightmare.”

See how social media’s reaction to the smoke Smith unleashed at the Pelicans below.