Stephen A. Smith defended his journalistic credibility by focusing on implications from Draymond Green and Jemele Hill, not facts.
Earlier this week, Hill joined Green on his podcast when the four-time NBA champion questioned whether Smith should still call himself a journalist on First Take even though he’s not in the locker room to face players regularly after criticizing or talking about them on ESPN.
“He’s arguably the best at what he does,” Green said of Smith. “But I also think where the lines get blurred in a negative way for journalists is he throws out the journalist tag all the time…but to your point, there isn’t the going in the locker room. He comes in the arena, you really don’t get next to him. You don’t see him…you say all of these things on television, and then you throw out the word ‘journalist,’ which almost makes people, especially athletes, not respect journalists.”
Hill echoed what Green said, even putting herself in a similar category as Smith by saying, “I don’t think people look at us as that anymore, and that’s not to say journalism 20 years ago was perfect…but there was just more respect that went both ways.”
“I’m a little disheartened with how personal it seems to get,” Hill added. “Because my rule of thumb always with television, is I’m not going to say anything on TV I can’t say to your face.”
Smith heard both opinions, and he took them very personally. His first line of defense in defending his journalistic credibility was to mock Hill’s laugh. His second was to completely misinterpret what she was saying.
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“Somebody that’s not in the locker room? Are you implying that you’ve been in the locker room more than me in my career?” Smith asked in his rebuttal. “Is that the implication here, Jemele Hill? I beg to differ. I was a beat writer and an NBA columnist for 15 years.”
That was not the implication. Hill never implied she was in locker rooms more than Smith. She didn’t even question Smith’s credentials as a journalist. She echoed Green’s sentiment that players don’t appreciate being criticized by someone who is not available for a face-to-face conversation in the locker room. And Hill reiterated her stance in a post responding to Smith’s rant, noting he’s “swinging at ghosts” by commenting on implications.
It seems you’re responding to implications and not what I actually said. You put a lot of thought into my laugh, which I guess is flattering.
I’m well aware of your journalistic credentials. I interned at The Inquirer when you were a columnist. I often tell young people that you… https://t.co/JXof9mQcgF
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 8, 2026
“You just gonna sit up there and listen to Draymond Green and forget the fact that I was a beat writer in high school, college, pros for the first 20 years of my career?” Smith continued in his rant to Hill.
Smith claimed he earned the right to not have to be in the locker room all the time. And he’s right, he did earn that right. He worked his way up from being a reporter to being a TV host who makes $20 million a year without having to be in locker rooms and at press conferences.
But in defending himself as a journalist, Smith was leaning on what he used to be, not what he is today. Smith is an entertainer, and a really good one, but he’s not a journalist on First Take. He may have established his credibility in media as a journalist, but his role today in sports and even political media is as a commentator and entertainer.
Smith completely missed what Green and Hill were saying regarding the difference in journalists who are in locker rooms, as compared to hosts on TV who can speak on athletes without answering to them. And in attempting to defend himself as a journalist, Smith did the one thing no journalist should do, he focused on guesses and implications, not evidence and facts.
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