John Oliver perfectly described Stephen A. Smith on 'Last Week Tonight'
"Yes, he's always like that."
If you’re a fan of any sport, Stephen A. Smith is basically unavoidable. ESPN will trot Smith out there to shout about the Knicks on First Take in the morning, have him pop up on various ESPN programming during the day and somehow he’ll be doing a live hit from Yankee Stadium for the midnight SportsCenter.
He’s everywhere.
But it is possible for some folks out there to be blissfully unaware of Stephen A. Smith’s existence. And for those people, John Oliver was there to prepare them for a jarring introduction.
During Sunday’s edition of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, Oliver was discussing the China-NBA saga that was sparked by Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of the pro-democratic efforts and free speech in Hong Kong. Smith, in particular, had an awful take on the whole ordeal. Before sharing the video, though, Oliver provided a description of Smith for his non-sports-watching audience, and I must say that Oliver summed up the ESPN hot take artist perfectly.
Oliver said:
“The NBA commissioner has stood by Morey and has been disappointed to see others like ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith heavily criticizing his tweets for jeopardizing the league’s bottom line. And before you watch this, if you’ve never heard Stephen A. Smith talk before, just know this: He tends to be loud, wrong and takes pointlessly dramatic pauses.”
He continued after the clip of Smith’s rant:
“Again, if you’re not a sports fan, and you’ve just now seen Stephen A. Smith for the first time, let me just address a few things quickly. One: I’m sorry. Two: Yes, he’s always like that. And three: No one knows why.”
Oliver went on to slam Smith’s take that essentially the NBA should overlook human rights violations if doing so is profitable for the league. He also addressed how teams have approached the issue here in the U.S.
You can find the full segment here.