Chris “Mad Dog” Russo poked fun at Stephen A. Smith’s entrance video at the NBA Finals.
During the Celtics-Mavericks series, ESPN’s social media team repeatedly shared videos of Smith entering the arena with the same swagger as the other players.
Appearing on his weekly show “First Take” on Wednesday, Russo criticized Smith about the clip.
“This is ridiculous. He thinks he’s playing. [in the games]” Russo said.
“Imagine if he walked in on Sunday night in Dallas against the Celtics in Game 4. Steve, this is ridiculous. You think he’s going to score 36 points tonight with a guy behind him, a camera, wearing sunglasses?”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. How dare you go to a baseball game in a t-shirt and shorts and sit on the upper level and drink beers with your buddies? Why would you do something like that?! Look at this! This is hilarious. I know you’re a star, Steve, you don’t need to show off.”
Smith, who suited up in a pale pink and purple suit for Game 4, was undaunted.
“Are you saying the suit was pretty cool?” he asked.
Presenter Molly Qerim chimed in: “It was a great suit. It was really nice. I was going to email you, but I didn’t want to be that nice. But [Russo] “He just said, ‘You think I can score 36?’ And it was hilarious because he walks out like LeBron. He has this unfounded confidence that makes him Stephen A.”
Smith, who was on ESPN’s coverage of the Finals, told Qerim his confidence was not unfounded, told Russo “he didn’t ask for this” and that ESPN chose to follow him with a camera crew and share the footage on social media.
