Stephen A. Smith has been accused of lying after video emerged of him playing soliatire on his phone during the NBA Finals, where he was working for ESPN.
Smith, who earlier this year signed a $100million ESPN contract, was at first only pictured playing on his phone during the game and he insisted it had been taken during a timeout.
But now, video has surfaced showing the NBA Finals game between Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers being played in front of him while he was glued to his phone.
The ESPN man had defiantly shot down suggestions he wasn’t being professional on Friday night, saying on X: ‘Yep! That’s me. Who would’ve thought….I can multi-task. Especially during TIMEOUTS! Hope y’all are enjoying the NBA Finals. This is going 7 games now, peeps!’
That tweet now has a scathing readers’ note which says: ‘Stephen A. Is lying. This photo was taken during gameplay, NOT during a timeout.’
Smith, who has not responded yet to the video, was tagged in a post by X user @BleedBlue1986, who wrote: ‘How can you have all of these opinions while you’re playing solitaire instead of watching the game @stephenasmith?’
Stephen A. Smith was caught playing solitaire on his phone at Friday night’s NBA Finals
He has been accused of lying after video showed him playing on his phone during the game
The user then replied to his denial: ‘Fool, this was you during game play. There’s videos. You started this new round during timeouts.’
Smith was also mocked by NBA great Kevin Durant on social media – the Phoenix Suns player shared the picture of Smith on his Instagram with the caption: ‘Cmon Steve’.
Durant wasn’t the only one who was left unimpressed.
‘That’s embarrassing,’ one user said about Smith’s behavior in Indianapolis. ‘He is a disgrace,’ another fumed.
‘And some of you believe he watches games in his free time from home. He can’t even watch a game 4 NBA finals game in person,’ argued a third. ‘ESPN used to be serious but have become such a gimmick based sports network.’
Later in the night, Smith shared a photoshop of his phone screen, showing last night’s game alongside solitaire.
It is all the more remarkable though because Friday’s NBA showdown was a huge night of drama, with the Thunder beating the Pacers 111-104 to level the Finals at 2-2.
The Thunder went on a gripping 12-1 rampage in the final three minutes to seize victory. Newly-crowned MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a game-high 35 points to lead all scorers, including a 12-for-24 mark from the field.
Smith signed a $100million contract to remain working for ESPN earlier in the year
Smith’s embarrassing moment comes after he ramped up his feud with Pacers superstar Tyrese Haliburton, who appeared to throw shade at him earlier this week by saying: ‘What do they really know about basketball?’
After responding by calling him ‘ignorant’, the outspoken analyst continued about Haliburton: ‘It just amazes me how cats can be sometimes. Win the damn chip, bro.
‘In the first two games of this NBA final series, you had your moment with 1.3 seconds left. Other than that, you didn’t play well.’
Game 5 in the series is Monday night, back in Oklahoma.
