Jemele Hill, the very outspoken sports personality for “The Atlantic,” was quite critical of Stephen A. Smith after his exchange with Monica McNutt on ESPN’s “First Take.”
Discussion around the WNBA at ESPN has significantly increased this year, largely due to the impact of Caitlin Clark and the 2024 rookie class. This surge in coverage raises the question: should ESPN have amplified WNBA coverage sooner?
During a “First Take” segment, ESPN analyst Monica McNutt challenged co-host Stephen A. Smith for not sufficiently covering women’s sports in the past.
“Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women’s sports more than First Take?” Smith posed during the show.
“Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to,” McNutt responded, prompting a surprised “Wow” from Smith.
RELATED: Stephen A. Smith Fires Back At ‘Factually Incorrect’ Monica McNutt On His Podcast: ‘Ever Heard Of Monica McNutt? You Have Now’
This warranted a response from Jemele Hill who had this to say:
FYI: I was doing First Take before it was even called that (it was originally called Cold Pizza) and BEFORE Stephen A Smith was a regular and then a permanent co-host of the show. Now, when SAS had his show, Quite Frankly, he had me on twice, I believe. It was a huge opportunity — one he did not have to extend. I’m just not sure what that has to do with the topic, but hey, it ain’t my debate! But this idea of “making” people is … odd.
This definitely isn’t over and Stephen A. Smith will surely have a response back.
Stay tuned.
