Stephen A Smith and Jalen Brunson Credit: The Roommates Show/ESPN
By Sean Keeley on

Last week, New Yorkers had the chance to do something they’d waited their whole lives to do: Celebrate a New York Knicks NBA championship.

This week, they got the chance to do another thing they’ve been waiting their whole lives to do: Boo Stephen A. Smith to his face.

The First Take host appeared as a special guest during a live episode of The Roommates Show podcast with Knicks teammates Brunson and Josh Hart at Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.

To his credit, Smith was there to eat an entire humble pie and apologize for all the ways he’s dissed and discounted Brunson and the Knicks over the years.

The ESPN personality was greeted by a loud chorus of boos and heckling throughout his entire appearance.

“Are they saying ‘Deuce?’” joked Hart.

“They don’t know that boos are cheers,” added Smith. “Boos are cheers.”

The crowd had plenty of good reasons to boo Smith, who infamously said “Villanova doesn’t have a real NBA prospect on this squad” after the team won the 2016 NCAA Men’s National Championship. That team included Brunson, Hart, Mikal Bridges and Donte DiVincenzo.

And when the Knicks signed Brunson in 2022, Smith loudly bashed the move, saying “I’m tired y’all… JALEN BRUNSON ISN’T THE ANSWER. You creating this cap space to get Jalen Brunson? Is he KD? Is he Kawhi Leonard?… You’re selling New York on Jalen Brunson?”

Now that Brunson has led the Knicks to their first NBA title since 1973, Smith was here to do something he rarely does: Admit he was wrong.

“We are now sitting here with this golden trophy there to your right,” Hart said to Smith. “Can you sit here and admit you were wrong?”

“I’m a grown-ass man. I was beyond wrong,” replied Smith. “I’m apologizing to this brother (Brunson) on national television; I’m apologizing to you (Hart); I’m apologizing to the entire Knicks organization. Let me be very, very clear: I have never been more happy to be wrong in my life.”

That wasn’t good enough for the hostile audience, as Smith even got booed after saying he “came out of the womb a Knicks fan,” given his oft-combative nature with Knicks fans and even players (as well as his lack of general knowledge).

And of course, in true Stephen A. Smith fashion, he couldn’t help but make the Knicks victory about himself.

“So, I apologize for being wrong,” Smith continued. “But let me be very clear: if it means another championship, I would do it again.”

Proceeds from the sell-out show, which was simulcast on ESPN, benefited the Garden of Dreams Foundation, MSG’s non-profit supporting children in need.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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