Stephen A. Smith forgets name of Knicks rotation player

Stephen A. Smith is optimistic about where his beloved New York Knicks are as he looks towards next season. He’s so happy, in fact, that he seems to have forgotten at least one player’s name.

While Smith is on a much-needed vacation, he called into ESPN to discuss New York’s outlook now that they’ve finally figured out the coaching situation. Smith, noting the obvious issues that some of the Eastern Conference’s best teams face, noted that he thinks the Knicks should be, at worst, back in the Eastern Conference Finals again.

“When you take all of those things into consideration and you’re looking at the fact that the New York Knicks’ top seven players remain on their roster. You’re talking about Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson, Michael McBride, obviously Josh Hart, the Energizer Bunny himself. They haven’t gone anywhere. So why should we expect less from the New York Knicks? We should expect at least the same,” Smith said.

Knicks superfan Stephen A. Smith is looking forward to seeing “Michael McBride” back in New York next season

(h/t @_bmura) pic.twitter.com/2z4JdQ09Vq

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 3, 2025

For the most part, Smith’s analysis was on point. We do have to ask one question, though. Who is Michael McBride?

As longtime viewers of Smith can attest, there are some blind spots in his coverage.

Who can forget how excited he was to watch San Diego Chargers tight end Hunter Henry go against Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson, forgetting that Henry was out for the season, Johnson was no longer employed by the Chiefs and that the Chargers called Los Angeles home? We’ve also seen him forget that former New York Yankees owner was, uhm, deceased and that former Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson was still alive (though, to be fair, we’ve seen other ESPN personalities make that mistake with relatives).

But the NBA is Stephen A. Smith’s wheelhouse, especially when it comes to the Knicks. So, what happened?

Our best guess is he was talking about Deuce McBride, real name Miles McBride. Big picture, this isn’t much more than a funny mistake, the kind people make all the time. But given his history and love of the Knicks, it’s notable.