After getting his hairline mocked by Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal on Inside the NBA, Stephen A. Smith grabbed the first ESPN mic he saw Wednesday morning to respond.
Following Tuesday night’s slate of playoff games, the NBA on TNT played highlights from the Boston Celtics’ 119-106 win over the Atlanta Hawks, featuring a postgame clip of Derrick White talking about his 26-point performance in the victory. Barkley and Shaq, however, only noticed White’s hairline, prompting them to mock Stephen A. Smith.
Smith has long been associated with his receding hairline, although Barkley and Shaq probably aren’t the best candidates to mock him for it considering their lack of fiber up top.
.@SHAQ lost a bet to @DwyaneWade, so he had to let his hairline grow out 🤣
(via @NBAonTNT) pic.twitter.com/450Ow3qyPj
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 4, 2020
Wednesday morning, ESPN’s Get Up laughed about Shaq and Barkley mocking their colleague, with Mike Greenberg taking solace in the fact that at 55 years old, he still has a head of hair that even people who think they have good hairlines would envy, and Kimberley A. Martin saying “Barkley has no hair, and he’s still killing our guy!”
ESPN's "Get Up" panel discussed Charles Barkley and Shaq comparing Derrick White's hairline to Stephen A. Smith's. "Barkley has no hair, and he's still killing our guy!" pic.twitter.com/q2LGoUA1a5
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 19, 2023
But as soon as Smith arrived at ESPN ahead of his 10 a.m. Eastern start time on First Take, he entered Get Up’s studio and grabbed a mic to put Shaq and Barkley on notice, paired with a stray for Domonique Foxworth.
Smith then came on "Get Up" himself to vow revenge. "Shaq, Chuck, I swear, somehow, someway, I’m gonna get y’all. I’m gonna get both y’all, y’all know I’m good for it." pic.twitter.com/aEDts8XkiJ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 19, 2023
“The first thing I did was text them. And I said, ‘Imma get both y’all.’ They were dying laughing,” Smith said. “Texting me back like, ‘We love you man!’ I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get y’all back.’
“Listen, Derrick White is a very, very good player. I’m sure he’s a very, very good man. I wish him nothing but the best. But I don’t think my hairline looks like that. You understand what I’m saying, I think it looks a little better than that.”
Martin wasn’t sure, calling for a side-by-side photo of Smith and White.
“Really?” Smith asked with disgust. “That’s what we’re doing, Kim? That’s what we’re doing?”
But the side-by-side only proved Smith’s point. White might be a talented basketball player and a nice dude, but he’s clinging onto his hair more than Smith is. As much as the audience loved it, Smith didn’t deserve that hilarious slander from Shaq and Barkley.
“Shaq, Chuck, I swear, somehow, someway, I’m gonna get y’all,” Smith added. “I’m gonna get both y’all, y’all know I’m good for it.”
[Get Up]
