Charles Barkley and Stephen A. Smith have a lot in common. They’re both well-paid basketball analysts who can’t tell you what teams NBA players play for.
Thursday night, ESPN and TNT teamed up for a crossover edition of NBA Countdown and Inside the NBA as part of the coverage surrounding the league’s in-season tournament semifinals. The crossover gave Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon the opportunity to sit on set with the best studio show in sports. And during their appearance, the Inside the NBA crew put Smith through the wringer by making him take part in their “Who He Play For?” game.
During the appropriately titled segment, TNT displays the name and picture of a player, and the contestant is tasked with guessing what NBA team they play for. Usually, the contestant is Charles Barkley, and the game is played during the first week of the season. Everyone gets a good laugh at Barkley failing miserably after not paying attention to all of the transactions that happened over the summer.
As ESPN’s foremost voice on the NBA, however, Smith is a much more polished basketball analyst who should have no trouble naming who he play for, right?
We put @stephenasmith to the test with a special edition of ‘WHO HE PLAY FOR’ 🤣 pic.twitter.com/xpcGeqf5gV
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 8, 2023
Smith began squirming in his chair immediately after realizing Inside the NBA was going to force him to play the game. “Oh lord,” Smith said. “I’ve been football…” he continued, attempting to claim he’s paying more attention to the NFL than the NBA.
Rarely does Smith look uncomfortable on a TV set. But rarely is Smith not in control of that TV set, and this wasn’t First Take anymore. Smith stammered his way through the game as he was challenged to guess the teams for Ish Smith, Damian Jones, Dante Exum, Otto Porter Jr. and Garrett Temple, getting just one of the five correct.
Too bad they didn’t ask Smith to name the team Reggie Brown plays for, the imaginary player who Chris Russo claimed was better than anyone on the Knicks this season. National show hosts and analysts might be experts on yelling about LeBron James and the league’s stars, but that doesn’t mean they’re NBA experts.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com