Source: Al Bello / Getty / Stephen A. Smith
Stephen A. Smith got caught red-handed doing something that had nothing to do with basketball and tried to lie his way out of it.
Even though the NBA Finals matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers isn’t a sexy one, it’s turning out to be a good one. Right now, ESPN analyst and workhorse Stephen A. Smith is gobbling all the attention.
Smith, who is in the building to cover Game 4 of the series at Indiana’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse, was spotted playing Solitaire by a fan in attendance. A photo of him playing the game while the two teams battled has gone viral.
Things got interesting for Stephen on X, formerly Twitter, when someone wrote alongside a photo of him playing solitaire on his phone, “How can you have all of these opinions while you’re playing solitaire instead of watching the game @stephenasmith?”
Smith did respond, writing on X, “Yep! That’s me. Who would’ve thought….I can multi-task. Especially during TIMEOUTS! Hope y’all are enjoying the NBA Finals. This is going 7 games now, peeps!”
Which is all good, except he was lying because the moment happened during the third quarter of the game, and the players were very much hooping while he was playing solitaire. Make matters worse for Smith, he was hit with a community note calling him out for telling a falsehood.
There Was Also Video Evidence
Someone also came for Smith after he responded with an outright lie about the moment, this time sharing a video that showed he was not playing Solitaire during a timeout, as he claimed.
Damn.
Smith once again responded by sharing a screenshot of his solitaire game, which was in progress, to dispute the fan’s claims. However, the video evidence above refutes his claims below.
We’re sure Smith will address this moment on First Take and his podcast.
Until then, you can see more reactions in the gallery below.