Stephen A. Smith has spent years building a public identity on saying what he thinks, owning it, and not apologising. This week, after his name appeared on a podcast with Draymond Green and Jemele Hill about sports journalism ethics, he responded with what Draymond Green described as the one thing Smith has spent years criticising in everyone else.

Green on an episode of The Draymond Green Show said:

“But when someone says his name, someone tweets him, he responds back,” Green said. “He’s sensitive. Well, it’s what we see every day. Pot calling the kettle black. … What you’ve done to build it up is incredible. … But if you can say things about myself, about other players that you’ve spoken on positively for years, guess what, Stephen? A, we can do the same thing because that’s the business, right? That’s the game we play, right?”

Jemele Hill joined Draymond Green on The Draymond Green Show for a discussion about what modern sports journalism should look like. The conversation was centered on whether opinion-driven TV personalities should continue to describe themselves as journalists if they no longer practice traditional reporting.

According to Green, a journalist should regularly interact with players, ask difficult questions face-to-face, and be accountable in locker rooms and not simply deliver criticism from a television studio. “He throws out the journalist tag all the time…”

Smith felt both Green and Hill had questioned his legitimacy as a journalist. On his Straight Shooter podcast, he defended nearly three decades of reporting experience, reminding listeners that he spent years as a newspaper beat writer, and that his current television role does not erase his journalistic background. “You’re just gonna sit up there and listen to Draymond Green, and forget the fact that I was a beat writer?” SAS said.

Smith has repeatedly said he and Green were once close enough to settle disagreements privately. Earlier in 2025, Smith revealed Green had stopped speaking to him. Smith said: “I’ve got mad love for Draymond.” But he was disappointed Green no longer called him directly when disagreements arose.

Green on Smith Disrespecting Fellow Players

Green, still on his podcast, had more to say about Smith. He called him out for his perceived lack of respect from NBA players. “You very much so right up there at the top… A lot of players having a relationship with you, were facts. Until you started to disrespect players as if you were a player. There’s a fine line… Stephen A the problem I have is you get upset about the very thing that you do. You get so upset and bent out of shape about the very same thing that you do.”

Smith criticized LeBron over his handling of his son, Bronny James, saying Bronny wasn’t ready for the NBA and publicly pleaded with LeBron, saying: “I’m pleading with LeBron James as a father…” He then insisted that he was criticizing LeBron’s decisions, not Bronny himself.

LeBron disagreed. During a Lakers game, he confronted Smith courtside in a viral moment. SAS later said LeBron crossed the line by making the dispute personal, while LeBron felt Smith had repeatedly targeted his son. Green sided with LeBron during that controversy. However, Smith later said that Green had grown distant following the dispute and was expressing his frustrations through others rather than speaking with him personally.