Stephen A. Smith couldn’t hide his frustration, and honestly, Knicks fans probably felt the same way. “I’m depressed… The New York Knicks got their a– kicked,” he vented after watching them get steamrolled. And yeah, he wasn’t exaggerating. The Cavs completely dismantled New York, handing them a crushing 142-105 loss on February 21. 

Bringing in OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Mikal Bridges gave the rotation a much-needed boost. But let’s be real—against the league’s elite, Thibodeau’s squad has often looked out of its depth. And apparently, only he can critique his favorite franchise.

SAS is no stranger to emotional Knicks rants, but this time, it hit different. On the verge of tears, the ESPN analyst revealed how a close friend, a major Hollywood superstar, brutally trolled him over the state of the Knicks on The Stephen A. Smith show.

“Somebody, I don’t know if he wants me to tell y’all this. He’s a superstar. He’s a very famous person in America, in Hollywood… And I won’t tell you who he is, but I want to say he hurt my feelings,” Smith admitted. “And when I tell you what he said, he knows who he is when I repeat, because he knows what the hell he said to me this morning.”

The comment that left Smith questioning their friendship? His friend mocked the Knicks’ trade for Karl-Anthony Towns by saying, “The New York Knicks traded two dogs for a cat (KAT).” That was the final straw for Smith.

This off-season, the Knicks made the move for KAT, which surprised everyone, and they had to give up Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for him. “That s— hurt because Karl-Anthony Towns is a bad brother. He can play. And I’m happy to have him as a New York Knick.”

Despite the roster changes, Smith pointed out the alarming lack of grit this season, something last year’s squad prided itself on.

The most concerning part? New York’s defense, or rather, the lack of it. “When did we ever think we would see a Tom Thibodeau team have one of the worst defenses in basketball and the absolute worst against the three-point shot?”

For Smith, there’s no sugarcoating it. The Knicks have a serious problem, and he’s demanding everyone take notice. Thibodeau-built teams usually bring the grit, but this Knicks squad? Not so much. Defense used to be their backbone, the one thing you could always count on. Now, it’s a glaring weakness.

Through 56 games, they’ve slipped to 18th in defensive rating, giving up 114.1 points per 100 possessions. That kind of effort won’t cut it when the playoffs roll around. If they don’t find a way to lock in defensively, their postseason dreams might be over before they even get started.

Stephen A. Smith calls the Knicks “pretenders”

Right now, the Knicks look like contenders, holding onto the third seed in the East. But are they actually in the same league as the Celtics and Cavs? Not exactly. That gap is huge, and instead of fighting for the top spot, they’re just leading the second-tier teams.

Stephen A. Smith isn’t buying into the hype. “The Knicks, they’re pretenders,” he said on First Take. “I’d trust the Lakers to make the Finals before I’d pick New York to come out of the East.” That’s how dominant he thinks Boston and Cleveland are in comparison.

The biggest problem? Defense. “I can’t believe how bad a Tom Thibodeau team is defensively,” Smith admitted. The Knicks rank 21st in defense and their record against elite teams is ugly—0-7 against the Celtics, Cavs, and Thunder. They must defeat those squads if they want to be taken seriously in the playoffs.

Offensively, they’re fine. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns keep them competitive, with Anunoby, Bridges, and Hart chipping in. But Smith still thinks they’re outmatched. “They’re just undermanned against Boston and Cleveland,” he said.

Maybe Mitchell Robinson’s return changes things. Smith even left the door open for that. The Cavs and Celtics blew out the Knicks 142-105 and 118-105, leaving even die-hard Knicks fans feeling uneasy.