Ever since Friday, Stephen A. Smith has been taking the brunt of a comment he made on his show, First Take. The comment revolved around a text he received from an NBA source claiming JB’s marketability had nothing to do with him being underrated. Apparently, he wasn’t liked because of his holier-than-thou attitude. Then, at the end of his segment, he went a step ahead and said that Brown isn’t underrated, he’s just not liked.

Come Sunday, NBA TV analyst Isiah Thomas also jumped into this sticky situation, calling out Smith for his “slander”, and urging him to put out the source’s name for the world to see. Of course, Thomas would come to rescue Brown, since he’s been a good friend and his mentor through and through. Reflecting on the depths of their relationship, Thomas wrote, “I have been a friend, mentor and advisor to @FCHWPO since he was a student at UC Berkeley he is 100 percent marketable and before you slander his name @stephenasmith tell your source to put their name on it or don’t speak on it. Let it be known.”

He further hinted at a similar behavior from none other than Draymond Green earlier when he joined Shaq’s podcast.

Seeing this, an obviously furious Jaylen Brown joined hands with the Pistons legend, Thomas, in calling out Smith on X. Just like Thomas, Brown took to X to question Smith about the sources here, writing, “State your source.” And now, it looks like Smith saw Jaylen’s tweet, and he’s not afraid to clap back, leading to a barrage of opinions coming directly from him on X.

Stephen A. Smith’s fiery response to Jaylen Brown

In response to JB’s tweet, the 56-year-old wrote, “First off, that’s not happening. It’s journalism. Not revealing sources. Secondly, if you continue to watch the segment, I completely disagreed with them — as did Kendrick Perkins.”

Smith further added, “The point we were actually discussing is how under appreciated you are and why that may be, which is why I read the quote. I even brought up how socially conscious you are, and how that may not be liked, knowing you’re a good brother. Also, that you’re a $300M man and you deserve it. But that doesn’t mean naysayers don’t get heard. That comes with the territory.”

Well, Stephen A. Smith has no intention of backing down. It is not like he does have a history of doing so, either. The well-known American podcaster fought fiercely to achieve his current success. However, in his reply to Jaylen Brown, Smith did not fail to point out two things: revealing sources is not proper journalism, and he was merely reading what the said source forwarded to him. In fact, he and Kendrick Perkins did not agree with the mysterious NBA source.

Interestingly, Stephen A. also said that because an entity wouldn’t agree with the unpopular opinion does not mean that the “naysayers don’t get heard.” According to him, it is a whole package.

All of this criticism comes at a time where the Celtics are just one win away from reaching the NBA Finals. They’re currently 3-0 against the Indiana Pacers, with high chances of making it ahead with a clean sweep on Monday at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Brown is one of the key players for his team, making it possible for everyone on the roster to get that added advantage. He even managed to score 26 points in Game 3, 40 points in Game 2, and 24 points in Game 1. Yet, Smith did not hold back from sharing his opinion.

Before you go, another matter foremost in our mind is about our beloved Inside the NBA crew. While many are sure they are going to be disbanded, Shaq’s confidante and ex-agent, Leonard Armato, thinks otherwise. To know more about his comments, watch this video.