Stephen A. Smith issued a challenge/invite. But ‘Cemetary Larry’ took it to a whole other level. It’s no secret the ESPN veteran is not popular in Gil’s Arena. But the debacle with Jaylen Brown and an ‘unnamed source’ is setting the stage for a heated feud. Smith doubled down on his take which had annoyed Gilbert Arenas’ crew, especially Rashad McCants. Apparently, Arenas even texted Smith personally about it because he brought it up on his show. In the same breath, he issued an invite that sounded more like a threat.

Smith accepted Arenas’ opinion on the situation. But, “Rashad McCants, yeah, we’ll talk bro. I can’t wait for that conversation… I got a busy schedule but I swear, the second I get an invite, the second I have time, we’re going to have those conversations.” There was also slight shade at Arenas’ show when he hinted that they duke it out on his own show.

The crew was stuck on the ‘shoutout’ to McCants. You know the former Timberwolves player was prepared because he not only used the skeleton in the show’s new Halloween decor, he brought a bodybag. And he sent an eerie message to Smith through ‘Larry.’

“Hi, I’m Larry…” he says with a psychopathic grin that could land him a role on American Horror Story. “Since you want the invitation, I think we all accept it. So what I’m going to ask you, I want to ask you to come and put your f—ing legs in the f—ing bag.” He went as far as to spread out the black vinyl bag and used the prop severed head he got, to demonstrate how Smith can pack himself up when they do have the face-to-face debate. He even outrightly says, “Come put your f—ing legs in here Stephen.”

The rest of the crew was enjoying this a lot when he ended it with, “Invitation accepted. I’m Larry. I work at the cemetary.”

Now the crew didn’t miss this is somewhat of a self-promotion. McCants debuted his new gaming channel on Twitch this week under his new alter ego, ‘Cemetary Larry.’ Smith has nothing to do with the gaming venture, but the debate did start with marketability.

Stephen A. Smith draws out ‘Cemetary Larry’

Smith caused an uproar when he passed on the opinion of an “unnamed source” that Jaylen Brown is not marketable. Brown slammed the idea as did most of the NBA community. Arenas and McCants took the commentary very personally. “If someone like Woj tells you who’s giving him the information, that means he’s not f***ing important anymore. You are not important, you are a vessel for information. You are a preacher, not god,” Arenas had expressed.

So the ESPN analyst also took their responses very personally. In a long response, he told them, “Get over it.” Even though he left an open invitation to talk.

Ahead of the latest episode of Gil’s Arena going live, McCants posted the clip of Smith’s invite with a clown drawing over Smith’s face. “Hi I’m Larry! I own a cemetery,” he wrote as a warning of what’s to come.

So McCants and Gil’s Arena responded to Smith’s invite with another threatening invite. They even claim that the studio’s security will let Smith right in whenever he shows up. The rest of the segment, they doubled down on their previous points too. How it escalates or fades out remains to be seen.