The rivalry between ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and ex-NBA star Rashad McCants is only intensifying. Smith recently threw out a challenge that hasn’t sat well with the former Timberwolves player. This tension has long simmered, with McCants and Gilbert Arenas’ podcast crew already annoyed by Smith’s past statements on Jaylen Brown. Now, with Halloween adding a new twist, McCants decided to throw his own threat back at Smith—through his alter ego, “Cemetery Larry.”

McCants took to X to post an eerie Halloween photo of himself dressed in black, a crown on his head, holding a baseball bat in one hand and a fake severed head in the other. He tagged Smith in his caption: “I hope @stephenasmith is ready to shut the f*** up!!!!! Once and for alllllll!!!!!! #bodybags #debateking #espn #gilsarena @GilsArenaShow prepare the gravestone… 🪦.” The Halloween act wasn’t just about dressing up. McCants was clearly leaning into the “Cemetery Larry” persona to fire up this rivalry. How did it all start, though?

It all started with Smith’s comment on his own show. “Rashad McCants, yeah, we’ll talk bro. I can’t wait for that conversation… the second I get an invite, the second I have time, we’re going to have those conversations.” McCants, however, was not one to wait. Dressing up the set with skeletons and even a body bag, McCants sent Smith an intimidating message, delivered in his “Larry” alter ego.

With a menacing grin, he introduced himself on the show: “Hi, I’m Larry…” and invited Smith to “come and put your f****ing legs in the f****ing bag.” He laid out a black vinyl bag, brandishing his fake skeleton head, daring Smith to show up. “Come put your f****ing legs in here Stephen,” he taunted, pushing this verbal sparring into a full-blown Halloween horror scene.

The rest of the crew couldn’t help but laugh, especially when McCants closed with, “Invitation accepted. I’m Larry. I work at the cemetery.” However, this isn’t McCants’ first jab at Smith—he’s done it before when Smith snubbed Kobe Bryant from his top two basketball greats.

Rashad McCants got Stephen A. Smith’s apology in a unique way

Earlier this year, Stephen A. Smith sparked backlash when he seemingly left Kobe Bryant out of the GOAT conversation, a slight that didn’t sit well with fans—or Shaquille O’Neal. “So you just gonna pass Kobe up like that?” Shaq asked Smith on his show, calling out the perceived disrespect. Shaq didn’t mince words. “Doesn’t matter who the GOAT is, my guy should be in the conversation,” he said, making it clear that leaving Kobe out was a problem.

Smith tried to go back on his comments, insisting he didn’t mean to exclude Kobe. But Shaq wasn’t buying it. “You are,” he fired back. “I always hear Mike and LeBron, but I used to hear Mike and Kobe.” For Shaq, certain names belong in that conversation, and he wouldn’t let Smith get away with sidelining his late teammate.

Meanwhile, Rashad McCants saw his moment, as Shaq pushed back, he took to X with a sly jab: “Welp!!! That didn’t go the way he thought it would go did it!!!!! I accept your apology brother. Now let’s talk hoop!!”

Not only that, on the very next episode of Gil’s Arena, to flex his victory now, the 40-year-old wore a T-shirt that wrote, “I’m Sorry Rashad!” along with Smith’s face with a crown on his head. Clearly, McCants believes he won the debate, as he was also wearing a crown along with the custom Stephen A. tee.