Monica McNutt's criticism of Stephen A. Smith's WNBA coverage leaves First Take host speechless

Brendan OSullivan

•
Monica McNutt's criticism of Stephen A. Smith's WNBA coverage leaves First Take host speechless image

It's not often Stephen A. Smith is left speechless.

The popular ESPN personality has expressed his beliefs from politics to sports to Pokemon, but on Monday morning he didn't know how to respond.

Smith, an analyst on ESPN's debate show First Take, discussed the recent controversy surrounding the WNBA, Caitlin Clark and Chennedy Carter. Carter body-checked Clark at the end of the third quarter of Saturday's game, resulting in the Sky guard receiving a Flagrant 1 foul after league review.

Monica McNutt, also an ESPN analyst, was not fond of Smith's comments and soon left him speechless live on air.

Here's what went down on First Take.

MORE: WNBA fans plead for Fever to acquire an enforcer for Caitlin Clark

Stephen A. Smith, Monica McNutt First Take video

Smith expressed his opinion on the current state of the WNBA following the Clark vs. Carter beef and wrapped up his statement by noting he also criticizes men for similar sort of behavior. McNutt was visibly annoyed and welcomed Smith to the "world of being a woman." She said women have to tip-toe around their words in order to please everyone, and Smith suggested "How about being a Black man?"

That prompted McNutt to explain why the lack of WNBA coverage over the past few years has been unfair to the players who "laid the groundwork" for Clark. To which Smith said, "Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talk about women's sports more than First Take?"

"Stephen A., respectfully," McNutt said. "With your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to."

Smith was stunned at the direct blow from McNutt ahead of a commercial break. Molly Qerim finally sent the program to a commercial break, relieving everyone of the tense moment.

MORE: Why Caitlin Clark was upset with Chennedy Carter's foul

Smith didn't truly get a chance to respond due to the necessary break in the program — a company has to pay their bills. However, that allowed him to release a video later in the day responding to McNutt's comments, fighting back on the notion that he has not covered women's basketball on "First Take."

The full YouTube episode of "The Stephen A. Show" is about an hour and a half, however, the specific segment on McNutt was roughly 34 minutes long. 

Stephen A. Smith basketball career

It's very difficult to avoid Smith on ESPN, especially for basketball coverage. It's his most knowledgeable sport, and he has a playing career that backs it up.

Smith played Division II college basketball at Winston-Salem State University, a historically Black university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Earl Monroe is the most famous NBA player who played basketball at Winston-Salem State. Chris Paul recently graduated from the university, but he played college hoops at Wake Forest.

Smith played a year of basketball in junior college at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology before transferring to Winston-Salem State. He said he received a basketball scholarship, but his career was cut short due to a knee injury. Smith told the story on Paul George's "Podcast P with Paul George" show.

The CIAA, Winston-Salem State's conference, inducted Smith into its Hall of Fame in 2017.

MORE: How many points did Caitlin Clark score vs. the Sky?

Monica McNutt basketball career

Before McNutt joined ESPN and MSG for her broadcasting career, she was a four-year player at Georgetown University.

A 6-0 guard, McNutt joined the team as a freshman in the 2007-08 season, playing 16.5 minutes per game across 29 contests. She started 66 of 68 games in her junior and senior seasons and earned All-Big East honors as a junior in 2009-10.

YearTeamGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3-PT%FT%
2007-08Georgetown2916.55.62.30.40.80.540.9%31.6%60.0%
2008-09Georgetown3425.58.03.90.81.40.440.4%34.6%79.4%
2009-10Georgetown3327.611.23.81.52.20.038.9%35.3%85.9%
2010-11Georgetown3530.410.54.31.51.40.240.1%34.1%70.2%
Career 13125.48.93.61.11.50.339.9%34.3%76.5%

Brendan OSullivan

Brendan OSullivan Photo

Brendan O'Sullivan is an editorial intern for Sporting News, joining in 2024. He previously worked at Newsday on Long Island, New York after graduating from Quinnipiac University.