The WNBA is enjoying increased media coverage due to big names from the current season’s draft class, including Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, and more. Things got tense on the set of First Take, ESPN’s popular morning sports program after analyst Monica McNutt checked Stephen A. Smith on his WNBA coverage, or lack thereof.
Eagle-eye fans of First Take caught wind of the moment during the Monday (June 3) broadcast of First Take which had a segment on the WNBA with Stephen A. Smith, 56, having himself a self-congratulatory moment with Monica McNutt, 34, shutting it down as it happened.
Smith began with, “Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women’s sports more than First Take?”
McNutt’s rebuttal was, “Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to.”
Things got tense after this as Smith reacted to McNutt’s jab in incredulous fashion and the two began talking over each other with Shannon Sharpe interjecting at some point. Show moderator Molly Qerim did her best to get the strong personalities of Smith and McNutt on the same page but seemed frustrated by the overtalking and arguing over the point.
McNutt’s words echo some of the frustration WNBA players and fans have expressed that the larger sports outlet has ignored the league for years until the new influx of young talent, who brought with them the NCAA fandom that the collegiate game grew over the past few years with the aforementioned Reese, Clark, and numerous stars undergoing their rookie campaigns in the W.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans reacted to Monica McNutt dressing down Stephen A. Smith and his WNBA coverage. Check out the replies below.
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Photo: Screengrab/ESPN