ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith caught some heat when he made snarky comments after Los Angeles Lakers’ star Anthony Davis’ suffered a minor head injury Wednesday.
Near the end of the Lakers’ defeat in Game 5 of its second-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, Davis was inadvertently hit in the head by the Warriors’ Kevon Looney and left the game. He was placed in a wheelchair and escorted off the court.
Recalling the incident on his popular morning show First Take, Smith joked that this isn’t football season and that a concussion can’t happen on a basketball court.
“I ain’t seen nothing yesterday that made me say, ‘concussion, concussion,'” Smith remarked. “Now I don’t know if it’s true or not. Did a wheelchair get him to the locker room? I’m not sure. Really? A wheelchair? That’s where we are.”
People on social media were in disbelief he would joke about the severity of the matter.
Although Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley shared similar reactions, they never addressed the situation during their broadcast. Smith even mentioned the interaction between the two former players in disbelief, with Davis being taken off the court in a wheelchair.
After receiving social media backlash, Smith took to social media to apologize.
“Blow back is Blow back. Comes with the territory, peeps. I was in no way minimizing the seriousness of a concussion. I was questioning whether Anthony Davis really had one, considering the play I saw & other hits I’ve seen him absorb. But, bottom line, it was wrong for me to do. Period! My bad.”
Luckily, Davis, who has been injury-prone throughout his career, did not suffer a concussion. According to the Lakers, he will play in Game 6 tonight. The Lakers lead the series 3 games to 2.
RELATED CONTENT: Stephen A. Smith Backtracks and Apologizes After Saying Rihanna ‘Ain’t Beyoncé’