The WNBA is enjoying increased media coverage due to big names from this season's draft class, among them Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, and more. Things got tense on set First Takepopular ESPN morning sports program by analyst Monica McNutt squared Stephen A. Smith about his WNBA coverage, or lack thereof.
His eagle-eye fans First Take caught wind of the moment during Monday's (June 3) show. First Take who had a segment on the WNBA with Stephen A. Smith, 56, having a self-congratulatory moment with Monica McNutt, 34, closing it out 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., with respect, with your platform, you could have done it three years ago if you wanted to.”
Things got tense after that as Smith reacted to McNutt's jab in an unbelievable way and the two started talking about each other with Shannon Sharpe interjecting at one point. Show host Molly Qerim did her best to get Smith and McNutt's strong personalities on the same page, but he seemed frustrated by the hype and controversy over the issue.
McNutt's words echo the frustration expressed by WNBA players and fans that the major sports network ignored the league for years until the new influx of young talent, bringing with them the NCAA fanaticism that the college game has grown in recent years . the aforementioned Reese, Clark and numerous stars making their rookie campaigns at W.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans reacted to Monica McNutt dressing Stephen A. Smith and the WNBA coverage. See the answers below.
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Photo: Screengrab/ESPN
