One of America's most prominent voices in sports media, Stephen A. Smith, started his career in Philadelphia as a Sixers beat writer.
Stephe A. became close friends with 76ers legend Allen Iverson, a relationship that continues to this day.
But on a new episode of R2C2 with C.C. Sabathia, Stephen A. Smith tells the story of how he called out Iverson in a column resulting in AI not speaking to Stephen A. for eight months.
"Me and AI—because you know AI is like a little brother to me, Allen Iverson," Smith said. "I was the beat writer [for the Sixers] and he and I went eight months without talking to each other because he pissed me off one day and I got tired of him ruining my vacations. Every time I was on vacation he got himself into some damn trouble. And I had to come off vacation to cover this dude and the whole bit and so one day I wrote column, that he got to stop acting up. He gotta be on time, he's gotta do this, he's gotta do that. And he was so damn furious with me, we didn't speak for eight months.
"[Iverson's friends] said enough of this, ya'll need to squash this now. And he made me come and I went to club Palmer's in Philly on Spring Garden...at like two in the morning! And AI came up to me, "F*** you want man?" Just like that and started laughing! And I'm like, 'Oh you not mad anymore?' And he's like, 'Nah, man we good, we good!'
"It was all because behind the scenes his boys had a conversation with him about how I had a job to do and most of the time I'm supporting the brothers, but every now and then I've got to call it like it is. I've got to call it like I see it, you can't get a pass on every damn thing!"