Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley laughed when they heard Anthony Davis needed a wheelchair to get to the locker room after getting dinged in the head by Kevon Looney in Wednesday night’s Warriors-Lakers Game 5 playoff matchup.
That was a tame reaction compared to the one Stephen A. Smith had on ESPN’s First Take on Thursday. Smith openly mocked Davis on air while his co-host Jay Williams laughed along.
“I got to actually sit here and say this, but I hope Anthony Davis is OK,” Smith said. ... “Was he running over the middle and got hit by Ronnie Lott? Did I miss something? Is Ray Lewis in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform? Did he get hit by Aaron Donald?”
Smith was having fun on air but felt compelled to issue an apology afterwards.
"Blow back is Blow back," Smith tweeted. "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."
Head injuries are no joke, but Stephen A. probably felt like millions of other sports fans who saw the play. Contact like that is just part of the territory with basketball. On the flipside, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst was relatively quiet during Smith’s rant and said, “I’ve seen concussions with less" -- so there are probably plenty of people who feel that way.
Given Davis’ propensity to get injured and the fact he removed himself from a playoff game makes him an easy target. People get whacked in the head during NBA basketball games on a regular basis.
I understand Smith’s reaction, but in today’s landscape I also understand why he had to apologize. Such is society in 2023.
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