Breaking Down the Ongoing Beef Between Stephen A. Smith and J.R. Smith

Stephen A. Smith and J.R. Smith are beefing, and it's all because of… a hoodie?

J.R. Smith.
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Image via Getty/Elsa/Staff

J.R. Smith.

Stephen A. Smith and J.R. Smith are going at it right now, and it’s all because of… a hoodie?

That’s right. Last week, SAS took to his radio show with one of the most bizarre arguments he’s made in recent history (which is really saying something). He called Smith out for wearing a hoodie on the Cavaliers’ bench—a hoodie that is, by the way, now part of the Cavaliers’ official uniform—and said that he doesn’t think NBA players should be permitted to wear hoodies during games. His reasoning? He believes it will remind people about Travyon Martin.

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"In Game 1, when they played against Boston, J.R. Smith was sitting on that bench in the fourth quarter with a hoodie on," SAS said. "I don’t know why the hell Nike made these damn uniforms that have hoods attached to it, by the way. You got a lot of those white folks in the audience thinking this is going to be Trayvon Martin being revisited. And I’m not joking about it. The bench is no place for somebody to be wearing hoodies."

Smith eventually got wind of what SAS said about him and his hoodie and he responded to him on Twitter. He questioned why SAS called him out when there are plenty of other players who have worn Nike hoodies, and he told SAS to "keep my name out ya mouth," among other things.

Smith also elaborated on Saturday night after the Cavaliers played the Pelicans. He told reporters that he felt SAS’ argument was "ridiculous" and again questioned why SAS seemed to take specific aim at him.

"Stephen A. said that me wearing my hoodie on the bench makes white people remember Trayvon Martin," he said. "For one, they should remember him. Everybody should remember him. But for two, I’ve always worn a hoodie. I used to wear my hoodie in New York. To bring race into that and for me, out of all people, why would you bring me into it? I have nothing to do with it. I could see if you want to critique me on my playing, but don’t do that. That’s ridiculous."

Smith also suggested that SAS approached him after the Cavaliers’ first game and told him not to wear the hoodie on the bench. But he said SAS gave him a different reason for why he thought he shouldn’t do it.

"I saw him in the tunnel and he said, 'Be careful wearing your hoodie because people are going to mistake that for you not wanting to play because you’re not starting or you being frustrated,'" Smith said. "I said, 'OK, I can see that.' But then you’re switching it up to say what you said [about Trayvon Martin]. It’s like, what are you talking about?"

SAS clapped back at Smith on Twitter on Saturday night. He claimed his original comments were meant to be sent in the direction of Nike, not Smith, and he also said he wouldn’t be responding any further to Smith.

SAS is obviously on TV every morning, though, so it wasn’t long before he decided that he would be addressing his back-and-forth with Smith on First Take. He teased his response on Twitter on Monday morning.

Then, he went after Smith on live TV. He started by sticking to his "I was criticizing Nike, not J.R." narrative.

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"I know what the hell I’m talking about," SAS said at around the three-minute mark in the clip above, "and when you challenge me on issues, particularly on things that are fact-based, I’m going to be ready. And J.R. Smith is wrong about this. I wasn’t talking about J.R. Smith. I was talking about Nike. Nike was the ones that made the hoodies."

But his explanation quickly devolved into a breakdown of Smith’s game with SAS reading Smith’s recent stats for the First Take audience before taking shots at him for his shooting struggles as of late.

"I want to apologize to J.R. Smith because you need to be wearing the hoodie," he said. "You kind of need to hide. Let me look at these numbers. Since I said that commentary [about Smith wearing a hoodie], J.R. Smith had three games against Chicago, Brooklyn, and the New Orleans Pelicans. In those three games, he combined to shoot 3-of-20 from the field, 2-of-15 from three-point range. It’s been so bad for J.R. Smith that the damn dude scored 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting in a loss to the New York Knicks, and they were ready to give him a standing ovation."

And all of that elicited yet another response from Smith, who jumped on Twitter shortly after SAS’ First Take segment on him aired. Smith ripped First Take’s ratings and said it’s "flattering" to hear Smith spend so much time talking about him. He also suggested SAS should get kicked off the show.

And Smith ended things—for now—with this.

Meanwhile, SAS brought things to an end on his side with this.

Crazy to think that all this started because of a couple strange comments SAS made about Smith wearing a hoodie. But of course, this isn't anything new for SAS. Go here to see which other NBA players he has beefed with in the past.

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