Stephon Marbury accused Stephen A. Smith of being a race traitor in the wake of Smith’s lengthy rant about Kyrie Irving on ESPN’s “First Take” last week.
Responding to a tweet in which Smith said of Irving, “We are witnessing one of the most delusional athletes in American history,” Marbury wrote, “We are witnessing one of the biggest uncle Tom’s on the planet in @stephenasmith.”
Smith addressed the criticism, albeit indirectly, on “First Take.”
“I’m not going to insult Stephon Marbury,” he said. “I will say Stephon Marbury has had a problem with me since 2009 because we thought he was a bit bizarre when he was eating Vaseline, literally on video — like it was a bunch of cheeseburgers. Like, gobbling Vaseline.”
The 45-year-old Marbury, who last played in the NBA in 2009, disagreed that this was the root of his beef with Smith.
“Lol.. I had a problem @stephenasmith when you was calling yourself a source after Larry Brown was feeding you information which were lies that you reported to build your reputation,” Marbury tweeted. “You never put your name on the lies. You break down black athletes for gain and fame.”
What Smith has said a number of times, about Irving and Ben Simmons, is that he is wary of the way they will affect other black NBA players in future collective bargaining agreements.
“I’m only supposed to be complimentary?” he asked last week, in response to Jamie Foxx’s criticism of his takes on Simmons. “I’m calling out a Kyrie and a Ben Simmons because of their impact and effect on the black athlete. When you go to the collective bargaining table, and [the owners] use them as an example to try to minimize their contribution to players, that’s about those players. That’s about the black athlete.”