J.R. Smith Again Fires Back at ESPN's Stephen A. Smith After Hoodie Criticism
J.R. Smith and ESPN's Stephen A. Smith continued their feud Monday after the two engaged in a Twitter war over the weekend.
After the ESPN analyst complained on his radio show that the Cavaliers guard wearing a hoodie on the bench would remind white fans about the fatal 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin, J.R. blasted the longtime ESPN analyst for "reaching" in a series of tweets Saturday.
On First Take Monday morning, Stephen A. Smith responded, saying he wasn't talking about J.R. Smith, he was talking about Nike:
“I wasn’t talking about J.R. Smith. I was talking about Nike,” Smith said. “Nike’s the one making the hoodies. I wasn’t talking about him wearing the hoodies during layup lines or whatever. I was talking specifically about the J.R. Smith that was on the bench cause he had only played three minutes in the fourth quarter of that opener against Boston, Max Kellerman. When he was sitting on the bench with his hoodie on looking like a sad puppy, because D-Wade was on the floor for eight of those 12 minutes as opposed to J.R. Smith. Who obviously, reportedly, was very upset at the fact that he was taken out of the starting lineup...Handle your business...If you start playing the way you're supposed to be playing, you wouldn't be concerned about anything I say."
J.R. returned to Twitter to fire back at Stephen A., calling out First Take's ratings and saying the show took a hit when Skip Bayless left.
Stephen A. once again responded, attempting to make peace and end the matter.
Smith has averaged just 5.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 25.9 percent from the floor and 17.1 percent on three point attempts. The Cavaliers have struggled to begin the season, most recently losing consecutive games to the Nets, Pelicans and Knicks.
