Stephen A. Smith says he and Kyrie Irving have an issue on a “personal level”.
He made the comments while discussing a heated moment with ESPN colleague Jay Williams on First Take.
“Now Kyrie and I have our differences on a personal level, which is none of anybody’s business and I’ll never tell why,” Smith said on the The Mike Missanelli Podcast.
“He knows why. And his daddy knows why. They know how I feel about how they’ve acted towards me and they know how I feel about them and I know how they feel about me. But I can say that to anybody out there because I know that that does not interfere with my reporting on him and my perspective based off of the facts.”
Irving has faced heavy criticism from Smith and others over a range of issues in recent years, including his refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and his promotion of a film widely considered to be antisemitic.
Smith has criticised Irving at every turn and has not pulled any punches. In 2021, Smith even said Irving should retire because his focus was clearly not on basketball.
Irving defended himself in June last year when he had this to say on Twitter:
@stephenasmith you’re gonna have to explain yourself to people in your generation. I am not around many 50 plus year olds that speak and act like you do, so this is new for me. But I am sure my father and my uncles can meet you on your level better than I can. We know you STEPHEN
— Hélà (@KyrieIrving) June 28, 2022
He has not yet responded to Smith’s latest comments.