Rusty Weiss
ESPN personality and lifelong Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith faced a chorus of boos from the home crowd at Madison Square Garden before publicly admitting he was “beyond wrong” about star guard Jalen Brunson and the franchise.
The confrontation unfolded during a live taping of The Roommates Show podcast hosted by newly-crowned champions Brunson and Josh Hart. Smith, invited as a “secret guest,” was met with loud boos and heckling as he took the stage.
Stephen A. Smith Booed Live as Brunson and Hart Demand Apology
SAS lives for this kind of stuff, though. He’s less a sports analyst or journalist than he is a WWE-style personality.
Hart, who had pushed for Smith’s appearance, wasted little time turning up the heat. Pointing to the Larry O’Brien Trophy beside them, Hart asked Smith directly: “We are now sitting here with this golden trophy there to your right. Can you sit here and admit you were wrong?”
Brunson chimed in, demanding, “Apologize!”
Smith, known for his bombastic style, initially played coy before delivering a mea culpa.
“I’m a grown-ass man,” Smith said. “I was beyond wrong.”
“I apologize to this brother (Brunson) on national television, I’m apologizing to you (Hart), I’m apologizing to the entire Knicks organization,” he added. “But let me be very, very clear: I have never been more happy to be wrong in my entire life.”
The crowd still booed him.
.@stephenasmith tells Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson he was wrong 😅
— ESPN (@espn) June 19, 2026
Watch the entire @Roommates__Show special from MSG at 10 ET on ESPN and the ESPN App 🗽 pic.twitter.com/L5pXE3VIH9
I think the funniest part about this is how everyone is treating Smith being wrong as some sort of rarity. In reality, Encyclopedia Britannica would run out of paper in trying to document all the times SAS has been wrong about something.
In that regard, however, he has been brutally wrong when it comes to Brunson.
Years of Skepticism: Why SAS Was So Wrong About Jalen Brunson
The apology capped years of public skepticism from Smith. He had previously dismissed the 2016 Villanova national championship team — which included Brunson, Hart, and current Knicks starter Mikal Bridges — as lacking legitimate NBA prospects. After Brunson signed his free-agent deal with New York in 2022, Smith questioned whether the guard was “the answer” for the franchise and suggested he was no Kevin Durant.
The moment carried extra weight following the Knicks’ first NBA title since 1973. Brunson led the team through a dominant playoff run, earning recognition as the franchise’s cornerstone. Hart revealed that Smith’s past comments had been saved as “receipts,” setting up the on-stage reckoning.
The ESPN character went on to suggest, as he has already done in taking credit for the Knicks’ run, that he may have helped motivate them to win the championship.
“I’ll apologize for being wrong,” Smith said, “but let me be very clear: If it means another championship, I’d do it again.”
The Knicks were already a talented, gritty team. They responded the way champions do — by locking in and playing better. They didn’t huddle up in the locker room crying because Stephen A. said mean things about them.
But they’re sure going to let him hear it after the fact.
