Ah yes, Stephen A. Smith woke up and chose chaos again.
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This time, the longtime ESPN voice went after two entire sports. Not teams. Not players. Entire sports.
During a SiriusXM segment, Smith was debating all-time athletic greatness, sparked by — who else — LeBron James and his ridiculous longevity. Callers started tossing out names. One of them brought up NASCAR legend Richard Petty.
Smith was not having it.
"Come on, man. That don't count. You driving a car!" he fired back.
And from there, it only escalated.
Smith drew a hard line. In his world, golfers and NASCAR drivers are not athletes. Skilled? Sure. Elite? Absolutely. But athletes? Nope.
He doubled down, pointing out that people can drive cars or walk golf courses well into their 60s and 70s. To him, that alone disqualifies them from the "athlete" conversation.
"A golfer is not an athlete. A NASCAR driver is not an athlete," Smith said. "If you're out there doing stuff that grandmas and grandpas can do, I'm not gonna look at you that way."
Now look, here's where it gets interesting.
He's not entirely wrong... depending on how you define "athlete."
Are golfers and drivers incredibly skilled? No debate. Does it require insane focus, coordination, and nerves? Of course. But if we're talking pure athleticism — speed, explosion, physical dominance — you can at least understand where Smith is coming from.
That said, the take gets shaky fast.
Because by that logic, plenty of traditional sports start falling apart too. There are 60-year-olds who can shoot, throw, lift, jog. Doesn't mean they're competing at a high level. That's the part Smith kind of glossed over.
He even left himself an out, admitting someone like Tiger Woods could be considered an athlete. Just... not because of golf itself.
Which, yeah, is where the argument really goes off the rails.
Still, classic Stephen A. Loud, unapologetic, and just convincing enough to get people arguing about it all day.
