Stephen A. Smith Calls Out Shaq Over JJ Redick Comments

Stephen A. Smith has never been shy about expressing his opinion.

Last week, Shaquille O’Neal made headlines when he seemed to suggest that it would be difficult for modern-day NBA players to respect someone as young as new Los Angeles Lakers head coach, J.J. Redick.

“He has LeBron’s respect, but what about the other players? That’s going to be his true test,” Shaq said.

“Personally, I don’t think I would be able to play for someone I faced on the court four or five years ago. And if I didn’t respect my coach, it was hard for me to maintain my 100%.

“I don’t want to disrespect JJ, but I think it’s crazy that someone with no experience has beaten another candidate like Sam Cassell, who has been on the bench for 15 years in the league.”

The fact that Redick also went and got himself immediately embroiled in an off-the-court scandal probably didn’t increase his credibility among his doubters either.

Smith heard those comments and decided to address them this week.

“Stop lying,” Smith said.

“Cuz they would be paying you, and you know that check was in the mail, you’d play. Stop that big boy, you know I know better than that.”

Smith didn’t stop there, though.

“JJ Redick is one of the great, great players who ever played in college basketball,” Smith continued.

“He’s also a 15-year NBA veteran. And although I lament how he got the Lakers job because that’s clearly something LeBron James manipulated to his liking, if you know anything about JJ Redick, this brother knows basketball. He knows basketball.

“And so it’s going to be real interesting to see how he affects the players in terms of his coaching prowess, but I know one thing — players ain’t going to question his knowledge. Me personally, I’m rooting for him, I believe in him, and I believe he’ll be successful.”

Whether or not Redick will in fact be successful remains to be seen, but clearly Smith has a lot more faith in his chances than Shaq does.