Source: Justin Ford / Getty
One of the most heated came between
ESPN pundit
Stephen A. Smith and Malika Andrews.
It all began when news broke of Udoka’s suspension, and Smith wondered why the Celtics mentioned Udoka being punished but not the unnamed female employee for also violating company policy.
“It said in the numerous news reports that it was a consensual relationship that violated organizational policy. So only he is in violation of the company policy? The woman who elected to have a consensual relationship with him is not in violation? He gets mentioned and put on front street. But we don’t know who she is,” Stephen A. questions. “What about the other women within the Celtics organization who have been victimized because wrong assumptions have been made by their involvement? if you knew exactly who it was, that would alleviate the concerns of all the other women who have their names paraded out into the streets. What about them?”
While on the
First Take, Andrews found fault in that line of questioning and cautioned against blaming women.
“Stephen A., with all due respect, this is not about pointing fingers, stop. What became apparent to me in this press conference is that we don’t have all the information, and it’s frustrating to me that the Celtics declined to elaborate or give more specifics on what the rule breaking was,” she says over the phone. “We are not here, Stephen A., to blame women. That is not why we are here. “
Of course, Stephen A. didn’t agree with Andrew’s opinion and quickly clapped back and reminded her whose show she was appearing on.
“First of all, let me be very clear; I don’t appreciate where you’re going with that. I’m not blaming anybody but Ime Udoka. The fact of the matter is, I said he deserves to be fired if you’re going to fire him. If you’re not going to fire him, then don’t fire him. My issue is all of this being publicized,” he said before Andrews started to interrupt. “Excuse me. I listened to you. You’re telling me to stop on my show; that ain’t happening. OK. That’s number one. Number two, I’ve already said he deserves to be fired or he deserves to be there and handle it internally and privately.”
Check out how Twitter is reacting the Stephen A.’s latest debate below:
