High-profile ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith apologized to Mat Ishbia for comparing the Phoenix Suns owner to former Los Angeles Clippers proprietor Donald Sterling. Smith has had to make apologizing a habit as of late. His mea culpa in this instance started out good, but ultimately became backhanded.

Last week on his First Take show, Smith (pictured) said Ishbia was “on the verge of being recognized as the worst owner in the history of basketball.” He then compared Ishbia to Sterling, who received a lifetime ban from the NBA in 2014 after his racist comments became public. Ironically, Ishbia bought the Suns in 2023 from Robert Sarver, another owner with a rather non-sterling reputation; Sarver was accused of racism and sexism in addition to creating a toxic workplace.

Ishbia seems to have taken Smith’s attack in stride. “Stephen A. Smith, you know, I don’t take much of what he says seriously, I don’t think many people do,” he said during a presser on Thursday, April 17. “I think he’ll apologize to me because I think it’s disrespectful to put my name aligned with anybody that was kicked out of the league.”

‘Same Breath’

The next day, Smith did indeed apologize, and on First Take (it’s a good idea to address a crisis in the same venue in which it arose). “Mat Ishbia is absolutely right,” Smith said. “I do owe him an apology, because I mentioned Donald Sterling. I thought I was making it clear I was talking about basketball. I certainly did not mean to compare him to a person that was thrown out of this league and has been widely recognized as a racist. I should not have mentioned Mat Ishbia’s name in the same breath as Donald Sterling.”

Smith said he compared Ishbia to Sterling only with regard to how ineffective Sterling was as an owner. The Suns, despite having the highest payroll in the league, finished this season with a 34–46 record and are missing out on the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Last week, they fired their third head coach in as many years.

“In your first two years, there is legitimate argument that you are an atrocity — one of the worst owners in the history of the sport,” Smith said of Ishbia.

Alleged Racist

So Smith, who recently inked a five-year deal with ESPN worth more than $100 million, walked back the truly outrageous part of his commentary — comparing Ishbia to an alleged racist — but then attacked further on the substance. You could argue about whether that was warranted or mean-spirited. In any event, being aggressive is Smith’s style.

Some coverage of the flap, such as in the Irish Star, noted this was Smith’s third apology in only weeks, after having had to apologize twice in two days. Those mea culpas were for falsely alleging that LeBron James didn’t attend Kobe Bryant’s funeral after his tragic 2020 helicopter accident and then for stating that Nolan Richardson, the elderly but very much alive former college basketball coach, was dead.

Photo Credit: Eugene Powers/Shutterstock

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