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Stephen A. Smith Under Scrutiny For Behavior At NBA Finals Friday

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated Jun 14, 2025 9:30 AM ET

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith witnessed the Oklahoma City Thunder's epic comeback against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, and yet, he didn't seem entertained.

Smith was facing a lot of criticism leading up to Game 4 of the NBA Finals because of his behavior on ESPN's "First Take." He refused to close his laptop screen despite being told that it was shown on live TV. Molly Qerim was noticeably frustrated with his antics.

As if that wasn't bad enough, a photo of Smith playing Solitaire surfaced on X during the second half of the Thunder-Pacers game. That led to countless fans labeling him as unprofessional.

"Why is he even there if he's going to play solitaire," one fan asked.

"Not gonna lie, if this isn’t during halftime or photoshopped, this is just diabolical and disrespectful," another fan said.

"This is supposed to be a credible journalist btw," a third fan pointed out.

After the Thunder defeated the Pacers to even up the series, Smith went on social media to address this scandal. Interestingly enough, he didn't deny that he was playing Solitaire.

"Yep! That’s me. Who would’ve thought….I can multi-task. Especially during TIMEOUTS," Smith wrote on X. "Hope y’all are enjoying the NBA Finals. This is going 7 games now, peeps."

It's worth nothing that community notes added this message to Smith's post: "Stephen A. Is lying. This photo was taken during gameplay, NOT during a timeout."

Yep! That’s me. Who would’ve thought….I can multi-task. Especially during TIMEOUTS! Hope y’all are enjoying the NBA Finals.

This is going 7 games now, peeps! https://t.co/nLdWJf5vqf
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 14, 2025