Stephen A. responds after seen playing solitaire at NBA Finals – NBC Sports Philadelphia

ESPN NBA Insider Stephen A. Smith is known for his strong opinions on the league, but now he’s facing some doubts.

During Game 4 of the Indiana Pacers-Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Finals, Smith was pictured by a fan playing solitaire on his phone as the game played out.

There was also a video a spectator recorded, which showed play going on in the background as Smith had solitaire open. The fan who took the photo said it occurred during the third quarter.

After the game, Smith responded to the moment with a few posts on X as it became a viral topic.

Smith claimed he was playing during a timeout and was multitasking.

“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!” Smith posted.

He then posted what appeared to be a screenshot of his solitaire app open with the game playing underneath.

Kevin Durant even posted the photo of Smith on his Instagram story, which had “Cmon Steve” written in small font on the bottom right.

Many NBA fans criticized Smith for not being fully engaged during one of sports’ biggest moments, especially with the platform at his disposal.

“This dude thinks he is so above the sport of basketball it is frustrating I would die to have a career that allowed me to go to the nba finals to cover it what a joke,” one account wrote in response to a viral post on X.

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