Stephen A. Smith was put in the hot seat on social media after getting spotted playing solitaire during Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The ESPN star was filmed playing the mobile game amid the action between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday night.
The first picture of Smith playing the card game went viral after getting posted by Hoops Legion on X. Smith then shared the post, claiming he was multitasking.
“Yep! That’s me. Who would’ve thought,” The First Take host wrote. “I can multi-task. Especially during TIMEOUTS! Hope y’all are enjoying the NBA Finals. This is going 7 games now, peeps!”
However, a video was later posted, showing that Smith had his solitaire game on amid the action on the court. Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant posted the picture on his Instagram story with the words “CMON STEVE.” Although social media users criticized the analyst over the video, Smith stood by his explanation.
The 57-year-old posted a screenshot of a solitaire game with a stream of the Thunder-Pacers game at the bottom of the screen.
Smith’s viral moment came as the NBA is under fire for the drop in ratings and lack of interest in the Finals. The association was criticized for the lack of special presentations to make the Finals different than regular season games.
On Wednesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver joined Smith and the ESPN panel and addressed the drastic decline in viewership. While the numbers suggest poor performances on the airwaves, Silver suggested that the Finals are dominating the small markets involved.
“It’s an interesting time in society,” Silver said. “We have two markets that are completely captured by the Finals. Every store you go to, there’s signage. Everybody on the street is wearing team colors. I’ve been doing this for a long time; I don’t remember it being two markets that feel so dominant to have these games.”
Before Friday’s game, Smith predicted that the Indiana Pacers would win the Finals series if they took a 3-1 lead at home. Unfortunately, the Thunder played spoiler by tying the series with a 111-104 win.
The Thunder will host the Pacers for Game 5 at Paycom Center on Monday night.
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