A debate’s been taking place as of late in regard to the state of the NBA amid the 2025 TV schedule. The league is currently dealing with ratings issues amid a reported decrease in public interest. Los Angles Lakers coach JJ Redick opined that intensely negative comments from media pundits are a contributing factor. That led sportscaster Charles Barkley to clap back and share some blunt thoughts on Redick and his job. Since Redick responded, fellow pundit Stephen A. Smith has weighed in on the matter with thoughts of his own.
Stephen A. Smith broached the topic on his eponymous talk show, of which episodes are posted to YouTube among other platforms. During the episode, he recalled past remarks regarding the notion that TNT’s Inside the NBA “messed up the game of basketball” by sharing “ultra critical” takes on the players and state of the game. Well, Smith calls “BS” on the notion of such commentary affecting the ratings, and he explained why he feels that way:
I call BS on that. When guys deserve to be celebrated, [the hosts], celebrate you. When guys deserve to be criticized, they criticize you. Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson [and] Shaquille O’Neal are exceptional. They’re Emmy award winners, they’re the A-listers. They’re class personified, they don’t get personal. They’re just talking about your game and what you put on display. And, if that’s what you put on display as a product — they didn’t blame the league. I’d say you could blame the league, because of the rule changes that were incorporated…
The Lakers – who hold a 20-16 and are in sixth place in the Western Conference, as of this writing – have had their ups and downs this year and have been chastised in some circles. Sports and Pokémon aficionado Stephen A. Smith seems to hold the opinion that the coach shouldn’t place blame on talk show hosts for any shortcomings that the league has. After talking about the various rule changes and common tendencies that accompany NBA games, Smith shared some more sentiments:
Maybe [the hosts] go a bit excessive with it, because they’re having a good time, and they’re having fun. But the reality, JJ, is that sometimes – I’m not talking about the Lakers, I’m talking about overall. Sometimes we watch the game, and it sucks. And here’s where JJ hurts himself, JJ knows that’s true.
As someone who’s watched the nearly canceled Inside the NBA for years now, I can agree that the excitable hosts can sometimes become boisterous. Ultimately, though, they don’t seem to make a situation personal on air. One could certainly argue that some pundits do go in quite hard, though whether that truly impacts fan’s perceptions of the league can’t be said with certainty.
This season marks former player JJ Redick’s first as an NBA head coach, as he was hired during the summer of 2024 to replace his fired predecessor, Darvin Ham. Redick – a former sportscaster and podcaster himself – has expressed his commitment to the Lakers as well as the LA community. That’s been more than evident as of late amid the ongoing fires in Southern California, from which Redick and his family sadly lost their home. Nevertheless, he and his team have exuded resilience in the face of tragedy.
When it comes to Coach Redick’s war of words with Charles Barkley, that situation has seemingly subsided. The discussion regarding the aforementioned sports league’s decline in ratings continues, though. As a fan, I’m curious as to how other pundits may share their two cents about the contributing factors as Barkley and Stephen A. Smith have.
