After a long hiatus, I’m back with another edition of my worst prediction series! This time we are going to take a look at five of the worst predictions ever from Stephen A. Smith. From First Take content to his tweets, Stephen A is no stranger to controversial statements and hot takes. Here are five of his predictions that have aged the worst over the years. Sit back and prepare for some laughs!
5. He said Mark Sanchez would be a superstar for the Jets.
Stephen A is no stranger to New York bias since he has been a lifelong NY sports fan. That preexisting bias has led him to make some horribly aged predictions over the years, but this one has arguably aged the worst. During the promising 2010 Jets season, Stephen A declared that QB Mark Sanchez was on his way to stardom in the NFL. Sanchez’s season in 2010 was promising, but the following seasons were filled with inconsistency that ended up cutting his career short. He does deserve some credit, however, as he did help lead the way to one of the biggest playoff upsets in history over the Patriots. But, his luck was cut short soon afterwards, as instead of becoming a superstar like predicted his career floundered pretty quickly. His Jets career was more known for the infamous “butt fumble” than any of the success he had on the field, and he ended up getting outright cut by the Jets in 2014. Not exactly a fitting definition of the word “star.”
4. He predicted the finals winner wrong for six years straight (2011-2017).
Technically, this is not as outrageous as some of the other predictions on here. But for someone who covers the NBA with such a passion, it is very embarrassing for Stephen A to strike out on his finals predictions six years in a row. With a 50-50 shot each year, he has managed to get it wrong six times in a row, which seems to be almost mathematically impossible (1/64 chance, or 1.56 percent). He managed to finally bust his string of bad luck by correctly picking the Warriors over the Cavs in 2017. Third time’s a charm I guess, since he swung and missed on the two previous Cavs-Warriors finals.
3. He said taking KAT over Jahlil Okafor with the number one pick would be a mistake.
This is another career trajectory prediction that Stephen A has flopped on. Pre-draft 2015, there was a lot of debate between Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor for the best prospect in the class. Stephen A was a huge fan of Okafor, and went on record to say that Okafor’s offense would be too elite for teams to pass up, and that he should have been the undisputed number one pick. Jahlil Okafor is currently out of the league and regarded as one of the biggest draft busts of the 2010s. His career started promising but fizzled out due to his style of play becoming outdated for today’s NBA, where KAT is coming off one of his most successful seasons yet highlighted by his 2nd All-NBA nomination. It’s clear that Stephen A was way off the mark on this one.
2. He falsely claimed Dan Gilbert would sell the Cavs with no real sources. (4:46 mark in video)
This might be the worst one from a journalistic perspective. Stephen A is no stranger to reporting things from questionable sources, but the worst one has got to be when he made a claim stating Dan Gilbert would be selling the Cavs and that it would be announced in the coming days. When the announcement never came, he later backtracked and said that anyone who took him seriously was an “idiot.” Talk about a lack of journalistic integrity.
1. He said that Donovan Mitchell is the best player in Jazz history.
I personally think this is Stephen A’s wildest take. Saying Donovan Mitchell is a better player all time than Karl Malone or John Stockton is a prime example of recency bias and is just all around blasphemous. Karl Malone is third on the all time scoring list, a two time MVP winner, 14 time All-NBA and all star, and a four time all defensive team nominee. Comparing him to Donovan Mitchell is not only premature but not even close to a realistic comparison. Stockton is also commonly disrespected by today’s generation and he doesn’t get enough credit for his accolades. Him and Malone were a dynamic duo and they couldn’t have made it to the finals without each other. Stockton is an 11 time all-NBA nominee, ten time all star, nine time assist champ, and a five time all defensive team nominee. Donovan Mitchell has been spectacular so far in his career but he has not been good enough to warrant comparisons to these two legends. Definitely jumping the gun here.
What cold takes from Stephen A Smith did I miss? Let me know in the comments.