ESPN personality apologizes to Phoenix Suns owner over ‘worst owner’ comments
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A well-known ESPN sports personality is apologizing to Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Mat Ishbia over controversial ownership comments earlier this week.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith made headlines after he claimed that Ishbia was “on the verge of becoming the worst owner in the history of basketball.” Smith claimed Ishbia was on the same path as disgraced former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
Sterling was banned from the NBA for life after private recordings uncovered him making racist comments. He was forced to sell the team for $2 billion.
Smith apologized on First Take, stating that he did not mean to associate Ishbia with Sterling.
“I should not have mentioned Mat Ishbia’s name in the same breath as Donald Sterling. I did not mean to do that. I was not talking about that Donald Sterling. I was talking about the Donald Sterling that would be sitting courtside heckling his own damn players and never winning anything and didn’t give a damn. That’s the Donald Sterling I was talking about, in terms of how ineffective he was as an owner on the basketball court. Mat Ishbia is absolutely right and for that, I apologize,” Smith said.
During a news conference on Thursday, Ishbia called the comment disrespectful but claimed he doesn’t take “much of what he [Smith] says seriously.”
“I don’t really think Stephen A. believes what he said. I think, you know, he’s doing his thing. He’s on the mic, and he’s doing what he just and I think he’ll apologize to me because I think it’s disrespectful to put my name in, disrespectful to put my name, aligned with anybody that was kicked out of the league or no longer product,” Ishbia said. “I think he was out of line, and I think he knows that. I don’t think he really believes that.”
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