Stephen A. Smith, one of the most prominent New York Knicks fans in sports media, wants to hear less from one of New York’s key players. Knicks shooting guard Josh Hart recently came to the defense of his teammate Mikal Bridges, saying that Bridges has garnered some unwarranted criticism for fulfilling the role the team needs him to.
Smith, however, isn’t having it.
“I need Josh Hart to be quiet,” Smith said of Hart’s comments on Tuesday’s edition of First Take on ESPN.
“You need to stand down. This is grown-ups. This is business. So let’s keep it a buck here,” Smith continued, going on to emphasize that Bridges needs to perform at a higher level in order to justify the seven draft picks the Knicks relinquished to acquire him.
“I need Josh Hart to be quiet. … Seven picks. … For a dude who can’t even get you 10 PPG?”@stephenasmith responds to Josh Hart’s defense of Mikal Bridges recent play 😳 pic.twitter.com/KZMiNredb3
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 24, 2026
In much the same vein, Hart doesn’t want to hear it from Smith, either.
“For me, Stephen A., as a part-time Knicks fan, needs to shut the hell up,” Hart said Thursday morning, via the New York Post. “He barely knows guys that’s on the team.”
“I’m definitely not going to listen to a part-time Knicks fan,” The Roommates Show co-host added. “When Stephen A. rolls up to MSG with a ‘New York’ on his chest and ties up his sneaks and plays for us, then I’ll listen to what he has to say.”
Smith, a Hollis, Queens native, has certainly had his fair share of Knicks-related gaffes over the years. The First Take star has forgotten the name of a key rotation player and raved about the contributions of another who’d already been traded.
While Bridges is having a somewhat pedestrian season by the numbers, averaging just under 15 points to go along with four points and 3.9 rebounds, his defensive impact and gravity as a floor spacer don’t show up on the box score, and the Knicks’ 114-103 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday evening ended a seven-game win streak.
The reality, however, is that even with New York just one game out of the second seed in the Eastern Conference, it’s likely that the only way Hart is going to get a content Stephen A. Smith is if he and Bridges help New York bring home the Larry O’Brien trophy.