Stephen A. Smith walks off set after Celtics promote white head coach and not black candidate
Carly Ortiz-Lytle
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith walked off of the set of ESPN's First Take after he slammed NBA players for not protesting the Celtics's decision to promote head coach Brad Stevens, who is white, to a front office role instead of a black candidate.
"NBA players are some of the most powerful people in this world, when have they spoken up for black coaches?â Smith asked on Wednesday. âWhen?! When have they spoken up for black coaches and black executives, GMs, president of basketball operations? When has that happened? LeBron, all of them, everybody! Where the hell have they been? Nobody has done anything.â
Smith suggested that the NBA had a larger problem with diversity, citing the Brooklyn Nets's decision to hire Steve Nash for a head coaching role in September, despite Nash's lack of coaching experience while Phil Handy, who is black, has been an assistant coach for eight years.