Stephen A. Smith: ‘Kevin Garnett has to watch his mouth’

Stephen A. Smith did not pick a fight with Kevin Garnett, but for a moment, it sounded like he might be going down that path.

Smith has shown a willingness to get into it with Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and other NBA stars. But Garnett isn’t someone you want to pick a fight with. Which is why jaws dropped when Smith said, “Kevin Garnett has to watch his mouth” Thursday morning on First Take.

The declaration came after Kendrick Perkins noted his former Boston Celtics teammate recently called Victor Wembanyama out for being too emotional when the Spurs advanced to the NBA Finals. But Smith quickly explained he meant Garnett needs to clean up his profanity so he can start dropping those basketball takes on ESPN.

“Kevin Garnett has to watch his mouth…because we need to listen to this man talk basketball. Kevin Garnett is special! I’m telling y’all right now, I can’t get enough of watching Kevin Garnett talk basketball. I wish he was here with us right now. But the language ain’t for the FCC airwaves. That’s the only problem. Because when this brother breaks it down and gives you real talk on the game of basketball, which he always does, Kevin Garnett is must-watch.”

Phew! ESPN might think its NBA Finals coverage needs a shirtless Stephen A. Smith, but they don’t need him getting into a feud. What briefly looked like another example of Smith calling out a current or former NBA star with “watch your mouth,” quickly turned into heaping praise on Garnett.

Smith said he’s been trying to get Garnett to tone his language down for years, to no avail. Back in 2023, Smith named Garnett as the person he would love to debate on First Take, similarly noting FCC limitations prevented that from happening. But if Garnett ever wants to clean up the language, it sounds like there will be a spot on First Take waiting for him.