Michael Jordan pushed back on Stephen A. Smith’s NASCAR take

If you had an issue with Stephen A. Smith boldly claiming NASCAR drivers aren’t real athletes, Michael Jordan agrees with you.

Last week, Smith picked a fight with golfers and NASCAR drivers by proclaiming they’re not real athletes during an episode of his Mad Dog Sports Radio show on SiriusXM. Smith broached the hot take after a caller suggested Richard Petty’s longevity rivals what LeBron James has been able to do over the course of his NBA career. To which Smith promptly argued, NASCAR drivers “don’t count.”

It sparked a week of content for Smith, with listeners continuing to call in to defend golfers and NASCAR drivers. It garnered pushback from NASCAR announcer Mike Joy, semi-retired driver and current Fox analyst Kevin Harvick, Front Row Motorsports, and three-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano. And this week, Smith revealed he also took a phone call from Michael Jordan, who attempted to correct his opinion of NASCAR drivers.

“You know who wanted to correct me about the NASCAR thing? Michael Jordan,” Smith said during his Thursday afternoon Mad Dog Sports Radio show on SiriusXM. “Michael Jordan. I argued with him! Because that’s how I feel! I’m being honest. That’s how I feel. That’s all, it’s not a crime. That’s what makes radio and sports talk.”

Surely, Smith would agree that Michael Jordan is an athlete. He would also have to agree that Jordan knows a lot about NASCAR. And while Smith admitted he doesn’t know enough about NASCAR to really know what it takes to be a full-time driver, the pushback from Jordan and those who do know enough about the sport hasn’t been enough to make him renege on the polarizing opinion.

“Don’t you notice what we call the gang mentality?” Smith asked. “Where everybody in my line of work jumps on popular opinion so they are lumped in with the vast majority of people who feel the way they feel? That’s easy. The hard part is, ‘this is where I stand, and I genuinely feel this way, and here’s why.’”

Which basically means NASCAR experts can attempt to counter Smith’s argument with all the evidence, reason, and sensibility they can muster. But sensibility be damned, Smith isn’t giving up on an opinion that’s garnering him attention.