Stephen A. Smith walks back part of Mat Ishbia rant… then dives right back in

Stephen A. Smith owned up to part of his scathing rant earlier in the week criticizing Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia on Friday.

Keyword: Part.

After Ishbia told reporters that he expected an apology from the analyst for the rant during Thursday’s end-of-season press conference, Smith shockingly did so on ESPN’s First Take.

.@stephenasmith responds to Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who made comments on Stephen A.'s recent take that he could be the worst owner in the history of basketball. pic.twitter.com/vI4UHlBAcp

— First Take (@FirstTake) April 18, 2025

“In all seriousness, Mat Ishbia is absolutely right. I do owe him an apology because I mentioned Donald Sterling,” Smith said. “I thought I was making it clear I was talking about basketball. I certainly did not mean to compare him to a person who was thrown out of this league and has been widely recognized as a racist. I shouldn’t have mentioned Mat Ishbia’s name in the same breath as Donald Sterling in that regard.”

Smith then proceeded to go right back in on the Suns owner.

“As the owner of the Phoenix Suns, respectfully I know the future could hold an inordinate amount of possibilities. But in your first two years, there is a legitimate argument that you are an atrocity,” Smith said. “One of the worst owners in the history of the sport. Your background makes it worse, because there’s no excuse for it to be happening.

“Were you not a walk-on at Michigan State? Did you not play for Tom Izzo? Did you not talk about the kind of influence he had on your life and what he has done for you in terms of your basketball acumen or whatever. My God, you’re staining his name. That’s how bad you’ve been.”

The latest chapter in the Stephen A. Smith-Mat Ishbia saga

Smith’s most recent rant follows an earlier one this week where he said Ishbia was “on the verge of being recognized as the worst owner in the history of basketball.”

"Mat Ishbia needs to understand that right now, you are on the verge of being recognized as the worst owner in the history of basketball."

—@stephenasmith on Mat Ishbia, owner of the Phoenix Suns pic.twitter.com/oaCbeReo5L

— First Take (@FirstTake) April 15, 2025

The analyst then went on to mention Sterling, who owned the Los Angeles Clippers before he was banned from the league for life over racist comments, and New York Knicks owner James Dolan.

“I don’t take much of what he says seriously. I don’t think many people do to be honest with you,” Ishbia said. “Things he’s said about Kevin Durant are just wrong and disrespectful. Things he said about LeBron James were just disrespectful and inappropriate.

“With that being said, I don’t think Stephen A. believes what he said. … I think he will apologize to me, because I think it’s disrespectful to put my name aligned with anyone that was kicked out of the league. … We had high expectations and we didn’t win. We spent a lot of money and we didn’t win. Be critical of me on that. … I think he was out of line and I think he knows that.”

Following a disappointing season summed up by a 36-46 record and no playoff appearance, the Suns acted swiftly in removing head coach Mike Budenholzer from the equation.

His firing on Monday is expected to be the first domino of many offseason changes for the organization both on and off the court.

“It wasn’t fun to watch our team lose and not compete at the level that we all expected,” Ishbia said Thursday. “Not happy with the season. With that being said, we’re going to make some changes.

“As the owner, my job is to make those changes and do things differently. Because what we just tried and did over the last 2.5 years has not been as successful as we hoped. … We will make changes.”

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