Stephen A. Smith took his personal victory lap after watching his New York Knicks win the NBA Finals. But San Antonio Spurs fans piled on the ESPN personality Thursday. This one involving Victor Wembanyama and a World Cup take.
The verbose Smith dove into the topic of France on soccer’s biggest stage. Yet Smith’s mind shifted to Wemby when breaking down the national soccer team’s cup chances.
“I’m thinking about France because of Wemby and how he just went home in the NBA Finals. I’m wondering what France is going to do, could this be the year that they finally get it done and they win the World Cup?” Smith boldly said on First Take Thursday.
"I'm thinking about France because of Wemby and how he just went home in the NBA Finals. I'm wondering what France is going to do, could this be the year that they finally get it done and they win the World Cup?"
– Stephen A. Smith
(via @FirstTake)pic.twitter.com/HgY88RdlTk
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 18, 2026
But that SAS take drew out critics who became confused by his take. Multiple fans ragged on Smith.
“Huh? ‘Finally’ get it done? France has gone one whole World Cup without winning it,” one fan reacted via the social media website X, formerly Twitter.
Another fan threw this fact check out on Smith: France won the cup in 2018 and became finalists in the 2022 games. One more fan offered the suggestion to only limit SAS to basketball topics, because he’s “embarrassing when he steps out.”
Smith clearly wanted to compare France’s soccer chances to the country’s latest megastar Wemby. His mind remains locked on roundball but not the other football. More fans called out Smith’s take with the belief he’s better off talking about basketball.
While Smith is basking in the Knicks’ title, he showed an apologetic side to Jalen Brunson amid his infamous soccer take. Though Smith also grabbed attention for believing the Knicks saved the NBA by beating Wemby and San Antonio.
The post Fans think Stephen A. Smith is clueless after linking Wemby to World Cup appeared first on ClutchPoints.
