Stephen A. Smith recently went on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s Up in Smoke podcast to basically defend himself after he took heavy backlash for how he spoke on the workout of Colin Kaepernick that went from being in one location to another at the last minute.
The most interesting point of the interview is when Smith questioned why Kaepernick is trying to get a job from a league that he nor his camp fully trust. He also brought up Kaepernick suing the league and accusing owners of colluding against him.
Via BET:
“In a wide ranging interview with the two NBA champions Smith talks about an encounter with Kaep’s girlfriend, noted personality Nessa, where she asks Smith for his help on getting Kaep a tryout.
Smith goes on to say it wasn’t just Jay-Z and Roc Nation, but he and “a slew of other reporters who will remain nameless” were working the appropriate channels behind-the-scenes in an effort to get Kaep an NFL workout.
Smith does acknowledge the NFL could have done a lot of things differently regarding the workout and its transparency. Saying it was, “a little shaky.” He also believes that any feelings of mistrust from Kaep’s camp towards the NFL should’ve been expected.
“Not only do you not trust them, you sued them,” Smith said of Kaep’s relationship with the NFL. “You filed a grievance against them. You settled! You settled. Who files a grievance against a company, settles, and then still says, ‘I want a job with you?’”
