ESPN’s Monica McNutt Clarifies Her Stephen A. Smith Call-Out

A debate between Stephen A. Smith and Monica McNutt went viral on ESPN on Monday, but the sides didn’t let things end on television.

McNutt called out Smith on “First Take” for not using his platform three years ago to boost the WNBA and that he was riding the coattails of the popularity that Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and others brought to the league.

Smith was left stunned but gave a rebuttal on his podcast. Shannon Sharpe, who also was in the segment with the ESPN pair, brought on McNutt to tell him and Chad Johnson her side of the story.

“I think what I was frustrated by in our conversation earlier is that we can hold more than one truth, y’all,” McNutt told Sharpe and Johnson on “Nightcap.” “The idea of some players being jealous, yes, that probably exists. But I think since Caitlin’s made her debut, there’s been a large and loud push that it’s been Caitlin vs. the W. And that is unfair. To me, yeah, jealous, sure. I mean, would you be jealous if someone got a $28 million shoe deal or whatever the deal is before you step foot in the pros? I just need us all to do a better job of holding room for multiple truths. (Michael) Jordan as a rookie, LeBron (James) as a rookie, (Victor Wembenyama) as a rookie, when you look at guys who have gone on to be great, I’m sure they would say their rookie years weren’t cakewalks.

“Now in the case of LeBron and Wemby this year, they have physically dominant and powerful statures and so maybe that has allowed them to skirt some of the curve. But Caitlin is a guard coming from college. She’s got to get her weight up. The W has to continue to allow her to be one of the leaders of this platform as Angel Reese has also been. My thing is it doesn’t have to be either or. It can be both. But the prevailing idea that it’s the W vs. Caitlin and these women don’t understand the power of the eyeballs the audience she’s helped grow the league to, that’s just unfair. And that’s what bothers me.”

McNutt pointed out how Smith is seen by many as the face of ESPN so his voice carries a lot of weight. The confines of television only allow so much time that typically doesn’t afford nuance, but this might not be the end of Smith and McNutt’s dustup.