*Looks like we won’t get that fight between Stephen A. Smith and Glenn Robinson.
The ESPN commentator shot down any notion of taking Robinson up on his invitation to fight him in a MMA cage match after the former NBA star called him out on “TMZ Sports.”
Appearing on “ESPN First Take,” Smith apologized to Robinson for putting him back in the news by going public with their decade-long feud during a radio interview last week.
“I despise him and he despises me,” Smith confessed on Sirius XM’s “Karen Hunter Show” while discussing race and sports.
As the interview continued, Smith went on to state that his beef with Robinson comes from the Big Dog talking about a pro-black agenda, yet treating the only black head coach he ever played for terribly.
“I saw this man march lock step with what (former Bucks Coach) George Karl wanted to do … but Randy Ayers becomes the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers … you treated this man like trash, but you’ll come and talk to reporters about how brothers need to facilitate brothers being hired, but you had one and how’d you treat him?” Smith said.
READ RELATED STORY: Stephen A. Smith Says Racism ‘Doesn’t Exist’ for College Students
On Tuesday (Mar. 22), Robinson responded to Smith’s comments as he detailed a recent encounter between them at a game to TMZ Sports, OnMilwaukee reports. The incident, Robinson shared, is the “real reason he despises me,” not the alleged racial hypocrisy Smith has mentoned as the cause for all the hate.
“It almost got physical, and we know what the outcome would’ve been if things had gotten physical,” Robinson said. “I probably would’ve ended up getting a big, healthy, Ron Artest fine, and he probably would’ve sued me for $67 of my $68 million (rookie) contract. So at the end of the day, it really wasn’t worth it.”
From there, Robinson issued his challenge to Smith as a way to reach a resolution.
“I don’t want the brother to despise me for another 12 years,” Robinson said. “So if he really wants to, we can set something up and put it on TMZ Sports and we can take it to the cage. Let’s get it off your chest my brother.”
Although Smith broke down with an apology, the sports TV personality emphasized that he still has beef with Robinson as he voiced that they will always hate each other. As for those racial hypocrite allegations Smith made against Robinson, don’t worry. Smith emphasized that they are 100% true.
READ RELATED STORY: Watch Stephen A. Smith Threaten Kevin Durant: ‘You Don’t Wanna Make an Enemy Out of Me’ (Full Video)
So why won’t Smith just settle things once and for all with Robinson with a fight? To hear Smith tell it, “the street in me” wanted to handle it one way … but the “grown man” in him convinced him to go another direction.
In other words…
Check out Smith’s interview and weigh in below to fill in the rest of that last sentence regarding his reason for not fighting Robinson.
source: TMZ
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