Suns owner Mat Ishbia had a message for Stephen A. Smith during a news conference on Thursday, essentially telling the sports talk host that he would be eating his words after the ESPN talking head ripped him.
Smith made the comment on “First Take” earlier this week, saying that the Suns head was “on the verge of being recognized as the worst owner in the history of basketball.”
Ishbia was given the chance to respond on Thursday during an end-of-the-season press conference, where he said that people “don’t take much he says seriously,” before predicting Smith would say he was sorry.
“He’ll apologize,” Ishbia said of Smith. “I think he was out of line. And I think he knows that. I don’t think he really believes that.”
The Suns owner rattled off what he’s done for the community and investing in the team, as well for the WNBA’s Mercury.
“Stephen A. Smith, I don’t take much he says seriously. I don’t think many people do, to be honest with you,” Ishbia said. “The things he said about Kevin Durant, just wrong and disrespectful. The things he said about LeBron James, just disrespectful and inappropriate. With that being said, I don’t really think Stephen A. believes what he said. I think he’s doing his thing, he’s on the mic and … I think he’ll apologize to me because it’s disrespectful to put my name aligned with anybody that was kicked out of the league or no longer part [of the league].”
Ishbia might be waiting a while before he gets that apology, though Smith seemed ready to respond, first online before a plan to address the issue on ESPN’s airwaves on Friday.
“I look forward to responding to this on @FirstTake tomorrow morning,” he wrote on X. “I love how folks intentionally misconstrue just to avoid the real subject at hand….what I was really saying. But that’s okay! I look very much forward to providing clarification. My pleasure. See y’all in the morning!”
Ishbia labeled the 2024-25 season as a “failure” during the news conference, and the organization is headed into the offseason with plenty of questions.
The Suns finished with a 36-46 record and fired head coach Mike Budenholzer.