Suns Owner Mat Ishbia Fires Back, Demands Stephen A. Smith Issue Apology for Outrageous NBA Owner Ranking

In the high-stakes arena of NBA ownership, where the balance between success and failure teeters on the edge of a razor, Mat Ishbia finds himself in a verbal squabble with none other than the outspoken ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith. Now, if we’re honest, here, it takes a certain kind of chutzpah—or sheer audacity, to challenge someone on national TV for doing… well, their job. But that’s just what Ishbia’s done. Following a particularly scathing critique from Smith, labeling him, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, as “on the verge of being recognized as the worst owner” in basketball history—no small feat, considering some of the legendary, and less than stellar, team managers the league has witnessed—Ishbia has clapped back…sort of.

Admitting while he doesn’t “take much of what Smith says seriously,” Ishbia has something else in mind: an apology. Yes, he believes that an apology is forthcoming. I mean, have we not seen this dance before? A heated debate sparking the airwaves, followed by a retreat to calmer waters through the olive branch of an on-air mea culpa?

Now here’s the deal: comparing Ishbia to Donald Sterling – remember that guy? – is a low blow, even for Smith’s sometimes bombastic rhetoric. Let’s be clear, Hurricane Sterling was a tempest in an affluent teapot for all the wrong reasons— racism, misogyny, you name it. Ishbia’s run with the Suns might be turbulent, but it’s nowhere near the legitimacy-challenging typhoon of Sterling’s tenure. Heck, the team has spun through coaches like I spin through my playlist on game day, and yeah, their record this season was flatter than a classic soda – 34-46 to be exact, missing the playoffs, and all with a “big three” that everyone thought would dominate. But still, he’s not Sterling.

Ishbia, seeing the Suns’ performance this year, admitted it was “embarrassing” and a “failure”, but when you juxtapose that against the backdrop of historical NBA owners? Smith’s comments seem a mite heated, perhaps a touch over the line. Yet, Ishbia believes in redemption, or at least, Smith seeing the error of his ways.

So what’s next? Will Smith take a knee and offer his verbal bouquet of ‘sorry’? Only time will tell, but given the tempestuous history of sports media, I suspect we’ll hear that apology. LEARN MORE: Read the full article here.

AdvertisementAs for the Sterling comparison, Ishbia doesn’t think that will stand for much longer.

“He’s doing his thing, he’s on the mic, and I think he’ll apologize to me because I think it’s disrespectful to put my name aligned with anybody that was kicked out of the league or no longer part of it,” he said.

Smith, earlier this week, went in on Ishbia on “First Take” and said he was one of the worst team owners in the history of the NBA with how he’s managed the Suns in the short time he’s been at the helm.

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“If he wants to say the first two and a half years Mat Ishbia bought the team, we didn’t win a championship, I think you could probably say that about almost every owner ever. But yeah, we had high expectations, but we didn’t win,” he said.

“If he wants to say the first two and a half years Mat Ishbia bought the team, we didn’t win a championship, I think you could probably say that about almost every owner ever. But yeah, we had high expectations, but we didn’t win,” he said.

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Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia isn’t happy with ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith.