It was inevitable that Stephen A. Smith was going to jump into the recent drama surrounding Ayesha Curry. But he couldn’t respond to Stephen Curry’s direct call-out of other sportscasters without looking back on his own past commentary. He took to his YouTube show to address the Curry family situation, in which the Golden State Warriors star defended his wife’s acting career. Smith is explicitly refusing to join in on recent criticisms directed at Ayesha Curry. But that’s partly because he’s done that before and got scorched.
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In a candid commentary on his YouTube show, Smith reflected on the unique stature of the 4x NBA champion, emphasizing that certain athletes command a level of respect that shields their personal lives from cheap shots. Highlighting Curry’s pristine reputation, Smith opened up about his deliberate choice to steer clear of recent online discourse regarding Ayesha’s first leading role on Second Chance Holiday.
“There are certain people who come along in life that are just so incredibly special as human beings that they should be taken into consideration when you say anything about their family. Steph Curry’s one of those people. I’m not getting into specifics. I never watched his wife on the Roku show or anything like that. I don’t know. I had no comments about it. But even if I saw something, I wasn’t going to comment. Not in a critical fashion because the first thought that would enter my mind is him.”
Smith addressed his decision to speak about Ayesha with a direct callback to 2016, when he joined a chorus of backlash directed at her.
“Now, not to be a hypocrite, I remember back in 2016 or so when, in a 73 and 9 season, the Golden State Warriors had made, you know, some noise because Ayesha Curry was, you know, involved in an incident entering the arena. But if you remember, although it might have been ill-advised for me to say, all I was pointing to is that your husband’s in the Finals and that you don’t ever want to find yourself in any kind of situation that distracts him while he’s trying to win a championship because you’re an extension of him.”
He continued to unpack the fallout from the 2016 NBA Finals, making clear that his perspective was rooted in media strategy rather than a personal attack. He even drew a sweeping parallel to the political landscape of 2016.
“And I remember that I got in some trouble because people took that the wrong way. I wasn’t saying a negative word about Steph Curry or her on a personal level. I’m just saying that you’re an extension of him. What I should have added is at the time Hillary Rodham Clinton was running for the presidency of the United States of America, and Bill Clinton should be careful to make sure not to do anything that would distract attention away from her or bring any kind of negativity in her direction because she’s running for the presidency. It wasn’t a gender thing. I’m simply saying to that person that’s in the public eye, loved ones should safeguard them.”
“Some trouble” is an understatement. Headlines then carried the word ‘mansplain,’ criticizing Smith for his rant on Ayesha.
During a tense Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals, the record-setting 73-9 Golden State Warriors faced mounting pressure against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Stephen Curry fouled out and was ultimately ejected after throwing his mouthpiece into the stands.
Amid the high-stakes chaos, Ayesha Curry took to Twitter to express her immediate frustration, famously posting that the game was “rigged for money” before quickly deleting the post.
That single tweet ignited a massive firestorm across national sports media. The following morning on ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless sharply criticized Ayesha for publicizing her frustration.
In many words, he said Ayesha “stepped out of line, she stepped out of pocket,” and “You can’t get caught up in your own individual emotions and having this zest to speak out, to the point where it compromises your husband… That is not what you should be doing, and the fact that she did that, she was wrong. It came off across as very classless.”
What really irked social media was his very lengthy comparison to LeBron’s wife, Savannah James. Ayesha herself took exception to it and called him out, writing, “@stephenasmith why are you putting two women against each other like that? You’re the one that’s out of pocket.”
Steph Curry also defended his wife then, saying, “I don’t fault her from showing some emotion on Twitter.”
Smith’s 2016 comparisons drew heavy public blowback, with many accusing the First Take commentators of holding women to restrictive, outdated standards regarding how an NBA spouse should behave. In 2026, hindsight has kept SAS off the Ayesha topic.
In his YouTube show last night, Smith reiterated his deep admiration for the Currys’ unmatched grace, ensuring that any lingering hostility from past debates was put firmly to rest.
“But outside of that, certain things are reserved, dare I say, special or preferential treatment for somebody who’s earned it. And one of those rare human beings we have seen on the planet Earth is Steph Curry. When do you hear anything about Steph Curry, y’all? When does Steph Curry say or do anything wrong to anybody, y’all? Just class personified. And by the way, Ayesha Curry is a wonderful woman, too.”
Smith also praised Gilbert Arenas, Nick Young, and Emmanuel Acho for immediately responding to Steph’s call-out with apologies. He’s probably also glad he wasn’t on the list of names that were on Curry’s hit list.