The New York Knicks looked on the brink when the Atlanta Hawks stormed back-to-back wins in Round 1. They took a 2-1 series lead, sending Stephen A. Smith into panic mode. Well, no one took the losses more personally than the veteran analyst. And he did what he does best: turned the volume all the way up. He blasted coach Mike Brown and the Knicks squad. But since then, however, they have not lost a game. With their remarkable 13-win run now stretching into the NBA Finals, one question refuses to go away: does Smith deserve credit for his outburst that sparked the turnaround?

“They ain’t lost a game since they lost the game since that rant, so y’all could talk about me all y’all want to. I’ll do it again,” Smith said on Monday’s edition of First Take. Now, does Smith, who is a diehard fan of the Knicks, deserve a ring for sticking around? “I don’t want one. Only Spike Lee deserves that,” Stephen A. said. “I don’t deserve that, but I will tell you this much. I’m telling you this right now. I don’t need one. Been a Knick fan all my life. We waited 53 years. Don’t blow this. Don’t blow this at all.”

Smith doesn’t want any ring for supporting the New York Knicks or blasting them earlier in April. Instead, he strongly believes Spike Lee deserves it all. The lifelong Knicks fan fell in love with them when he was 13. He was present at MSG during Game 7 when New York won their title. Lee has held season tickets since 1985, and fans spot him at almost every game. He wears the orange and blue with pride and has been around since forever. Therefore, Stephen A. believes the franchise should credit the legendary filmmaker before him.

Now, going back to April 23, Stephen A. Smith wasn’t happy with Jalen Brunson & Co. Another 1-point loss to the Hawks threw Smith into a raging fit. “Let me tell y’all something right now: change is coming to New York City. It’s going to be another head coach in New York City,” he ranted on live television. “If they lose this series, several players are going to be gone from New York City. Y’all lose, y’all go ahead and lose this game. Y’all go ahead and lose the series. New York Knicks, you just a bunch of sorry a**es right now.”

Despite leading the first quarter, New York lost its ground as CJ McCollum rose to the occasion, handing them a 108-109 loss. Meanwhile, SAS threw Mike Brown on the chopping board, followed by Mikal Bridges.

“Mikal Bridges, Leon Rose, the honeymoon’s over, dog. The honeymoon’s over. Enough of all of this basketball purgatory. Before you arrived, you were doing well, and then you messed up. And why’d you mess up?” Smith asked. Bridges had finished the game with zero points to offer, which upset the 58-year-old.

One might say that Stephen A.’s crash-out was valid in that situation. And maybe that truly was the turning point for the New York Knicks. They currently have the highest winning percentage by a team in the 2026 playoffs, winning 87.5% of the time. Who knows, someone might have played Smith’s rant in the locker room, which truly shifted their brain chemistry? So, that’s why, contradictory to his current “I don’t want credit” mode, Smith did feel he deserved something from the franchise.

At first, Stephen A. Smith wanted credit for the Knicks’ Finals run

The veteran analyst recently quipped that he helped the New York Knicks reach the 2026 NBA Finals. It’s just that after he ranted in April, they didn’t lose a game in the playoffs. The Knicks went 3-2 against Atlanta and had double clean sweeps against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. And that took them to the Finals for the first time since 1999.

Thus speaking on First Take, Smith said, “I deserve some credit, so I’m gonna take it. When I called the Knicks out, I almost had a stroke on national television; they didn’t lose since. They’ve been 11-0. So I’m looking at the New York Knicks, and I’m saying, ‘Yo, there’s a level of urgency.'” He further went on with his preaching, “It’s not just because it’s the NBA Finals. The Spurs can kick your a**! You gotta show up; you gotta show up! You got people out there talking about the Knicks might win in five. The Spurs might win in five!”

Well, it’s difficult to say whether Stephen A. Smith helped the Knicks change their playoff trajectory this season. But it is safe to say that the 58-year-old doesn’t want any rings or credit anymore. He just hopes New York doesn’t blow up this chance of winning the title after five decades.