Stephen A. Smith said he has a ‘better’ hairline than Derrick White
Charles Barkley said Derrick White's hairline looks like Stephen A. Smith's. The First Take host responded Thursday.
Derrick White scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Game 2, and while the Inside the NBA crew was discussing the highlights, Charles Barkley decided to poke fun at White’s hairline by comparing it to ESPN First Take host Stephen A. Smith’s.
Smith has had a receding hairline for years. White typically wears a headband when he plays.
“Is that Derrick White or Stephen A.?” Barkley said. “Damn, Derrick. Stephen A. plays for the Celtics. He does First Take in the morning and plays for the Celtics. This dude is going to be tired.”
Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith tried to steer the conversation back toward White’s on-court performance, but a giggling Shaquille O’Neal sang “You’ll never find a hairline line mine.”
Barkley joked that he’ll see the Celtics, and Derrick White’s forehead, in the Eastern Conference finals.
On Thursday, Smith responded to the jokes during an appearance on First Take.
“Listen, Derrick White is a very, very good player,” Smith said. “He’s also a very, very good man. I wish him nothing but the best. But I don’t think my hairline looks like that. I think it looks a little better than that.”
Smith said he texted Barkley and O’Neal when he heard about the comparison Tuesday night. Johnson is heard on the broadcast telling his co-hosts not to repeat the message Smith sent.
“First of all, the first thing I did was text them,” Smith said on Get Up. “I said, ‘I’m gonna get both of y’all.’ They were cracking up, dying laughing, texting me back like, ‘We love you, man.’ Oh, I’m gonna get y’all back.”
White has yet to publicly respond to Barkley’s comments.
The Celtics are scheduled to play Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Friday night in Atlanta. Boston leads the series 2-0.
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