“THIS IS NO LONGER BATON ROUGE!” – Stephen A. Smith mocked Angela Reese’s delusion of “becoming the next Michael Jordan” after her missed 4-point shot. It was a slap in the face to her own self-esteem and to those who once praised her basketball talent.

THIS IS NO LONGER BATON ROUGE!” – Stephen A. Smith mocked Angela Reese’s delusion of “becoming the next Michael Jordan” after her missed 4-point shot. It was a slap in the face to her own self-esteem and to those who once praised her basketball talent.

Angel Reese’s Michael Jordan Claim Collided With a Humiliating 4-Point Reality
The arena of professional basketball is a crucible designed to test the limits of human potential, but it is also an unforgiving landscape where ego and reality often collide in spectacular fashion. For Angel Reese, the Chicago Sky forward who carries the mantle of the “Bayou Barbie” with unapologetic swagger, that collision arrived not with a whimper, but with the full-throated, televised fury of Stephen A. Smith.

The controversy, already simmering with the heat of the Reese-Clark rivalry, exploded after Reese, in an audacious moment of supreme confidence, invoked the name of Michael Jordan when discussing her potential legacy. The timing could not have been more catastrophically poor. That self-proclaimed titan status was immediately juxtaposed with a career-low, bafflingly inadequate four-point performance—a stat line so glaring it read like a typo on the box score. With her rival, the injured Caitlin Clark, sidelined, Reese had the entire spotlight to seize the narrative. Instead, she offered the ultimate counter-narrative of unfulfilled potential, opening the door for Smith to execute what many are calling the most brutal on-air demolition of a young star in recent memory.

The Demolition by Stephen A. Smith: “Did I Miss Six Championships?”
The reaction from the formidable voice of sports media was swift and merciless. Stephen A. Smith, known for his relentless, theatrical critiques, didn’t just disagree with Reese’s comparison; he launched a full-scale verbal assault that has sent shockwaves through the WNBA community and beyond.

On his platform, Smith dismantled the notion that Reese was anywhere near the WNBA’s elite, let alone in the same stratosphere as the greatest basketball player of all time. His incredulity was thundering and dripping with skepticism:

“Michael Jordan? I’m sorry, did I miss six championships? Did I miss an MVP trophy? Did I miss her averaging 30 a game?”

The studio audience, and the vast audience watching across the nation, erupted. Smith gave voice to a growing, season-long discomfort among critics: that Reese’s on-court production was operating at a dramatic deficit to her colossal off-court brand and bravado. The Jordan comparison was instantly rebranded from confidence to a level of delusion that, to many veterans of the game, bordered on disrespect.

Smith’s critique was not born of malice, but of a surgical, professional breakdown. He acknowledged Reese’s impressive rebounding numbers but pointedly argued that they were not translating into the most vital currency in professional sports: offensive efficiency and, ultimately, victories. “You can’t rebound your way into greatness,” he declared, adding the stinging observation that Reese was collecting boards like “luxury handbags”—pretty to look at, impressive for the highlight reel, but ultimately irrelevant when the scoreboard shows a loss. The fundamental task of a star post player is to consistently put the ball in the basket, and on that front, Smith hammered home, Reese was failing spectacularly.

The Unforgiving Professional Numbers