Pat McAfee’s rise in Indiana has included a turn as a Pacers superfan this postseason, with the former Colts punter hyping up the crowd during home games. On Friday during Game 4, McAfee was not afraid to call out another media member in his speech.
Stephen A. Smith was caught in McAfee’s crosshairs on Friday, as the ESPN talking head was in Indiana for the network’s coverage of the NBA Finals. McAfee and Smith have been co-workers ever since McAfee’s show began airing on ESPN, but the two have big personalities and histories of beefs.
Here’s what McAfee said during Game 4.
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Pat McAfee calls out Stephen A. Smith during Game 4 of NBA Finals
In the second half of Game 4 in Indiana, Pat McAfee took the microphone to hype up the Pacers’ crowd. At the time, the Pacers were up three points and had controlled most of the game.
“Even though we’re up 2-1 in the series with home-court advantage coming into tonight’s game, the Oklahoma City Thunder were favored to win the NBA Title!” McAfee said in his speech. “Coming into tonight’s game, Oklahoma City was favored by 6.5 points! That makes us the biggest underdogs in NBA Finals history!”
Then, McAfee called out two entities for their lack of knowledge: sportsbooks and Stephen A. Smith.
“The sportsbooks don’t know, Stephen A. Smith doesn’t know,” he said, as the crowd roared in agreement.
Pat McAfee hyping up the Pacers crowd:
“The sportsbooks don’t know, Stephen A. Smith doesn’t know…” pic.twitter.com/E0dHhRcLMu
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) June 14, 2025
Oklahoma City went on to defeat the Pacers 111-104, making McAfee’s hype video fall a little flat.
One of Smith’s co-hosts on ESPN’s pregame show, Kendrick Perkins, didn’t appear to enjoy McAfee’s WWE-style performance:
“By the way, Pat McAfee, in OKC, we don’t need nobody on the mic to get them hyped. They’re gonna be hyped. That building is gonna be rocking.”
Kendrick Perkins responds to Pat McAfee hyping the Indiana crowd up. pic.twitter.com/fEF24ky3Zw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 14, 2025
Smith addressed it shortly after, noting that he was correct in picking the Thunder before laughing it off and saying he “loved” McAfee’s trash talk.
McAfee and Smith have a previous beef dating back over a year when they reportedly yelled at each other over “creative differences” about an ESPN project. According to a New York Post report, Smith banned McAfee from “First Take” before rescinding the ban soon after.
The two reportedly squashed their beef since, but they remain two of the biggest names on ESPN. Additionally, since this report came out, McAfee’s Pacers and Smith’s Knicks have played in the NBA playoffs twice, with Indiana winning both times.
For now, it appears McAfee will avoid another multi-day media cycle over his in-game antics, unlike earlier in the playoffs when he verbally sparred with John Mellencamp and Ben Stiller during the Pacers-Knicks series.
MORE THUNDER-PACERS GAME 4:
Stephen A. Smith solitaire
Smith wasn’t making the rounds on social media solely because of McAfee’s taunt during Game 4. His eventful night continued when he was caught playing solitaire on his phone instead of watching the game, which was notable considering how close the game was.
How can you have all of these opinions while you’re playing solitaire instead of watching the game @stephenasmith? pic.twitter.com/fqjnQLOHXU
— Kimberly (@BleedBlue1986) June 14, 2025
Smith took partial ownership of it, arguing he could “multi-task” and that this was largely during timeouts.
Yep! That’s me. Who would’ve thought….I can multi-task. Especially during TIMEOUTS! Hope y’all are enjoying the NBA Finals.
This is going 7 games now, peeps! https://t.co/nLdWJf5vqf
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 14, 2025
