Stephen A. Smith appears to still have the NFL on his mind during the ongoing NBA playoffs.
The leading ESPN personality Smith went viral on Sunday over a bad mistake that he made while providing pregame coverage of Game 7 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets. Ahead of the second-round playoff contest at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, O.K., Smith stated on ESPN that he was picking the Thunder to win. Smith’s reasoning was that he was expecting a big game from [checks notes] “Jamal Williams.”
Take a look at the video.
Malika Andrews: “why do you think OKC is going to win?”
Stephen A Smith: “i think Jamal, Jamal Williams is going to show up”
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24)
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) May 18, 2025
Smith was obviously referring to Thunder forward Jalen Williams but must have gotten him mixed up with Nuggets guard Jamal Murray. As a result, Smith had many viewers wondering why NFL running back Jamaal Williams was getting a mention ahead of an NBA playoff game. Making matters even worse was that Smith attempted to correct himself there at the end but muttered something that ended up sounding like “Caleb Williams” instead.
The real Jalen Williams was coming off a brutal Game 6 performance against the Nuggets during which he put up a six-point stinker and got the meme treatment online. But Williams indeed went on to have a phenomenal Game 7, posting 24 points, five rebounds, and seven assists on 10/17 shooting as the Thunder cruised into the Western Conference Finals with a one-sided 125-93 victory over the Nuggets.
As for Smith, these names just have a tendency of eating him up. In a social media post last month, Smith made an even funnier mistake with a basketball name.
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