"I can't talk about sports?" - Stephen A. Smith fires back at Paul George's co-host for pointing fingers at his career as sports analyst

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith has never backed down from a challenge. He often calls out his critics and he is at it again.

Jackie Long recently called out Smith while co-hosting a podcast with NBA All-Star Paul George. Long questioned Smith’s credibility as a sports analyst. He even degraded Smith’s analysis to George by saying Smith never played professional sports. Smith did not take too kindly to the questioning remarks.

“You’re an actor and talk sports. How the hell do you get to sit next to Paul George and talk sports?” Smith said. “But I can’t talk about sports?”

Smith continued to go in on the actor. He even called out the actor’s career profile and Hollywood listing with a bit of a sarcastic tone.

“Jackie Long, my brother, they describe you as a B-list actor,” Smith said. “I didn’t know this about you. I wish you nothing but the best, I hope you become an A-list actor. If you become a star, I hope all of your dreams come true.”

Stephen A. Smith’s resume

Smith then backed up his claims by listing his accolades. He recapped much of his career to prove he knows what he is talking about.

“You’ve implied that I have no business talking about professional sports,” Smith said. “Did you know I started by covering Pop Warner (youth) football for a weekly newspaper?"

Smith gave more details to his newspaper and writing career. He went on to list his different stops as he climbed the ladder.

“Did you know I eventually interned and worked at multiple newspapers,” Smith said. “I spent the year living off of tuna fish and Kool-Aid.”

He also gave insight on his historical accomplishments. He gave some impressive stats from his career in typical Stephen A. bombastic style.

“Did you know when I got to the Philadelphia Inquirer, I was promoted nine different times?” Smith said. “Did you know that in 2003, I became the 21st African American to be named a general sports columnist in American history?”

He was not done there. To wrap up his tirade, he had a message for the haters.

“All of these sorry a**es that are out there talking smack. That are looking at me and wondering, who the hell am I to be in this position?” Smith said. “Do you notice that they never grab a microphone or a camera and invite y’all to watch while they put their resume up against mine? You know my resume.”

A lesson learned, do not come at Smith. Because when you come at the king, you best not miss.