"We have suffered before you were even born" - Stephen A. Smith rips Knicks & RJ Barrett for whining about him

Stephen A. Smith has been very critical of the New York Knicks, who are trying to erase a deficit in their second-round series against the Miami Heat. As a lifelong Knicks fan, Smith has never shied away from giving his honest takes on the franchise.

Smith has criticized the team repeatedly. He called the series over after the Heat won 109-101 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead. In addition, he expressed his digust with Julius Randle, and said that he threw up while watching Game 4.

Now, Smith has learned that some of the Knicks' best players, specifically RJ Barrett, aren't too pleased with his comments. On Wednesday's episode of 'First Take', Smith fired back at them:

"To the New York Knicks. ... Specifically RJ Barrett, but I'm sure there are others. Word has gotten to me that you all have been complaining about me. You have a problem with some of the things that I have said. I want to say this to the New York Knicks, I don't give a damn. Not even a little bit."

"I ain't going to lose a second of sleep over how you feel about what I've said no matter who you talk to. I [have] loved the New York Knicks all my life. ... We as New York Knick fans have suffered for over 50 years."

Looking back at Stephen A. Smith's previous comments about the Knicks

While Smith has always been pretty critical of the team, the straw that broke the camel's back was his comments about their Game 4 performance. The day after their 109-101 loss to the Heat, Smith went off on the team:

"I am utterly disgusted. I vomited last night watching them, I have to admit that. I literally vomited. I threw up because they were that damn awful. I mean, they put construction workers to shame. They can’t shoot.

"You got a star in Julius Randle that gets petulant and petty when he’s not shooting the ball well, so he does everything else wrong.”

Jimmy Butler & RJ Barrett

But that wasn't all. Smith personally took aim at some of the team's best players, specifically Julius Randle and RJ Barrett. He was especially disgusted with Randle.

“I’m so disgusted with Julius Randle,” he said. “I’m so disgusted with RJ Barrett – a little less than Julius Randle. I’m not disgusted with anybody more than I’m disgusted with Julius Randle. I’m on the verge of asking him to be traded. I’m just disgusted. I think that this series is over.”

The Knicks bounced back in Game 5 to stave off elimination. They will try to bring the series back to MSG for Game 7 with a win against the Heat on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm/ET.