Following tennis star Naomi Osaka’s media boycott of the French Open, reputed sports journalist Stephen A. Smith said this week that he believes athletes should uphold their media obligations, but he also applauded Osaka for speaking out about mental health.
During Tuesday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take, Smith shared that he is still learning to cope with the death of his mother, who died four years ago.
“I do not want to be here. But I have a job, I signed up and the NBA Playoffs are going on and people expect to hear from me.”
While he can relate to the need to bring more awareness to those dealing with depression and other mental health issues, Smith expressed that the media plays a critical part in growing the sports landscape.
“You have media obligations, they are a part of your contractual obligations,” Smith said. “Because the media is what enables the sport to be promoted, and the promotion of the sport is what generates the revenue … And as a result, that’s what ultimately assists in the athletes getting paid the money that they get paid.”
“But that doesn’t mean we shred our humanity and ignore the profound impact that mental health issues have and exist with all of us,” the ESPN host continued.
For the 53-year-old journalist, seeking help from professionals as he mourned his mother allowed him to get on TV and discuss his journey.
"Anxiety wasn’t my issue, but of course I’ve been devastatingly depressed, and I was in therapy for three years," Smith revealed. “Acknowledging what my issue was, and going to seek help, helped me to be able to come on national television and be able to articulate positions like this. Because before, I didn’t get it.”
Recently, Smith has been critical of mercurial Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who said prior to the start of the NBA playoffs that there are more significant things to focus on than basketball.
“A lot of stuff is going on in this world and basketball is just not the most important thing to me right now, there’s a lot of stuff going on overseas…there’s a lot of dehumanization going on,” Irving said in reference to the Palestine-Israel conflict, according to Mediaite.
Kyrie Irving comments on recent events around the world:
"It's sad to see this s— going on… it's all over the world, and I feel it… my goal and my purpose is to help humanity, and I can't sit here and not address that." pic.twitter.com/dDrpmZPP7F
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) May 15, 2021
"My goal and my purpose is to help humanity, and I can't sit here and not address that,” Irving said at a press conference last month.
Smith countered that Irving shouldn’t take focus away from his responsibilities as a pro basketball player, where he earns more than $33 million a year, per Basketball-Reference.com.
The ESPN journalist suggested that Irving’s comments insinuates that other people aren’t as concerned about social justice, which Smith stated simply isn’t true.
“How much would you be focused on these issues if you had to worry about paying your bills, feeding your family, surviving?” Smith asked of the seven-time NBA All-Star. “We don’t want to see people dying. We don’t want to see people struggling. We don’t want to see people starving. Of course, particularly if you’re Black. You have been ravaged by racism and prejudice and bigotry and being marginalized and minimized.”
When it comes to effectively voicing their concern to drum up support and awareness, the Stephen A’s World host said the tennis star is going about it the right way.
“She didn’t just snub her nose at the media,” Smith said. “She explained why. It makes perfect sense, it showed incredible courage and thoughtfulness on her part. And what I would encourage everybody to do is when somebody tells you something like that, you listen to them.”
