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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Mike McDaniel

‘First Take’ Crew Roasts Stephen A. Smith for ‘Undercover Cop’ Fit at WNBA Finals

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is no stranger to jokes at his expense on his show, First Take.

Smith attended Game 4 of the WNBA Finals on Wednesday night at Barclays Center, where the Aces clinched their second consecutive title with a 70–69 victory over the Liberty.

But it wasn’t Smith’s presence at the game that caught his co-hosts’ attention. Instead, it was what he elected to wear to the game.

“Lookin’ like an extra from 21 Jump Street,” Kimberley Martin said with a smile on Thursday morning. 

“We saw you,” Dan Orlovsky added.

“We saw that fit,” Martin chimed in again. “Undercover.”

The First Take producers pulled up a still shot of Smith taking in the game with his backwards hat and HBCU letterman jacket.

“There’s my HBCU jacket,” Smith said, before talking about how he took his daughter to her first basketball game. 

“That look doesn’t make me think daddy-daughter,” Molly Qerim said.

Smith then asked Qerim what his look made her think.

“Undercover cop!” Martin chimed in, yet again without missing a beat, as the entire cast erupted in laughter.

Orlovsky then complimented Smith, saying that the look he sported at the game made him look “15 years younger.”

“You look like you’re 40 years old,” Orlovsky said. 

Smith had a big smile on his face when he said, “A lot of people are telling me I look younger these days, and I mean I do. What can I say?”

It’s not the first time that Smith, the executive producer of the show, has caught flack from his colleagues, and it certainly won’t be the last.

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