Stephen A. Smith apparently just learned why French is considered a love language.
The high-profile ESPN personality and sometimes political pundit raised eyebrows Friday when he admitted to being “turned on” after hearing colleague Chiney Ogwumike speaking in French.
“I gotta get a little personal for a second here,” Smith said to begin the awkwardness. “Listen, I’m living a good life, I’m pretty damn happy to say the least, but I must admit, in all my years on this earth, I’ve never dated a woman from France or anything like that. But after hearing Chiney, I was like, ‘What have I been missing? What have I been missing?’ That verbiage right there, that kinda turned me on.”
Friday’s “First Take” went off the rails and transformed into what resembled an old MTV dating show when Ogwumike — who is from Texas, although she did study international relations at Stanford — discussed the Timberwolves’ Game 3 home win over the Nuggets with a dialogue in French.
The former WNBA star said, “Bonjour, Stephen A.” before mentioning how Frenchman Rudy Gobert’s play in the series has been magnificent, using the French term for the word.
“I hope I did all the French people proud there with my pronunciation, I’m more of a Spanish girl,” she said, before Smith responded loudly: “You did. You did me proud.”
Ogwumike said she’s in “awe” of how Gobert has slowed down Nikola Jokic, holding him to just 15-of-46 shooting across the last two games, both Timberwolves’ wins.
“The Frenchman has taken this matchup personally,” she said of Gobert. “You have to give a lot of credit to the Frenchman for rising to the occasion in this moment.”
Stephen A. Smith admitted to being “kinda turned on” hearing a French accent. @awfulannouncing/X After Smith admitted to being aroused, he quickly tried to get back on track but repeated several words.
“Anyway, anyway, let me get back to the focus at hand,” Smith said. “I got, I got to tell ya, when ya, when ya, when ya look at Jokic in all seriousness…”
ESPN then cut to host Shea Cornette, who had her hand on her head in an “Oh, my God” expression.
Shea Cornette could not believe where the discussion veered. @awfulannouncing/X The Nuggets and Timberwolves battle in a critical Game 4 on Saturday night in Minnesota, with Denver needing a win to avoid a 3-1 series hole and a potential early offseason.
One can assume after Smith’s comments Friday morning that perhaps he’s already thinking about a trip to France once his downtime begins.
