Stephen A. Smith issues humiliating apology and says he loves ‘the entire TNT team’ after public backlash over NBA coverage

STEPHEN A. Smith and Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green have buried the hatchet.

The four-time NBA champion apologized to Smith, 56, on Tuesday night for publicly criticizing the First Take analyst for past comments — and the sportscaster quickly reciprocated.

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“Apology accepted, my brother, @Money23Green,” wrote Stephen A. on a post not long after Green’s effort to make amends on Inside the NBA.

“Love is always here for you, my brother from Queens, Kenny, and the entire TNT team.

“Love you. I also apologize for anything I may have done.

“I’m not trying to hurt anyone. Now let’s enjoy this wonderful @NBA basketball we’re about to see.”

Green’s relationship with Stephen A. soured when the First Take star criticized the 6-foot-5 forward for infamously punching Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic during an NBA game in December.

The 2017 Defensive Player of the Year said he was “upset” with Stephen A. at last week’s appearance at Shaquille O’Neal’s podcast.

“The reason he pissed me off was because he hit me [up] and said, ‘Hey, it’s been hard for a lot of us to talk about you the last few days,'” Green, 34, told Shaq.

“Well, it was hard for me to watch… sit back and watch those who claim to know me and appreciate me as a human being, just explode at the narrative which was easy to do.

“I lost a lot of respect for a lot of people.”

Smith responded to Green’s First Take rebuke a few days later by saying “he has now lost respect” for the Warriors.

The ESPN star argued that his criticism was fair considering he had defended the controversial NBA forward numerous times.

“I love this brother, I have mad love for Draymond Green,” Stephen A. said in a long rant.

“I received an abundance of receipts – and Molly, you can be proof of this – where I defended [him].

“It’s been countless times. This man has been ejected from games 20 times in his career. Only Rasheed Wallace has been ejected more.

Stephen A. Smith’s journey through the media

STEPHEN A. Smith is now the face of ESPN and executive producer of First Take, having initially started working for the company in 2003.

Smith has held numerous roles at the network, including radio show host, contributions to SportsCenter and appearance on NBA Countdown.

He was a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1994 to 2010.

He started as an NBA writer before becoming a general sports columnist.

Prior to that, Smith worked as a reporter at the Winston-Salem Journal, the Greensboro News and the New York Daily News.

“In a nine-month period last year, Draymond Green was suspended four times.

“I love this brother, I think he’s a great person…but sometimes he seemed out of control on the basketball court.”

Stephen A. added that Green could have reached out privately to talk about his issues with the First Take analyst’s comments.

And Green apparently thought that was a fair argument.

“I want to apologize publicly,” Green said after joining O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson on Inside the NBA, set before Game 4 in the Western Conference Finals.

“The way I wanted it to turn out, it didn’t happen.

“I was wrong about that. I apologize.”