Stephen A. Smith did not wait for halftime to demand change at Madison Square Garden.
The First Take host opened ESPN's Friday morning postgame show with a sustained on-air rant after the New York Knicks dropped Game 3 of their first-round series with the Atlanta Hawks 1-2, and he tied the loss directly to a roster move that has come to define this Knicks regime.
"Change is coming to New York City. It's going to be another head coach in New York City," Smith said. "If they lose this series, several players are going to be gone from New York City. Y'all lose. Y'all go ahead and lose this series, New York Knicks. I'm a bunch of sorry asses right now. I'm so sick of what I'm seeing right now."
The trigger was a stat line that Smith refused to let First Take co-host Shay Walker introduce. Mikal Bridges played 21 minutes in Game 3 and finished with zero points. Smith laid out the box score with the cadence of a man who had been waiting to do it.
"Game three. Four turnovers, three shot attempts, two assists, one rebound, no free throws, no points, no steals, no blocks. That's why we gave up five first-round picks."
The reference is to the trade that sent five first-round picks — four of them unprotected — from New York to Brooklyn for Bridges in the summer of 2024. Smith argued the deal looked acceptable when Bridges was producing as advertised, and unconscionable in a series like this one.
"That's why we don't have Giannis Antetokounmpo as a member of the New York Knicks right now, because we don't have assets," Smith said. "The honeymoon is over. Worldwide Wes, you too. The honeymoon is over. This is unacceptable. It's the first round of the playoffs. Last year we saw y'all two games away from an NBA Finals."
Smith's frustration extended to head coach Mike Brown, who replaced Tom Thibodeau last summer after Knicks ownership grew tired of Thibodeau's heavy minutes and clashes with the front office.
"It didn't happen when Tom Thibodeau was the head coach. That's right, Mike Brown. I'm saying something cause I love Mike Brown. But I'm very, very unhappy right now. The New York Knicks are stinking up the joint."
The First Take host singled out Jalen Brunson for the closing possessions of Game 3 — a sequence that ended with CJ McCollum's pull-up jumper sealing Atlanta's win.
"Jaylen Brunson, what's up? Last two offensive possessions. That's on you, dog. The air ball, the shot that you took, driving into the baseline, going to your left. From the right baseline, throwing a ball, turn the ball over."
Brunson, asked at his own postgame podium to walk through what he saw on the final two trips, came up empty.
"Wish I had a better answer for you. I got nothing right now," Brunson told reporters in Atlanta. "The reality of it is, it's a seven-game series for a reason. Stuff's going to happen. Plenty of teams have been down 1-2. I even think Oklahoma City was down 1-2 last year and they ended up winning it. So I'm not saying we're going to win it or anything like that, but the reality of it is it's seven games and you take one game at a time."
Smith was unmoved by the precedent. He kept hammering on the Hawks' opponent profile.
"This is Atlanta Hawks. Now I understand they're a good young team, and I understand they are up and coming, but they ain't there yet. You ain't supposed to be losing a game like this. The fact of the matter is the New York Knicks are a disappointment. They don't look anything like a championship team. They are on the verge of losing in the first round. We ain't even getting to Boston getting your asses back for what you did to them last year."
The Knicks rolled past the Celtics in last year's second round before falling to the Indiana Pacers in the conference finals. Boston, after surviving Philadelphia in five games this round, looms in the next bracket only if New York advances.
Smith's ultimatum landed on Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose and team owner James Dolan as much as on the players. He paused, then closed.
"If the New York Knicks lose this series, heads need to roll. I'm telling you that right now. I'm sick and tired of Leon Rose and riding the coattails of past purgatory acting like you're the savior. You were doing a good job until you messed up by giving up five first-round picks for a non-All-Star, which was inexcusable. Mikal Bridges, you're not a scrub, but damn it, you ain't looking too far from one the way you're performing in this series."
Game 4 tips off Sunday at State Farm Arena, with the Knicks looking to avoid the 3-1 deficit Smith warned would be terminal.
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*Originally published on [NBA News Global](https://nbanews.global/article/stephen-a-smith-knicks-rant-mikal-bridges-scoreless-five-first-round-picks-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
