Stephen A. Smith got a wake-up call on Friday, June 23, when a statement he made on First Take one day earlier came back to bite him in the form of a letter that was delivered to ESPN from an attorney, and subsequently shared on social media, by the subject of an insensitive remark he made, with the hashtag #slander. The written communication was drawn up by Saam Zangeneh, a lawyer for retired NBA star Lamar Odom, who had clearly taken exception to Smith using a reference to Odom's history of drug abuse to defame Phil Jackson.

Jackson has become the butt of criticism from many over the past week since the rumor of him concocting offseason plans to trade Kristaps Porzingis became public. Smith is one of Jackson's more fervent critics, poured it on the Knicks president in a rant during which he took listeners back in recalling that Jackson's very first move as New York basketball's highest executive was to sign Odom, who he said: "was on crack." The following afternoon came Odom's #slander tweet, which conveyed a screenshot of his lawyer's letter with an additional hashtag that read, #ihopewearebetterthanthis.

“Mr. Smith chose to shout out the fact that Lamar was sick and to use his disease as the butt of a joke. To say that his conduct was outrageous and unacceptable does not scratch the surface," the letter at one point read, on behalf of Odom. Zangeneh had first pointed out that the National Institute of Drug Abuse categories substance abuse as a disease. He'd go on to request that ESPN follows up on Smith's irresponsible statement by extending itself to the community struggling with drug addiction, but not before further elaborating on the impact such comments as those made by Smith have on addicts.

“Think about the others that are battling addiction. Those that have not had the strength of opportunity to share their struggle like Lamar. Imagine the effect this grotesque statement would have on any young athlete who is privately fighting this disease. To become the punch line of a vulgar joke,” the letter read.

Source: bleacherreport.com