The New Orleans Pelicans social media team hilariously trolled Stephen A. Smith on Twitter for the second time in a week.
Last week, the team responded to Smith’s criticism of star forward Zion Williamson with a hilarious highlight reel of Smith looking unathletic.
The video, captioned with “flock it Stephen A. Smith highlights,” is a 30-second highlight reel of Smith air balling jump shots, throwing horrible first pitches, falling on the ground and boxing rather feebly overlayed with audio of his Williamson criticism.
flock it, Stephen A. Smith highlights. pic.twitter.com/jWdaEBeTis
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 23, 2024
The video, which includes a photo of his 1990-1991 season stats at Winston Salem State University in which he apparently averaged 1.5 points per game, is objectively hilarious. (RELATED: ‘He’ll Eat The Table’: Stephen A. Smith Reveals Outlandish Comment Sources Revealed To Him About NBA Superstar)
Smith clapped back at the Pelicans with a 10-minute rant posted to Twitter with the caption “You got my attention, Pelicans.”
But the Pels’ social media team, proving how much more socially savvy they are than Smith, responded with a hilarious and popular meme that said “I ain’t watching all that. I’m happy for u tho. Or sorry that happened.”
https://t.co/IlAhx3RfZe pic.twitter.com/p4ygEg0D5R
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 27, 2024
Just brilliant. *Chefs kiss.* An absolute masterclass of trolling in the internet age. Really a Trump-like effort in my opinion.
Oh, you’re going to post a 10-minute video countering us point by point? Yeah, we don’t care. Here’s a meme. Read it and weep, dork.
I like Stephen A., and I think this whole beef is definitely in good nature. But the episode is a clear display of the clashes between linear media and the burgeoning online ecosystem.
Smith, the undisputed king of linear sports media, has been trying to break into the online game recently with his podcast and more and more social media videos. But the Pelicans are clearly exposing how out of his depth Smith is in this arena.