Stephen A Smith doesn’t totally dismiss Celtics' Joe Mazzulla NBA fighting take

Smith didn’t overly dismiss the idea of allowing more physicality, as most have across various NBA shows and podcasts, but instead put the quote into its proper context regarding how the league is officiated in 2024.

“Mazulla is the kind of guy because obviously they talk about him in martial arts and you know he doesn’t mind fighting or what have you. I would say this: I wouldn’t go as far as he said it, but I do think that the NBA, I’m not talking about the players. I’m talking about the way the game is called. I do think that it’s gotten a bit too soft,” Smith said. “The slightest thing, even cats jawing at one another, you can get T’d up for crying out loud. I think that’s a bit excessive.

“Guys are hyper, guys are motivated, they’re going after it. What have you? You want to find yourself in a situation where you’re literally going at one another, and you’re going all out. If that means getting in each other’s face and jawing with one another without the fist cuffs, I don’t have a problem with that,” Smith concluded.

Stephen A Smith: Malice at the Palace forever changed the NBA

In his response to Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla’s controversial stance on allowing fighting to take place in the NBA, ESPN’s Stephen A Smith also referenced the 2005-06 NBA brawl involving spectators and players from the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers, which forever changed how officials approach games.

“After the Malice at the Palace in Auburn Hills, you just can’t find yourself in a situation where you’re, even though this is on the court as opposed to being in the stands, you can’t find yourself as a league condoning that by any stretch of the imagination, that’s a bit extreme,” Smith added. “But I do think that they need to stop acting. I’m talking about the league in terms of calling the game so softly, where guys are talking smack to one another warrants ejections, technicals, and all this other stuff.”