Stephen A. Smith, like many other sports fans, swiftly chastised Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter on Wednesday for committing a “cardinal sin.”
Unlike other fans, Smith turned the news into an emotional statement in support of disgraced MLB legend Pete Rose.
“The reality is, he deserved to be banned,” Smith said. “Everybody knows you can’t bet on your own sport … you damn sure shouldn’t be limiting your own (availability) and leaking confidential information to bettors. This is why one of the cardinal rules is not to bet on the sport … there’s no excuse for it.
“This is an egregious crime.”
Smith then took off in an unexpected direction, saying what Porter has been accused of bears little resemblance to the gambling scandal that tarnished Rose’s reputation. Rose, MLB’s all-time hits leader, received a lifetime ban from the sport in 1989 and has not been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“I’m a person who’s been on the record on numerous occasions in the past saying Pete Rose should be inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Smith said before citing several reasons he feels that way. “No. 1, they never said he bet as a player. No. 2, they never proved he bet on his team to lose, which is what Jontay Porter was accused of.
“No. 3, my attitude is when he had that 44-game hitting streak, when he was absolutely positive box office, you sat up there and exploited him then. You never gave back the money; you never gave back the revenue …
“So if you don’t have any evidence whatsoever that this man compromised his performance or that of his team … then why try to act like this dude doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame?”
