No one is better at indirectly calling Stephen A. Smith out for something he said than Jalen Rose, and he appears to be at it again.

Smith might be on summer vacation from First Take, but that hasn’t stopped him from picking fights. Last week, Smith ignited a feud with Draymond Green and Jemele Hill after they questioned whether he should still be able to call himself an active journalist even though he no longer appears in locker rooms regularly. Smith went off on a rant where he mocked Hill’s laugh and accused her of implying that she spent more time in locker rooms than he did, even though she never made that implication.

During his rebuttal, Smith threw out that he’d be willing to debate the topic with Hill or Green on one of their various podcast platforms. And shortly after the proposal, Jalen Rose went on social media to post a vague gripe about media members sparking feuds and then offering to hash it out on a podcast.

The most phony thing amongst “media” members is “beefing” then saying I’ll go on your show or vice versa to discuss it. (see chasing clicks). LAME.

— Dr. Jalen Anthony Rose (@JalenRose) July 9, 2026

“The most phony thing amongst ‘media’ members is ‘beefing’ then saying I’ll go on your show or vice versa to discuss it. (see chasing clicks). LAME,” Rose wrote on X.

To be clear, Rose never named Stephen A. Smith, Jemele Hill, or any other media member in the post, but the timing was more than curious. And even if Rose wasn’t talking about Smith, the feud with Hill and Green must have prompted him to call it out as “phony.”

This also wasn’t the first time Rose appeared to take an indirect shot at Smith. Two years ago, Rose ripped the media for trashing athletes on the heels of Stephen A. Smith fat shaming Zion Williamson. And one year before that, Rose notably posted, “So glad I didn’t make a career of content pretending to fake troll the Cowboys.” The post came after Smith spent the morning on First Take drinking from a mug that read, “Cowboys fan tears.”

Rose later claimed he was referring to Skip Bayless, not Smith. The defense was strange considering Bayless is a Cowboys fan, while Smith relishes every opportunity to troll the franchise and its fanbase. Maybe Rose wasn’t talking about Smith this time either. But even if media beefs that lead to podcast invites are just “phony” attempts at chasing clicks, at least Smith leaves no doubt when he calls someone out.

The post Jalen Rose takes apparent shot at Stephen A. Smith: ‘Most phony thing’ appeared first on Awful Announcing.