Sports media is a brutal game these days, particularly in the NBA world, where talking heads are tasked with firing off the hottest takes possible on a daily basis without any repercussions for a misfire.

It takes a big man to admit when they were wrong on a take, and that’s exactly what ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith did recently when he backtracked on his initial opinion on one NBA trade deadline blockbuster.

“I think I was wrong when I first spoke about it,” when speaking about the Jimmy Butler trade to the Golden State Warriors, to which host Malika Andrews reacted with shock and made him repeat his words, before adding “When you have a guy that can get to the free throw line as frequently as Jimmy Butler, who’s second in usage rate on the team, what happens then is you’re giving him a break. That to me makes Golden State very, very potent,” Smith said during Sunday’s episode of NBA Countdown.

“I think I was wrong.”@stephenasmith is shifting his perspective on Jimmy Butler and the Warriors this season 😯 pic.twitter.com/Ikknv0xdZX

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 23, 2025

Smith added that while he doesn’t see the Warriors winning the West, he can’t dismiss the improvements that have been made with Butler added to the mix and acknowledges them as a legitimate threat.

Butler has been a free-throw machine in his five games in Golden State, averaging 9.4 attempts per game for a team that was one of the worst in the league at drawing fouls prior to his arrival.

It has only been five games, but the early indications are that this could work and the Warriors are not to be dismissed.

NEXT:  Jimmy Butler Has Been Dominating Since Trade With Warriors