Look: Stephen A. Smith Has 4-Word Message For Brian Windhorst

Stephen A. Smith often captures the sports world’s attention with loud, passionate rants. When the ESPN personality missed Friday’s episode of First Take, Brian Windhorst went viral in an entirely different matter.

Windhorst took viewers on an unusual journey in a segment regarding the Utah Jazz, who made a “very strange” trade by sending Royce O’Neale to the Brooklyn Nets for a first-round pick.

Rather than saying, “The Jazz might be up to something big,” Windhorst cryptically questioned their intentions during an unusual, but gripping two minutes.

The Jazz were indeed up to something. Later that day, they shipped off star center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for multiple players and first-round draft picks. 

Smith praised his colleague for foreshadowing a blockbuster while playing along with the now-viral moment.

When paired with animated hand motions, most notably the widely shared image of Windhorst’s fingers pointing up that Smith posted, the ESPN insider has turned into a meme.

Social media started having fun with Windhorst’s speech before the Gobert trade put it in a different light. While the fellow panelists seemed perplexed listening to his thought process unfold, his point makes more sense in hindsight.

Following six straight playoff berth, none of which led to a Western Conference Finals appearance, the Jazz appear to be retooling under executive Danny Ainge.

Windhorst, meanwhile, will keep going viral for a bit longer.