"I accept your apology" - Rashad McCants quashes beef with Stephen A. Smith over Kobe Bryant GOAT case

Rashad McCants and Stephen A. Smith have had a back-and-forth this week as part of a spirited debate regarding the NBA GOAT. In the past, Smith has vocalized his belief that nobody can compare to Michael Jordan and his on-court greatness. Despite LeBron James' accomplishments, Smith considers him No. 2 of all time.

Six days ago, Smith fired back at McCants for alleging that he only mentions Bryant to extend his narrative. In a response video released as part of his Stephen A. Smith Show, the longtime TV personality shot down Bryant's case for being the second-greatest player.

Smith explained Bryant's points, assists and rebounding averages from his career cannot be compared to James. He also argued that although Bryant has more rings than LeBron, three of his rings were won alongside Shaquille O'Neal. O'Neal was one of the greatest big men of all time,

In response, McCants fired back in a recent episode of Gil's Arena, where he addressed Smith directly, accepting his apology.

"I accept your apology, clear as day. I didn't need Shaq to go do that, but I appreciate my brother Shaq stepping- because I guess it was only two people that it struck a chord with out of all the 5000 players that ever watched Kobe play, me and Shaq felt some type of way."

"... Bro this is my bro, that's all I was saying, this is my bro. But thank you for the 12 minutes of promo, my IG is on fire."

Shaquille O'Neal responds to Stephen A. Smith regarding Kobe Bryant amid Rashad McCants' comments

As Rashad McCants indicated, he was not the only one to take umbrage with Stephen A. Smith's comments regarding Kobe Bryant. Like McCants, Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal responded to Smith for his hot-take regarding Bryant.

After Allen Iverson indicated in a separate interview that the GOAT debate comes down to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, O'Neal sounded off. While backing up both McCants and Iverson, O'Neal aimed at Smith:

“We as people, we gon’ stand on what we stand on, but I have a problem with what you said. Doesn’t matter who the G.O.A.T is — my guy should be in the conversation."

“… You guys just throw him out of the conversation. So, somehow it just went from Mike to LeBron, and you just threw my guy out of the conversation. His name needs to be in there all the time. And when his name is not in there, that’s when people have a problem.”

As many have pointed out, McCants and O'Neal aren't happy with Smith's comment that Bryant couldn't defend himself.