Stephen A. Smith is not afraid to ruffle a few feathers with his opinions. Lately, he struck a chord with WNBA legend Sue Bird.

Smith and First Take colleague Shannon Sharpe recently criticized the WNBA for its playoff ratings taking a dip following Caitlin Clark's elimination. During the October 9 episode of her "A Touch More" podcast with fiancé Megan Rapinoe, Bird fired back, referring to Smith and Sharpe by name and calling them out for "hating" on the WNBA ratings, which were still "breaking records," even after decreasing slightly once Clark and the Indiana Fever were knocked out.

"These numbers are still really high, and they are still really meaningful," Bird said. "And they still show and tell a story of the viewership that is being gained in the WNBA. And yet some people continue to flip that.

"Those people, I've seen Stephen A. Smith talk about it. I've seen Shannon Sharpe talk about it. What I don't understand is they work for ESPN. So why are you hating on a business you are in? It's not that they can't be critical of certain things. They can have their opinions. But I don't understand the framing of that."

Smith, of course, got wind of Bird's comments. In an 11:11 rant on his YouTube channel, Smith said he was "disgusted" that Bird called him out, even though he said he "loves" the former UConn star who is "one of the best people that I've ever met...in professional or collegiate sports."

"But I didn't appreciate this article that I read when It came to her talking about yours truly," Smith said. "Because you see, far be it, this is the headline(s), y'all, 'Sue Bird called out ESPN host for 'hating on' WNBA playoff ratings after Caitlin Clark's exit.'... Really? This is where we have to go?"

"I'm going to dial it back and be as respectful as I can possibly be," Smith continued. "Once again, Sue Bird is a champion, Hall-of-Fame caliber, and a beautiful person. I am a huge fan of her as a person and a player; one of the great pleasures I've had is interviewing her in the past. I'm only addressing her points about me and what she said in relation to the whole Caitlin Clark story.

"Respectfully, Sue Bird, you are inaccurate -- it is just that simple. First things first, we cover sports, right?... I think we cover sports. So, if somebody got arrested, I can't bring that up? When Britney Griner was taken prisoner in Russia unfairly, we didn't touch that? When Ray Rice got in trouble, we didn't touch that? When Rae Carruth did what he did -- that was a crime; he was convicted of killing the mother of his unborn child -- did we cover that? When ratings are through the roof, are we going to cover it? When Damar Hamlin nearly died on the field, did we cover it?"

Later on in the segment, Smith got deeper into some viewership numbers. If you want to read the bulk of the transcript, Awful Announcing has it here.

We'll see if Bird fires another salvo at Smith, or if this is where the back-and-forth goes to die.

Related: WNBA Legend Sue Bird Not Happy With Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe