ESPN's Stephen A Smith beefs with Danhausen as Knicks fall behind in playoff series

Danhausen’s “curse” has been pretty real in the WWE world.

The Miz, Kit Wilson and Dominik Mysterio have felt the reverberations of the dreaded “curse” from WWE’s “very nice, very evil” superstar, but it’s also had its effect on New York sports. While the New York Mets appeared to have gotten through it, the New York Knicks have been tangentially affected thanks to Stephen A. Smith.

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

Danhausen makes his entrance during SmackDown at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 24, 2026. (Rich Wade/WWE)

Danhausen appeared on “First Take” last week and “cursed” the ESPN broadcaster. Smith, a huge Knicks fan above all else, has watched his team go down 2-1 to the Atlanta Hawks in their first-round NBA playoffs series. Their extremely niche beef carried over on social media Friday.

“(Stephen A. Smith) APOLOGIZE and Danhausen will think about maybe possibly pondering lifting your curse,” Danhausen wrote on X. “Also send human money.”

Smith didn’t appear to be inclined to doing any of that.

“I’m not apologizing for a damn thing @DanhausenAD,” Smith wrote back. “Not a damn thing. Curse or no curse, the @nyknicks have NO BUSINESS losing this series to the @ATLHawks — no matter how good that young team is. No business.

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

“If the @Knicks lose this series, heads need to roll. Period. President! GM! Coach! Players! Even the damn Dance Team! To hell with all that superstitious stuff. The @nyknicks need to handle their damn business. They had better not lose this series, damnit. I swear they better not!”

While it ended there Friday night, Danhausen showed up on “Friday Night SmackDown” carrying a giant photo of Smith’s head.

“You better be nice to Danhausen. Just ask Stephen A. Smith,” Danhausen told Trick Williams and Lil Yachty. “How ‘bout them Knicks?!”

Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The Knicks and Hawks will start Game 4 at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday.