'Wasn't True,' Darryn Peterson Responds to Stephen A. Smith's 'Frustrating' Remarks on Missed Games

Kansas men's basketball star Darryn Peterson says it was "frustrating" to hear ESPN's Stephen A. Smith indicate he might have missed 11 games of his freshman season due to NIL disputes rather than legitimate injury issues.

"It was definitely frustrating, just because it was stuff that I can't control and that wasn't true," Peterson told Shreyas Laddha of the Kansas City Star during last week's Big 12 tournament. "But that's his job to get on there and say stuff. So, I mean, that's what he thought. He said what he thought. I respect his thoughts. It is what it is."

Peterson continued: "What I went through this year was serious stuff. The games I missed, I wanted to be out there a lot. I did everything I could to try to be out there."

Smith said in a message directed to Peterson on a Feb. 24 episode of ESPN's First Take that there were "reports out there that the NIL money that you were supposed to get, you didn't get all of it."

"And because you didn't get all of it, you said, 'Hey, okay, since I didn't get all of it, guess what,'" Smith said. "'You're gonna give me half of it— hypothetically— then I'm going to give you a half-assed effort.'"

Smith concluded, "I'm in no way saying it's true. I'm saying that narrative has been put out there about you. What are you going to do about it?"

Peterson missed significant time at the beginning of the season, including seven games in which he was benched after fewer than 25 minutes on the court, due to what Kansas coach Bill Self regularly described as "cramping."

The Jayhawks freshman recently told Laddha that he had been dealing with "traumatic" full-body cramps since at least September.

He has been more available down the stretch of his first college campaign, appearing in his team's last seven regular-season games as well as both of the Jayhawks' conference tournament matchups.

Bleacher Report's latest 2026 NBA mock draft by Jonathan Wasserman projects Peterson as the No. 3 pick in the upcoming draft, although Wasserman noted "there doesn't seem to be any consensus right now" as to who will be the top selection between Peterson, BYU's AJ Dybantsa and Duke's Cameron Boozer.

Peterson could potentially increase his draft stock if he is able to stay healthy for Kansas' upcoming NCAA Tournament run. The Jayhawks, which are entering March Madness as a No. 4 seed in the East, will tip off the tournament Friday against Cal Baptist.