First Take's Stephen A. Smith on Fame, Kyrie, Iverson, Dating & Being #1 on Sports TV

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast FOLLOW HAPPY DAD: https://www.instagram.com/happydad FIND HAPPY DAD: https://www.happydad.com/find Stephen A. Smith welcomes Channing, Fred and Ryan into his home for a special edition of The Pivot. Working together at ESPN, Ryan and Stephen A. talk about how their relationship got off to a rocky start and how the two men were able to eventually figure it out and come to good terms. Never one to hold back his opinion, Stephen A. shares his thoughts on topics ranging from his personal life to Kyrie to James Harden partying to the Iverson days to taking over "First Take" from Skip Bayless. The former college athlete details his journey into sports media and growing up in a household of women who were his toughest critics. "I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that I would be in a position where I'd walk into an arena and be more popular than 90% of the players," Stephen A. tells the guys as he opens up about his current stardom. Ryan talks about some of the more controversial stories Stephen A has sounded off on over the years including Colin Kaepernick, race issues and being suspended from ESPN. Rounding out the conversation, Fred talks about making mistakes along the way and relationships with athletes as Stephen A says: I don't try to protect players from being accountable, I try to protect players from being character assassinated for who they are,". Prying about the mysterious personal life of Stephen A. and why that is something he chooses not to share with the world, Channing says, "Why not talk about it, I mean I've seen your house, I'd date you". The First Take host jokingly responds, "I never ask anyone about their personal life, ever, So I don't answer questions about mine." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra. Because it's not just a superior like beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 0:30Ryan Clark?

  What up, man?

• 0:31Stephen A. Smith?

  Come on, Brad.

• 0:33Ryan Clark?

  Here you go, man. I have a, um, a delivery for one Mr. A. Smith. Is that what they call you?

• 0:40Stephen A. Smith?

  Could you just give me my best?

• 0:42Ryan Clark?

  What up, my boy? What's up? What up, Big Time? How you doing, baby?

• 0:47Stephen A. Smith?

  I know I gotta take the shoes off in this. I know I gotta take them off. I got mine off. I got mine off, you know? I'm known. Show you how I'm serious about my health. Let me show you this, Ron. I got that COVID joint. I'm like, this ain't happening. I ain't going down like this.

• 1:01Ryan Clark?

  You know I was spooked. I can't hear them up, you know?

• 1:03Stephen A. Smith?

  See, that's what I'm saying. So it's, it's.

• 1:06Ryan Clark?

  Who told you what stuff to buy?

• 1:07Stephen A. Smith?

  I just got, I just got, um, you know, wait till somebody. See, I really don't. See, I really don't.

• 1:15Stephen A. Smith?

  I saw a video.

• 1:18Stephen A. Smith?

  It's the Tom Montez, that's something right. We got a little squabble. Let them think what they want to think. I told y'all, y'all in New York.

• 1:25Ryan Clark?

  Okay.

• 1:25Stephen A. Smith?

  Should go watch the games.

• 1:27Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. All right, everything.

• 1:29Stephen A. Smith?

  So on a Sunday, it's six different TVs. I got this and that. So I got seven different TVs on at the same time to watch all the games. And if it, and if it really, like, when it gets, especially when the Cowboys losing, I go this route.

• 1:46Ryan Clark?

  He's still on MTV Cribs right now.

• 1:48Stephen A. Smith?

  He's showing up.

• 1:49Ryan Clark?

  We're on the MTV Cribs. We're on the MTV Cribs right now, you know what I'm saying?

• 1:56Stephen A. Smith?

  Or we could do it in here. And that when you text her and say, hey, look, hey, look, just, look, the door open. I'm down, just come to the basement. I'm downstairs in the theater room. I have no comment. I have no comment. I have no comment. Is it called the bedroom room?

• 2:11Channing Crowder?

  So I'm just like, pick your toe.

• 2:13Ryan Clark?

  When he came to the door and though she was on, we was like, she, we gotta take off.

• 2:16Fred Taylor?

  It's just respect.

• 2:16Ryan Clark?

  That's what it is.

• 2:17Channing Crowder?

  Y'all wanna put your, if y'all wanna kick the damn shoe, y'all kick the shoe.

• 2:20Stephen A. Smith?

  No, I'm gonna go more for the show, cause they match my tag.

• 2:24Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 2:48Ryan Clark?

  Well, fellas, man, you know me, I got to bring my two worlds together today. We got the Pivot Boys, old Channing, Freddie T, and man, we got Stephen A. Smith. Oh, Lord. I mean, talk about the face of sports television. Yes, sir. Man got 16 shows, bruh. He got Stephen A.'s World, Stephen A. Universe, First Take of Stephen A., you know what I'm saying? But he done done a lot, man. Appreciate you letting us into your path too. And thank you for letting me wear my shoes.

• 3:11Stephen A. Smith?

  Yeah, you know, that's some RC status right there.

• 3:13Ryan Clark?

  I appreciate it, man.

• 3:14Stephen A. Smith?

  If it was somebody else, you know, I mean, you know, you gonna hear about it from me. You gonna hear about it from me, but it's alright, man.

• 3:20Channing Crowder?

  Like me and Fred, you had us take our eyes off, man. It's okay. No, no, I love it, man. I love it. I don't wanna mess up this beautiful.

• 3:26Fred Taylor?

  But even just a few conversations that we were having before we sat down, and everything that you do, as RC mentioned, this guy does so much.

• 3:34Stephen A. Smith?

  Yeah.

• 3:35Fred Taylor?

  You know, he's pretty much been a sponge when he's been around you.

• 3:38Stephen A. Smith?

  Mm-hmm.

• 3:39Fred Taylor?

  Man, I always tell people, he's amazing. And he doesn't like when I do this, cause I always give everybody their flowers on the show.

• 3:45Ryan Clark?

  He's just such a sweetheart.

• 3:48Fred Taylor?

  But it's the truth.

• 3:48Stephen A. Smith?

  Nah, RC's good, RC's good people, man. I mean, when we first met, we actually butted heads. That's how we first met.

• 3:56Ryan Clark?

  How many times did the show start like that?

• 3:58Stephen A. Smith?

  That's right. That's right. We butted heads when we first met, and then I went on the air and let him know who I was, and then all of a sudden, he had to come back and let me know who he was and stuff like that. And the minute we met face to face, man, we been brothers ever since, man. He's good people, and I think he's one of the best NFL analysts in America. So, I'm honored to have him as a colleague, and I'm honored to call him a friend.

• 4:20Channing Crowder?

  Let's not brush past that, one of y'all too. I need to know this. I need to know that, I need to know that first interaction. What happened?

• 4:26Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, he went on the air and was talking about my hairline. That's what was happening. I mean, I'm sitting there like, I'm home, minding my business. You know, I mean, I'm off, I'm on vacation and, and some brother come to fill in and he start talking smack about, you know, about my hairline and, you know, how, you know, please, I'm sitting in this chair now, I'm like, he must have forgot who the hell I am. This brother like, this is a rookie, a novice. He just getting into this business. So I went on the air the next day and checked him and I heard he had an attitude and one of our good friends, Galen Gordon, who's now a senior VP at ABC, he was overseeing First Take at the time and he brought us together and I was like, yo, bro, I just came back at you because you came at me. I got nothing but respect for you.

• 5:11Stephen A. Smith?

  And he called me up and said the same thing, actually it was over the phone. And we've been cool ever since, man.

• 5:15Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, it was, it was one of those things. It was the time where it was kind of like the player versus analyst thing. You know, and so obviously I was trying to get in the business and, you know, I came on and the one thing, shoot, you learn it from him. You can say certain things, but the way you say them is how they resonate with people, you know? So I was like, nah, because he said, y'all don't have the degrees and y'all can't do what I do. And I was young, I was like, shoot, I can do that. I was like, I got a mass comm degree. I was like, and my hairline ain't pushed back.

• 5:43Stephen A. Smith?

  Yes.

• 5:44Ryan Clark?

  So he go the next time, I'm not there, I'm thinking this, I'm thinking me and Skip cool. Skip then bucked me up to do this, right, for the show. So then Stephen A. go hard, he going hard on the Steelers. Then he was like, ask for that. He knows what he can kiss. And y'all, y'all been around me, you know, I spell curse words most of the time. That was where it touched me. But to his credit, man, like the, the conversation we got to have for an hour, man. I stood outside a restaurant for an hour and the first thing he did, he came to me like a man. I came in like a man. We both said, you know what, there were different ways to handle that. But we also got into Stephen A., some of the things that you dealt with, with AI in Philadelphia and some of the ways that you protected players throughout your career.

• 6:24Ryan Clark?

  Why have you always felt kind of that responsibility to look out for the players when that's not really your job?

• 6:31Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, to me, it is my job. And what I mean by that is that I don't try to protect players from being held accountable for what they do. I try to protect players from being character assassinated as to who they are. There's a difference. We all make mistakes. I've made mistakes. Everybody in this room's made mistakes. And that comes with the territory. But what I'm not gonna do as a black man in a position of influence is allow folks to look at another black athlete or another black person who happens to be an athlete. Because I tried to be. Y'all, he was one. He was one. I tried to be. You were one. I tried to be.

• 7:12Stephen A. Smith?

  But I'm never gonna allow somebody to look at y'all and say, "This is who you are because of something you did." Because, let's face reality, as black men, we've been victimized by that pretty much all our lives, for generations. And so, for me to get in that position and forget that inherent responsibility that I believe that I'm supposed to have, to speak for those who can't speak for themselves, to provide perspective is very, very important to me. It doesn't mean I have to agree with everything. What it means is that I want to make sure to articulate where you're coming from. So people can understand that and judge it according to that, as opposed to judging it according to what they want to believe about you off-bat. And I've always felt that responsibility to players.

• 7:55Stephen A. Smith?

  And I think the thing that's hard in this, in today's generation, because of the advent of social media and all of that stuff, is that people see the headlines and they get caught up in all of that. Or they'll see you coming at them for what they said or what they may have done, not differentiating between that and their overall character. And so then they come at you and they're not realizing you're actually looking out for them because I'm tipping you off to what's coming down the pipe. Like, I'm in the newsroom. I've been in the newsroom for 29 years. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. This is what they're going to do. So if you don't take heed to that and, and, and recognize that reality, of course, you're gonna be bitter. But if you're smart enough and you shove your emotions to the side for a second

• 8:39Stephen A. Smith?

  and look at it objectively, you'll see what I'm trying to do is just tip you off.

• 8:43Channing Crowder?

  Where does that come from? Like, that, that whole thought process, that whole mind frame. You're on top of the media right now. RC just said it. Just your upbringing, where does that come from of you, you know what I'm saying, what? You the fifth of six kids?

• 8:56Stephen A. Smith?

  I'm, I'm, I'm, no, I'm the, I'm the youngest of six. I'm the youngest of six. My brother passed away in a car accident in 1992, so I've got four older sisters that are all alive and living well here in New York. Any of them used to beat your ass, because his sister tore him up? You know what, it wa, it wa, they didn't whip my ass, but they slapped me upside my head many times, you know? And that's why, you know, especially today's generation, this woke movement and everything else. You got people, they get around a bunch of women, fellas scared as hell. Say a word. Not me. I'm used to it. I grew up, I was raised by five women. I'm accustomed to women coming at me, slapping me upside my head, telling me what I'm gonna do, clean your room, take out the garbage, do your homework, excuse me.

• 9:41Stephen A. Smith?

  I, I, listen. I'll never forget this, I tell this story and it's the absolute positive truth. I got four older sisters. If I bring a honey home, this is throughout my entire life. I brought a honey home. My older sister Linda, who's the hoe? Just like that.

• 10:01Channing Crowder?

  They won.

• 10:02Stephen A. Smith?

  And they, they in the living room, my sister's like, who's the hoe? My sister Allin. She better not be ugly. In hearing distance, the, the girl's there, she can hear him. Allin says, better not be ugly. Abigail says, what's a nice, sweet girl like you doing with a bum like my brother?

• 10:23Stephen A. Smith?

  And Carmen, damn, another one? No. They do, they, they've done this in front of any woman I've ever dated.

• 10:31Channing Crowder?

  The girl hears?

• 10:32Stephen A. Smith?

  Since, right there. Right there, they make sure to hear, right there, since I was 16 years old. That is what they have done. And they would do it today if they could, this is who they are. So I'm accustomed to being around women, bossing me around, slapping me upside my head, figuratively, if not, in my sister's case, literally, and all of that other stuff. But it's all love and it's, it's something that you understand growing up in the streets of New York City, particularly with a family like myself. And you know what, you gotta be a man, you better speak up for your own. But that doesn't mean that you agree with everything we say, you think for yourself, you're your own man. But if you believe it, you say it. And you stand on it and you stand by it. Even if it's against the grain and even if there's a whole army of people coming against you.

• 11:17Stephen A. Smith?

  If you know you right, you don't back up.

• 11:20Fred Taylor?

  I know you've received tons of threats from players, maybe obsessive fans. Does that ever put you in a situation where you don't say what you would normally say?

• 11:31Stephen A. Smith?

  No.

• 11:32Fred Taylor?

  No?

• 11:32Stephen A. Smith?

  No. Number one, because I'm incredibly confident in what I say. Meaning that I pride myself in being a human being. I know that I'm not trying to get personal. And I know that I'm just doing my job.

• 11:46Fred Taylor?

  But a lot of fans don't see it that way.

• 11:47Stephen A. Smith?

  Yeah, but I don't worry about fans. Hell with that. You know, because then the fans are dictating how I do my job. You watch me for a reason. It ain't the other way around.

• 11:55Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 11:55Stephen A. Smith?

  The fans are watching me. I'm not watching them. So my attitude is this is my job and that's what the hell I'm gonna do. And then I gotta be honest with you, man. It's kinda...

• 12:05Stephen A. Smith?

  Yeah, me being from the streets is one element. But also the company that I keep matters. Like if you saw me around some of my fellas, some of my boys, you know, they look like a bunch of hood rats. You don't know, one of my boys is DEA, another's FBI. Another dude's a lawyer. Cats like that, you would never know. You would look at them and be like, there's some brothers just hanging. They live like they straight off the streets. You know what I'm saying? But that's not who they are.

• 12:31Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 12:31Stephen A. Smith?

  You know, not to mention the fact that at this point in time, I'm a commodity. So yes, do I have security? Yes. You know, and anytime that I want to, because I'm a valuable asset to ESPN, you got undercover cats following me around and stuff like that, and I'll be like, keep a distance. Stay away. I don't want people to see you with me. Just be ready to roll up if something goes down.

• 12:52Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 12:53Stephen A. Smith?

  So there's always somebody around me for the most part.

• 12:56Ryan Clark?

  Stephen A.

• 12:57Stephen A. Smith?

  And I know that.

• 12:58Ryan Clark?

  Go back to Winston-Salem University.

• 13:01Stephen A. Smith?

  Yeah.

• 13:01Ryan Clark?

  Stephen A. You know, they always show that picture of you anytime HBCU month comes around or we're talking about hooping. You just mentioned having to be followed by security or having these undercover people. And it's not because you are a bad human. It's because of the fame you've created by being good at your job. Could you have imagined, could you have imagined at any point in your life you'd be here?

• 13:24Stephen A. Smith?

  Never. Never, I never saw this coming. Um, did I see myself being recognized as one of the best at what I do? Yes, because I was a damn good beat reporter. I started off as a high school writer in New York City. I, uh, fourteen months later, after breaking a couple of big stories, I was hired by the Philadelphia Daily News, because the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer were competing for my services. In October of nineteen ninety-four, Philadelphia Inquirer hired me, and I got promoted like damn near nine times to becoming a general sports columnist. And when I became a general sports columnist in two thousand and three, I was the twenty-first African-American in this country's history, according to the National Association of Black Journalists, to be named a general sports columnist. See, it's hard for people in today's generation to understand that,

• 14:09Stephen A. Smith?

  because everybody got an opinion now. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and all of this stuff. But back in the day, back in the nineties, in the early two thousands, none of that existed. So you had to work your way up through the journalism industry to be given a license to express your opinion. You weren't allowed to express your opinion. So for me, that was a very, very big honor. And I, and I viewed myself, once I got into television, like I'm gonna be the best at this too. I established myself as one of the best beat writers. I'm gonna establish myself as one of the best commentators. And I idolized Stuart Scott, Dan Patrick, Bob Costas, Brian Gumbel, you know, Keith Olbermann and all of these guys, the late, great John Saunders as well, of course, Chris Berman, people we worked with.

• 14:54Stephen A. Smith?

  I idolized those dudes. So I, when I viewed myself as potentially being the best, I thought I was gonna be somebody on that level. I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that I would be in a position where I'm walking into arenas and I'm more popular than ninety percent of the players, or I gotta have security and escorts, or I gotta make sure I go to a game late and leave early or leave real late just to get out the arena in peace without being mobbed. I never saw any of that coming. But I understand in this day and age, with social media and beyond, that just comes with the territory, and you just gotta accept it.

• 15:31Channing Crowder?

  When you was playing ball at Winston-Salem, you was already writing.

• 15:35Stephen A. Smith?

  I was writing for the school newspaper, yes.

• 15:37Channing Crowder?

  Did you, did you know you weren't gonna make it? Was that a plan B? Like, when I, when I read about that, I was like, hell, like, we were playing ball, ball was it. You seemed like ball, like you had a, you had another option.

• 15:49Stephen A. Smith?

  The first year I got to Winston-Salem, I cracked my kneecap in half. I went up for a layup and my kneecap split in half. And I had to have reconstructive surgery. And because remember, technology wasn't then what it is now. So I had to have reconstructive surgery on the knee. I didn't think I was good enough to begin with. I knew I could ball and I knew I was good enough to have a scholarship and to make some noise on the court, but.

• 16:17Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra. Because it's not just a superior like beer. It's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch. In Bev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 16:46Stephen A. Smith?

  I mean, I grew up with cats. I mean, we talking Kenny Smith. Yeah. We talking ultimately Kenny Anderson. We talking Sweet Pea Lloyd Daniels. I wasn't on that level. I knew better, but I was the kind of person when I put it up. It was as Coach Gaines and John McClendon, who basically invented the fast break and learned the game from James Naismith. He used to be in the stands watching us practice. He looked at me and said, you're the only person I've ever seen in my life that shoots a jump shot and actually looks surprised when he misses. And it was true because I really felt like if there was a player today that I thought I had the potential to be like it was somebody like a Steph Curry. Because I could really, really shoot. Stephen A, stop it. No, I don't mean it. I'm not.

• 17:24Stephen A. Smith?

  You get me wrong. I'm not talking on that level. I'm saying that I couldn't do anything else, but I could shoot. I got you. And so for me, when you're young, you dumb. And you're like, yeah, I could be that. Yeah, I could go up against Michael Jordan. If he don't block my shot, he done because it's going in. You're thinking like this. You're not thinking about the opponent. You think about yourself. And when I cracked my kneecap in half, I knew because I could never run straight. And they told me that I would never walk straight again. So once that happened, my mother looked at me and she was like, okay, what's plan B? Because you wasn't, you probably wasn't going to make it anyway. Okay, and now you know you're not going to make it. What's plan B?

• 18:07Stephen A. Smith?

  And so I said, literally looked at her and said, I'm going to be on television. That's exactly what I said to her. And next thing you know, I go back to school and I'm like, well, it ain't that simple. Cause to me, when I thought about guys on television, I said, they're looking into a prompter and they're reading stuff.

• 18:25Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, I don't want to do that because that makes me expendable. If you don't like my smile, I ain't a smiler anyway. I ain't George Foreman. I can't do that. What the hell am I gonna do? I said, alright, well, I'll write for the school newspaper. And when I started writing for the school newspaper, I had a critical and persuasive writing class. And the professor there looked at it one day and said, you're a natural born sportswriter. Let's go out to lunch and talk about it next week. And that next week, I thought he was taking me out to lunch. And he took me straight to the sports department of the Winston-Salem Journal. Because he was the editorial page editor of the paper. And he was just doing a class at Winston-Salem. The sports editor's name was Terry Oberly. He met with me for five minutes. He said, oh, so when can you start?

• 19:08Stephen A. Smith?

  Five minutes in. I said, I can start tonight. He said, alright, see you tonight. And that's how my career started.

• 19:14Ryan Clark?

  Ain't that some, Chan, somebody from an HBCU made it. You say, Kay, none of them make it.

• 19:21Stephen A. Smith?

  He did.

• 19:21Channing Crowder?

  I did. Athletically, I don't think they can do it. And I've had a bunch of arguments with this.

• 19:27Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, here's what I say to you. Charles Oakley's from an HBCU. Okay? Yancey Thigpen, who played with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, he was from Winston-Salem State. He was playing football while I was on the basketball team. He was the star of the team, along with a cap Roger Graves that used to play running back for them. I'm not saying that it's not gonna be hard because the lack of pub, lack of notoriety.

• 19:49Channing Crowder?

  Resources.

• 19:50Stephen A. Smith?

  Resources. All of those things are true. But I think what you're missing is that if you have the talent

• 19:59Stephen A. Smith?

  and somebody spots you, who's in a position to provide some of those things, they can peel you from that and give you the resources that you need. So if you have the talent, you have the talent. That doesn't mean that what you're saying is wrong in terms of what you need to elevate yourself. But all it really takes is somebody noticing the talent.

• 20:19Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 20:20Stephen A. Smith?

  And that's the difference.

• 20:21Channing Crowder?

  And that's the thing now with Deion Sanders. We got Hugh Jackson at Grambling State. We got Eddie George, Tennessee State. And they're bringing that attention. And that's the thing, they didn't usually have that attention. You know what I'm saying? That's my whole thing is people think I hate on HBCUs. I don't, Stephen A. I just know that they're gonna look at University of Florida, I'm a Gator, before they look at Winston-Salem State.

• 20:46Stephen A. Smith?

  That's fair. That's totally accurate and fair. All I'm saying is that times are changing. And that name, image, and likeness that's come into play, puts somebody in a position to elevate their level of notoriety. You can't ignore the possibilities of that. Again, it's going to be hard. There's going to be a more arduous task that you're going to have to take. Path, rather, that you're gonna have to take.

• 21:08Channing Crowder?

  Why would you go down the rough path? If you can go to a Power Five and take the easy path?

• 21:13Stephen A. Smith?

  Yeah, but you're talking about a Power Five. I'm saying, what about the rest? Because everybody that gets drafted ain't from a Power Five. Everybody that's in the NFL ain't from a Power Five. There's a whole bunch of non-Power Five players in the National Football League. They may not be HBCUs, but they're non-Power Fives. And even though I don't think the name, image, and likeness issue, particularly at HBCUs, is gonna elevate them to a point where they can compete with Power Five athletes, everybody else is open season. You got a shot.

• 21:41Ryan Clark?

  When you think about who you are on TV, and you know, listening to you talk about, you know, some of the things, somebody seeing you at Winston-Salem and telling you you're going to get a meal and bringing you somewhere where you can now start your writing career. The persona you have, because we were riding over here, and I was like, y'all, he's actually really chill. You know what I mean? I was like, he don't talk a ton. He's kind of quiet. But everybody sees you on TV, and they realize, holy hell, like, this dude's a star. Like, you'll walk in to get up some mornings when you would come early, and you'd be like, hey, y'all, what's up? How you doing? Hey, y'all, what's up? How you doing? Right? And Greenie asks you the question, and you turn on, and it's a whole different dude. Did you create that persona? Did you understand you might have to become a caricature in some way?

• 22:24Ryan Clark?

  Or do you understand how to relate to your viewer, to your listener, to make them feel what you feel?

• 22:30Stephen A. Smith?

  It's what I told you years ago. Um, there's nothing about me outside of being brick on General Hospital. There's nothing about me. Oh, Lord. There's nothing about me. Let's not, let's not ignore the soaps now. Let's not ignore the soaps now. I mean, the soaps do matter, man. I mean, come on now. The shootout, the shootout of brick, where you jump behind the door like this.

• 22:51Stephen A. Smith?

  I loved it. Oh, and he did it in slow motion too. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. But, but I say this, I say all of that to say this, look. I'm a multitude of things. I can be mellow. I can be loud. I can be bombastic and demonstrative. I can be quiet. I can be pissed off and mean as hell. I can be very jovial and fun-loving. It all depends on what the moment calls for. None of us are truly, truly one-dimensional. We all are different things depending on the environment and the people that we're around in a particular moment. You know, what I would tell you about me on television is this. I believe this in my soul. I'm a winner, bro. I ain't trying to lose.

• 23:33Stephen A. Smith?

  And in television, it's about ratings and revenue. And my whole position is, who do you want to watch when you flick the channels? When you flicking the channels, who are you going to stop at to say, let me see what this person has to say? And in my, in, in my mind, it's always me. Because I'm trying to show you that I'm passionate and enthused about what we're talking about. I can't do that if I'm mellow, chilling in my house, watching a movie and acting like that's my temperament. I'm projecting and I'm asking an audience to stop what you're doing in your busy time,

• 24:18Stephen A. Smith?

  whatever it is that you may be doing, to watch me. How am I going to do that? It's similar to what an athlete does in certain respects. You can ball, you can ball, you can ball. You're going to do like, okay, here's what I'm bringing to the table. All right, I belong on this team. I'm worthy of it. And because of that, I'm going to show y'all. It's the same principle. It's not the same, obviously, obligation, but it's the same principle. You got to have that kind of mindset. And then, for me, it really resonates when I take into account the professional athlete. The one thing that I think the biggest misnomer about me when it comes to the professional athlete, there's no one I respect more. than a professional athlete.

• 25:00Stephen A. Smith?

  Because I can honestly say, even though I never got to that level, I know what y'all have to go through because I reported on it for 30 years. What would you do? I didn't stand on the side. I've been reporting for close to 30 years. I've seen it with my own two eyes. I've seen the sacrifices. I've heard the stories. People have given me insight into what the kind of stuff that y'all have to endure. And I feel like the nerve of me to have a platform every day, where at any given moment, I get to hold them accountable, but I don't hold myself. So I give y'all a perfect example, y'all too. So this is like two years ago. Don't get me wrong, obviously I'm shooting after COVID and everything else, but even before COVID,

• 25:44Stephen A. Smith?

  damn it, I needed to be in some shape. But you ain't seen me walking around looking like Jabba the Hutt? Well, why is that? Because damn it, I was getting fat. Okay? I mean, and, and, and, and let me tell y'all something right now. The nastiest person in the world is a skinny fat person. Where you ain't got no definition. You ain't got nothing but a pot belly. You understand what I'm saying? Even the big fat people, alright? Well, them and they fat all the way around. So it makes sense. There's some symmetry. But when you skinny with a pot belly, that's just nasty. That's just nasty. You look like Shannon. That's right. And so I'm walking there, I'm walking in studio one day and Ryan Clark looked at me and said, "Yo, what's up?" I said, "What, what, what you mean? He said, "What, what, what's that?" Looking at my stuff.

• 26:29Stephen A. Smith?

  "What's that?" I was like, "Oh, shit." Damn. And I go home and I'm like this. I cut out the Crunch Berries. I start running on the Peloton and the treadmill. I'm like, listen, I'm so busy, I can't get in the shape that I want to. I need to dedicate myself more, but I ain't gonna never look like that. Because I wasn't mad at him for one bit. You know why? Because you're a professional athlete that takes care of yourself. And I'm sitting here and I would be holding you accountable. How the hell I'm gonna do that? And I take no responsibility to do that for myself. It's something little like that, but I carry that with me in anything that I do professionally. I think about what I'm asking a professional coach, a professional executive, a professional player to do.

• 27:14Stephen A. Smith?

  And I say, "Am I doing that in my own life?" That kind of stuff is what I think helps me be a winner. It's not because of me, it's because of the people that I cover. And the fact that their very existence makes me accountable.

• 27:28Fred Taylor?

  So adding to that, being a winner, do you have to be able to embrace controversy? In order to be the best at what you do?

• 27:36Stephen A. Smith?

  I think so. I think so because what? People's interpretation of controversy varies. What's controversial to one group of people may not be controversial to another. But if you're not embracing controversy, that means you're making a concerted effort to be safe.

• 27:52Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 27:53Stephen A. Smith?

  And if you're making a concerted effort to be safe, at some point in time, that's gonna compromise the realness that you can bring. And if you're compromising the level of realness that you can bring, what the hell are you doing in this business?

• 28:05Fred Taylor?

  Where do the execs come in at? Where do they draw the line in the dirt? On how far they let you go?

• 28:11Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, first of all, we over A F C C airwaves, so we can't be cussing up a storm. They do it in that regard. And for me personally, my personal experience is that, and Ryan can speak to this, I have the trust of the network. I think when you think about me at ESPN, I think the biggest thing, when people say that's the man, they talk about the money, the money, the money. Well, I just got that two years ago. What about the other 25 years I've been in this business, okay? The biggest thing that makes me influential is the trust that they have in me. See, when I'm doing a podcast, or I'm on a news network or whatever,

• 28:53Stephen A. Smith?

  they don't worry about me the way they would worry about a lot of other folks. Because they understand that I get the big picture. It doesn't mean that I'm gonna compromise what I believe, nor what I'm going to say. It means that I'm constantly aware of the fact that I don't just represent me, I represent ESPN. And so as a result, I gotta take into account what they think and what they feel. So even if I disagree, at least say, "Look, the company don't agree with me on this. This is me right here." Because y'all have seen me do that on many occasions where you'll see me say, "And trust me, they ain't gonna like what I'm about to say." That's my way of saying, "We ain't on the same page." But they appreciate that because I'm not throwing them in the bowl with me.

• 29:37Stephen A. Smith?

  Because when you're in my position with a company like ESPN, when you utter something out your mouth and you don't make that clarification, people lump them in with you and say, "It ain't just Stephen A. of ESPN. They're also saying Stephen A. and ESPN." And you gotta make sure to protect the company from that. If I'm saying it, then it's me. It's not them. And that way, they could take whatever position that they want, but they have to concede that I acknowledged, "It's not them. It's me." Those are the kind of things that come along with being in the position that I'm in. It's understanding that you have a responsibility, not just to yourself,

• 30:21Stephen A. Smith?

  but the people you work with and the people you work for. Because you do have an obligation to protect them from you. Especially if you've done go on road on a particular issue.

• 30:33Fred Taylor?

  And that's, and that's all you've been trying to tell players for years. Just looking at what we were just talking about, how you, you know, speak to the players. "Look, you have a responsibility. Don't be out here being a jackass." But a lot of guys will take that as, "Oh, Stephen A. just sell out. I'm, I'm gonna go do what I wanna do."

• 30:51Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, that's a problem, that's a, that's a black problem. White folks don't call other white folks sellout when they disagree with each other. Jewish folks don't do that to one another. You know, whatever foreign group, Asian Americans don't do that to one another. That's a black issue. Listen, I've, I've, I've been very honest. I'm on Front Street. The Cole Colin Kaepernick situation. I got a whole bunch of people. I was gonna get to that. I got a whole bunch of people call me sellout, cool, whatever, whatever. Let me be very clear, they can kiss my ass. And I mean that. And I'm gonna tell you why. I said the man was blackball. I said the man deserved to be in the NFL. I said the NFL isn't doing right by him. That you can't find 64 quarterbacks better than this brother in the NFL. I said that for years.

• 31:35Stephen A. Smith?

  But because I disagree with an approach that maybe him or Eric Reid took, all of a sudden... My blackness comes into question.

• 31:45Channing Crowder?

  Right.

• 31:46Stephen A. Smith?

  When they were in elementary school, I was fighting on behalf of black people. I got a career that says it. Look at my resume, Google me as Shaq and then would say.

• 31:56Channing Crowder?

  Mm-hmm.

• 31:57Stephen A. Smith?

  My record speaks for itself on a multitude of issues that I've taken in defense of my people. I'm not just a black man, I'm a brother to the core.

• 32:05Channing Crowder?

  Right.

• 32:06Stephen A. Smith?

  And I'll be damned if somebody gonna come along and try to define my blackness because I didn't agree 100% of you. All four of us are sitting here in my house, we having a good time. You trying to tell me we agree lockstep on barrel on every single issue? That's impossible. Ryan and our boys, we disagree every day. Every day. We got something we disagree about. Nah, Stephen A, I ain't but, nah, I don't believe, Ryan, you wrong about that one. Boom, boom, boom. Love you, bro. See you later.

• 32:33Channing Crowder?

  Right.

• 32:33Stephen A. Smith?

  What's the problem? But others out there will watch us and if you don't echo exactly what they want you to echo, somebody got a problem with it. And I knew that we had a big time problem when they tried to call Ice Cube a sellout. Ice Cube.

• 32:48Channing Crowder?

  Right.

• 32:49Stephen A. Smith?

  Ice Cube, NWA Ice Cube. NWA Ice Cube. It, it, do you have any idea the things that this brother has done? To fight on behalf of black folks for decades? And because he met with former President Trump, to broach an idea about how to uplift the black community because that's a man that happened to be in office, you had people actually calling him a sellout. That, that just tells you how you can dismiss that as nonsense and people can say what they want, but you got to tell them to kiss your ass. And I'm very good at doing that.

• 33:26Channing Crowder?

  That's great. And, and even talking about that, because you have been in trouble. You have been suspended.

• 33:31Stephen A. Smith?

  Yes.

• 33:32Channing Crowder?

  You got in stuff with the soccer players, di- different situations.

• 33:36Stephen A. Smith?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 33:36Channing Crowder?

  Did you know at that moment?

• 33:37Stephen A. Smith?

  I didn't.

• 33:38Channing Crowder?

  As soon as you, soon as something comes through your lips.

• 33:41Stephen A. Smith?

  No.

• 33:41Channing Crowder?

  You know.

• 33:42Stephen A. Smith?

  Not always. That's not true. Uh, first of all, if you're debating somebody.

• 33:49Stephen A. Smith?

  In the moment that you're heatedly debating, you might get caught up in going in a back and forth with them and not realizing every single syllable that comes out your mouth. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm not responsible, because ultimately, I'm paid to be the professional that I am, and I'm supposed to avoid all of that. No problem. You know, when I got in trouble with the Shohei Ohtani thing, I didn't mean to offend. I was trying to say, I wasn't trying to say that he's not worthy of being marketed because he doesn't speak English. I was saying, Major League Baseball won't do it because of it. Because they had a history of promoting white individuals. No doubt. But it came out wrong. I gotta own that.

• 34:32Stephen A. Smith?

  But my biggest responsibility was to the Asian-American community. Like, I didn't mean any offense, because I'm a black man, and I can't stand when other people from outside communities try to jump in and try to tell you who you owe an apology to. Well, wait a minute. How do they feel about it? Let them say that to me. And when they said it, I'm good. Because as a black man, I know that if I am offended by somebody, that something, by something that somebody outside of my community said, I don't want somebody else come and tell them black people what we're supposed to be offended by. We will define what we are offended by. And so, to me, the same thing needed to be accorded to them. And at the end of the day, here's the reason why I never were. First of all, there's certain things that people don't realize.

• 35:17Stephen A. Smith?

  Number one, my contract's guaranteed.

• 35:20Stephen A. Smith?

  We need to point that out. We need to point that out, okay? So, when people were acting like, you know, Steve is in trouble, I'm like, okay, you know, I do, I am gonna get paid. Y'all do know that, right? Secondly, it wasn't my intent. And that's really the most important thing. It wasn't my intent, and my apology was sincere. But third, and most importantly, and Ryan can speak to this from a level of expertise. First Take's been number one for 10 years. I arrived in the spring of 2012, and within 30 days, we were number one. And we've been the number one morning sports show ever since. In that time, we do about 75 takes a week,

• 36:02Stephen A. Smith?

  which equates to about 350 a month, which equates to about over 3,300 takes per year.

• 36:18Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an Ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 36:47Stephen A. Smith?

  Live. No seven second delay. No debate. No cover. Nothing. Okay?

• 36:57Stephen A. Smith?

  In my 10 years on First Take, I have given approximately 34,000 takes. Live.

• 37:08Ryan Clark?

  You gonna mess up sometimes.

• 37:09Stephen A. Smith?

  And I've been suspended once.

• 37:11Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 37:14Stephen A. Smith?

  Who can say that?

• 37:14Ryan Clark?

  That's a hell of a bad name.

• 37:16Stephen A. Smith?

  Who can say that?

• 37:17Ryan Clark?

  That's a whole thing.

• 37:19Stephen A. Smith?

  Like, nobody, nobody really like thinks about like, I'm live.

• 37:23Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 37:24Stephen A. Smith?

  In a heated debate, with somebody else that might be saying some bull crap that I don't agree with. You trying to make a point and you get caught up in a, in a jolly and back and forth, a jostling back and forth. And with 34,000 takes,

• 37:38Stephen A. Smith?

  two might have gotten me in trouble. One got me suspended. Really?

• 37:44Ryan Clark?

  People don't remember, you had a stint with ESPN. You were gone for a second. You come back, you're not even doing TV. And you've been on First Take and y'all have gone through a variety of changes. Like, the, the show is different than when it started. The show had Skip and the show has had Max, it's had Kerry Champion, it's had, it's had Molly. And now, you're in the space to where it truly does sometimes, like for all of us, it's like Stephen A. and Friends. You know, like, I might be on one day, Swag is gonna be on one day. How much responsibility is on you now? Because you talked about the voice you have. You talk about the trust that you have. The only way the show can be what it is today and it's still rate high, is because of you.

• 38:24Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, it's been that way for me since Skip left. If we're being totally honest. And that's not to throw any shade on Max whatsoever. I went to LA. I supported Max being on the show. Max is a brilliant brother. Very, very smart, very educated, and has a, a lot of interesting things to say. The point is though... The moment Skip was gone, it was mine. Just like when I was there, it was Skip's. See, people don't realize- Did Skip pick you, Stephen A? Skip picked me. Skip came to me in 2012 and said, "I need you. I cannot do this without you. You're the only person that I trust to do this for me five days a week. Will you please do this for me?"

• 39:06Stephen A. Smith?

  And the reason he had to ask me that way is because everyone knows I hate getting up early. I can't stand it. This is my one, this is my one and only, I just can't stand it. I, I mean, I, when I think about getting up early, I think about rush hour traffic. I think about not being able to get breakfast because I'm rushing to get past rush hour traffic. I'm thinking about the hustle and bustle that you wake up. I cannot stand, I mean, pulling me up. You ever see somebody just get knocked the hell out? And they need smelling salts and everything just to get up and you gotta help them up? That's how I am in the morning. I just don't want to get out of bed. Now, once I'm up, I'm up. I can stay up until two, three the next morning. No nap, no anything. I've always been that way. But my God, I cannot stand getting up in the morning. So when Skip asked me, I looked at him like, "Really?"

• 39:50Stephen A. Smith?

  Because he, I'm like, "You know, you know I don't want to get up no damn morning. Come on, man." Like, "I need you. I need you to do this, and I'm telling you, you know we'll knock this out the park. And then after three years, you could do what you want to do." You know? And so, I agreed to do it because I knew the kind of chemistry that Skip and I had because we didn't agree on anything. The only thing we agreed on is that we liked each other. We didn't agree on anything. We just evidently, everything was black and white. It was one or the other with us. And we knew that. And so, we were number one within a month. But once 2016 came, those four years that we were together, go back and read my clips. Go back and read anything you've ever heard me say about First Take. I don't give a damn how much my star supposedly was rising and all this stuff. I always made it clear it was Skip's show.

• 40:36Stephen A. Smith?

  Because he brought me there. And because he brought me there and he knew the formula with which the show would work, I followed his lead. And I became what I became on First Take because of him. And that's what I always gave him credit for. Well, guess what? The same applies to anybody who comes to First Take now.

• 40:56Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 40:56Stephen A. Smith?

  And feeds off of that success to make themselves into an even bigger personality than they were. Because, just like he set the stage for me, I'm setting the stage for everybody. You know, people talk about, you know, when he decided to go in a different direction than Max. Max got his own television show. And Max got a morning show. And Max got a boxing show. Did he have any of that before he got on First Take? No. First Take helped that along. Molly. Molly's a household name. Well, how'd that happen? Skip and I picked her. We hired Molly. You see what I'm saying? When you think of Ryan Clark, you think of Swaggo. They don't have to be on First Take. They're on First Take because I want them on First Take. I go to the bosses. I need them. I need this man right here. I need Ryan Clark. I need Swaggo. I need all of these people. I need Dan O'Loch. I need these people.

• 41:41Stephen A. Smith?

  I literally handpicked every single person that contributes to First Take. And I did it on purpose and I did it deliberately because I know what I'm gonna bring. The question is, who are you gonna surround yourself with that brings the best out of you? Because no matter what I think I'm gonna bring, I can't do it without a counter. Can't pull it off. So I knew that.

• 42:04Channing Crowder?

  You the puppet master.

• 42:05Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, I wouldn't say that.

• 42:06Channing Crowder?

  No, no, no. No, no.

• 42:08Stephen A. Smith?

  I wouldn't say-

• 42:09Channing Crowder?

  Steve, man, let's be honest. You just said, you make all the decisions. You know what you want to talk to him about, how Swag about, Dan about.

• 42:16Stephen A. Smith?

  No, no, no, that's not what I mean. No, no, no, you misconstrue. What I'm saying is, I'm saying the contributors to the show, and there's other things that go into a show.

• 42:24Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 42:24Stephen A. Smith?

  When we travel, that ain't my money, that's ESPN's money. See, I know what the bosses do.

• 42:27Channing Crowder?

  But you tell them who to bring.

• 42:29Stephen A. Smith?

  Absolutely. Absolutely.

• 42:31Channing Crowder?

  With the fam, too.

• 42:32Stephen A. Smith?

  They leave that to me.

• 42:33Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 42:33Stephen A. Smith?

  They, they, they trust, but, but understand, I'm not the executive producer of the show. And it's not like I don't know that I have to answer to Dave Roberts or Norby Williamson. What happens is Norby Williamson and Dave Roberts listened to my suggestions over the years and said, "Damn." He's right. Because I heard, well, because they, I heard no from them enough times. And they would see, I earned their trust. See, that's, that's the important part. Yes, I'm making those decisions. But I answer to them. It's just that they've seen the results of those decisions. So if Brian sits there and says to me, yo, Stephen A, I think we should do this. And I listen, and then all of a sudden, it blows up. I'm gonna be like this. Well, what else you got to tell me? Because never the word.

• 43:18Stephen A. Smith?

  So that's what the bosses did with me. People interpret that as, oh, Stephen A's the boss. No, no, no. Dave Roberts is the boss. Norby Williams is the boss. The thing that I have is the trust. Because they've seen what I've done. And so when I say to them, I want Ryan on this day. I want Olaski on this day. I want Tebow on this day. I want Mad Dog on this day. I want this, I want this, I want that. They might question me as to why, but I already mapped out the plan. I didn't just come in there off of emotion. I know this show. We've been number one for a reason. Everybody said, oh, you know, the ratings gonna fall off. We'll see. Because I know what they, but see, I know when I brought Ryan Clark on, damn.

• 44:03Stephen A. Smith?

  He didn't get enough time. He needs more time. I gotta get him more time. I know when I have Swagu on, oh, he'd have been perfect for this subject. I know when I got Tebow on Olaski, damn, they would have been perfect for that subject. I'm, I'm, I'm looking at all of this. Cause I do the show every day. The executives got a multitude of shows they're overseeing. They crave a talent that they could say, alright, man, you do that. Because that's less for them to do. Cause they already got enough on their plate. So when they find a talent that they can trust. It really, really resonates for them. It means everything.

• 44:41Channing Crowder?

  That comes from your point guard days.

• 44:43Stephen A. Smith?

  That's right. Well, I was never a point guard. I was a shoot guard. I was a shoot guard. I was never a point guard. I never wanted the pass. I never wanted the pass. I never wanted the pass.

• 44:51Ryan Clark?

  Man, told you he was Steph Curry.

• 44:52Channing Crowder?

  You, you passing off the swag every now and again, but that.

• 44:54Stephen A. Smith?

  Steph Curry like, I damn sure couldn't have had that game. Let's be very clear about that.

• 44:58Ryan Clark?

  I ain't lying, we walked, we walked in here, man, and, uh, and Channing was talking about your crib. He took us down to the basement. You got like 18 TVs. You know what I'm saying? We had to take our shoes off. Channing was trying to wonder like, you know, what type of bachelor Stephen A is? How you entertaining here?

• 45:13Stephen A. Smith?

  I have no comment.

• 45:14Channing Crowder?

  You so open about everything else.

• 45:16Stephen A. Smith?

  Not everything else.

• 45:17Channing Crowder?

  You're open about everything else.

• 45:19Stephen A. Smith?

  I'm open about professional life. I'm open about how I feel about issues. I am not open at all about my private life and that ain't changing.

• 45:26Channing Crowder?

  Why not?

• 45:26Stephen A. Smith?

  Because it's none of anybody's business, number one, but number two, here's the biggest thing. I'm the kind of dude, do I have a woman? Of course I do. Of course I do. Stephen A. Yes, one, one, one.

• 45:37Channing Crowder?

  Stephen A.

• 45:37Stephen A. Smith?

  One, of course. The point that I'm trying to make to you is, of course, it's one, I'm serious, it's one. I mean, my playing days are over, bro. I did all that before, I'm over that. I'm a daddy, I got my four older sisters, I got 15 nieces and nephews. I got career opportunities I'm pursuing. And, you know, I've been blessed and fortunate where I don't have to be alone. I'm good. But the point that I'm trying to make is this. I don't want to be one of those dudes. You see me with a woman and all of a sudden we break up. Oh, and she, that Stephen A's that? Hell, no. Nah, I don't want that. I don't, I don't understand how folks in today's world do all of that.

• 46:18Stephen A. Smith?

  Where everybody in your business, I mean, we just talking about Kanye getting called out by Pete Davidson. That, I don't even, I can't even imagine something like that happen to me. I'd be like, who? Who she? I don't know who you're talking about. I don't know anything. I'm not admitting it because I don't believe, and people who know me, including Ryan, think about it. If you really think about it. Tell me one time I've ever asked you a question about your personal life.

• 46:45Channing Crowder?

  Not one time.

• 46:45Stephen A. Smith?

  I don't do it. I don't do it. I don't ask players about theirs.

• 46:49Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 46:50Stephen A. Smith?

  When they tell me stuff, they tell me stuff because they know it ain't going nowhere. I got nothing to say. That's your personal business. I knew one star.

• 47:00Stephen A. Smith?

  This brother was in Chicago one night.

• 47:05Stephen A. Smith?

  Crying, crying.

• 47:09Stephen A. Smith?

  Because he had to go home to his woman.

• 47:12Channing Crowder?

  Hmm? Because he had, he had to go home.

• 47:13Stephen A. Smith?

  Because he had to go home. Because he had to go home. He wanted to be on the road, he did not want to go home. He did not want to go home. And when I tell you the level of misery, I'm like, oh my God. It was, it was unreal. You got, I can't tell you how many times I've seen situations where people's souls are ravaged.

• 47:37Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 47:37Stephen A. Smith?

  Because of personal relationships. And you know what I come to find out about it? Ninety percent of the time, it ain't even what happened. It's the fact that people know.

• 47:46Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, that's real.

• 47:48Stephen A. Smith?

  It's the humiliation. It's the public knowledge of all of that stuff.

• 47:53Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 47:53Stephen A. Smith?

  And so my point is, I will tell you this, and my girl knows this, anybody knows this. You even utter a word about my personal life, you will no longer exist in it. I don't play that game. You will not be somebody that publicize my personal life and remain in it. Literally, the only difference between you being gone and you being here is the seconds to the minutes it gets me to get in touch with you to let you know.

• 48:27Channing Crowder?

  That you're gone.

• 48:27Stephen A. Smith?

  I don't play that. And by the way, I don't play that with family. Now this, I'm writing a book and I'm writing a memoir and there's certain things, there's a lot of things that I'm gonna say about me personally that no one has ever known. But I got permission from my family to do it.

• 48:42Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 48:43Stephen A. Smith?

  I went to my sisters. Because it's really about us. And I went to them and it's like, and the only reason I wrote the memoir now is because I had been pursued about it for about a decade. And my mother, who passed away in 2017, God rest her soul, she's the reason I got this house. Because I bought this house to move her in here with me. Because she was ill and she was battling cancer. And then after I closed on the house, we found out she only had two months. And that's how it happened. And so, but my mother never wanted me to write a book. And all she said to me was, if you're gonna do it, promise me one thing. It'll be when I'm gone. Don't do it while I'm alive.

• 49:26Stephen A. Smith?

  And I promised her I would never do it until she passed away. Otherwise, this book would have been written years ago about my upbringing and stuff like that. That's the only, that might be the only time anybody gets me to talk about my personal life like that, cuz I don't do it.

• 49:44Channing Crowder?

  Cuz it's funny, you bring up Kanye and them, and you see Pete Davis and Kim walking in the restaurants and all.

• 49:49Ryan Clark?

  See, Pete Davis is taking pictures from the bed.

• 49:51Channing Crowder?

  From the bed. I'm just saying, do you, like, do you make an effort? No paparazzi can catch you, cuz I've never seen you. I'm waiting to see you and your old lady. I wanna see what you got, Stephen A., because I done been in your house. I would date you if you showed me this house. So I need to see your woman.

• 50:09Stephen A. Smith?

  I would, I would tell you this, I would tell you this. I have been seen with women before. But you never know who I'm dating and who I'm not because I don't engage in public displays of affection. I don't do it.

• 50:23Channing Crowder?

  Oh, you ain't the rug.

• 50:25Stephen A. Smith?

  I don't do that.

• 50:25Channing Crowder?

  The back, the lower back touch?

• 50:27Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, let's go that far. I mean, you do that sometimes. But what I'm saying is, I don't, I'm not about that. Because to me, and, and, and here's the thing. I've turned against the women who are.

• 50:41Stephen A. Smith?

  And the reason why is because, are you with me or are you with Stephen A.? Why the hell do you need to publicize us for?

• 50:49Fred Taylor?

  But what if, what if it's their love language? What if that?

• 50:53Stephen A. Smith?

  I'm not buying that, bro.

• 50:54Fred Taylor?

  Why not?

• 50:55Stephen A. Smith?

  Because when I, because I, I don't give a damn what your love language is. In that particular moment.

• 51:00Channing Crowder?

  It's the Stephen A. love language.

• 51:01Stephen A. Smith?

  In that particular moment, I'm telling you, nah. Because what I'm looking for is, who you with? Because see, this is me. This is me right here. I'm chilling, I love hanging with my boys. I'm chilling, we good. Okay? Me and you is me and you. It ain't for everybody. And if you have this insatiable appetite to get others involved, that tells me you're looking for validation. Well, why? Are you not being treated well enough? Are you not getting enough attention? Are you not being taken care of? Am I not showing you enough affection? What could possibly be your issue? I'm looking at something like that. Because, for example, you might have, I have never been married. Okay?

• 51:46Stephen A. Smith?

  I don't know about you, I know those two married. I'm married. You're married, okay, so all three of you married. Now, you might have a woman that,

• 51:54Stephen A. Smith?

  hey, she wanted that public, that public affection. Was it that way after you married? My wife nasty. My wife, she reaching the pants and down the street. I asked the wrong person. I'm sorry, my bad. The only reason I was asking that question is I was trying to make the point that once they're secure, you don't need the things that you once needed. What I'm saying is because of the life I have when I walk outside my front door, I don't need a woman in my life that's gravitating to that. I need a woman that says, I'm right here when you get off. Yeah. I'm not talking literally, I'm talking figuratively. Even if we outside, you could be outside of work, but once I leave work, I'm with you.

• 52:40Stephen A. Smith?

  I'm not trying to do all of that. And if you're about that, you're not about me. You're just about the life that I have. And if you're gonna be about the life that I have, what do I need you for?

• 52:49Fred Taylor?

  Is it something that you let be known at the beginning of a relationship?

• 52:52Stephen A. Smith?

  Absolutely, without question.

• 52:53Fred Taylor?

  Because you said 34,000 takes, right? One or two slip-ups. People will mess up.

• 52:59Stephen A. Smith?

  They'd say it's more slip-ups than that, but I'm just talking about the one that got me in real trouble.

• 53:03Fred Taylor?

  But in life, people mess up. Like, you might have a, you know, just a innocent conversation with your girlfriend. And maybe it's the girlfriend that talks to someone else and now it's in the media.

• 53:14Stephen A. Smith?

  I don't mean it like that. You talking to your friends, that's different. You got a life too. Live your life. I'm talking public consumption. People you don't know, you just playing for the cameras, you know people watching, you wanna be seen, I ain't got time for all of that. I don't have time for all of that because, guys, I got fired. I got let go. You know what it's like for everybody to know you? And then everybody to know you fired? Everybody to know you lost your job? That's hard. It's hard, and so... I learned a long time ago, not to say that I wasn't like that even before then, but especially after that experience, I learned like, yo, it could be here today, it could be going tomorrow. I'm not about that. I don't want that in my life.

• 53:57Stephen A. Smith?

  And anybody that feels the need to be like that, they can't be for me. I don't want somebody in my life, everywhere I go, they wanna go. I'm going to fight, I wanna go. I'm going to a basketball game, I wanna go. No, no, I want you to wanna be here when I get back.

• 54:14Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 54:14Stephen A. Smith?

  I want you to make it that I wanna rush home to be with you. That I really don't wanna be there, I gotta be there, because where I really wanna be is here with you. I can't feel that way if you wanna be everywhere I'm at. If you wanna do everything that I do, that's not, that's not life to me.

• 54:32Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 54:32Stephen A. Smith?

  And I don't want that.

• 54:33Ryan Clark?

  You do so much, though, like you mentioned, basketball games, shoot, MMA now, boxing, all of these different things, and it almost seems that it would be hard to find and fit in, in that life. Like that a woman who would wanna be with you would have to, I guess, kind of search for time, or fight for time. With having your sisters, and you know, I know your mom has passed, and all these people in your family, how do you find any balance, though, bro?

• 55:00Stephen A. Smith?

  Uh, balance to me is overrated. You do what you're passionate about doing. That's balance to me. There are days that I'm very, very passionate about work. Big story percolates, big event comes up, you wanna be a part of that. And then when it's over, you big about the personal side. It's a give and take, it's an ebb and flow. And each day that passes, you learn what level of momentum to attach to that particular day. But the cushion comes from, no matter what you have to do, you always got something in place that you want to do. And you find the time to do the things that you wanna do. Maybe not as much time as you like, but damn sure enough, who doesn't find time to do what they wanna do enough?

• 55:46Stephen A. Smith?

  We usually do. And so when you look at it from that perspective, it's incredibly important. I understand what you're saying about balance, I'm not trying to negate its importance. But when you bring up, for example, the events and stuff like that, well, look at it, guys. I'm sitting here, I'm going to games, and stuff like that. But guess what? You know what my number one muse is? Going to the movies. I love going to the movies. Nothing relaxes me more than just sitting back. And chilling and watching the big screen. I just love it, you know? I don't want to go out to a club. I want to go out to dinner. I want to go out to dinner. I want to go out for a drink. I want to chill out. I'm not, I've never been a partier.

• 56:29Stephen A. Smith?

  I've never been that dude that wanted to be at the club and all of that other stuff. I like to go out and I like a relatively mellow environment. It's just that the company has to be right.

• 56:40Ryan Clark?

  Do you think though, that your personality, like recently you kind of talked about James Harden? And warned against his partying. We all know like every place he lives, the strip club money go up in every city he's playing. You know what I'm saying? And now he's in Philly and you know, me and you had a great conversation. Probably our first conversation, we talked a lot about Allen Iverson.

• 57:00Stephen A. Smith?

  Right.

• 57:00Ryan Clark?

  That's when I learned, okay, how you understood taking care of players. But now on your job with your platform, whether it's KD, Kyrie, James, you've been very vocal about these superstar players. Where is the space in between that of saying, okay, I'm still going to protect these guys. I'm going to hold them accountable, but I'm also going to do my job. Cause I'm as big of a star in my world as they are in theirs.

• 57:24Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, it depends again on a case by case basis. Like for example, I wasn't getting on James Harden about the strip club. I was getting on him about shooting three for 17 and then going to the strip club. There's a difference. You can't have Kyrie Irving roll up in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The brother don't like you. He happy that you going from the team you just left that he was on, alright? He essentially called you out. You sat up there and act like you didn't give a damn that you were just happy and relieved to be away from him. And y'all collide for the first time. And opening tip off. He waves them off. I got him. And he guards you.

• 58:07Stephen A. Smith?

  You got to respond to that damn challenge. That's, that's a man thing right there. You can't, you can't back down. And to shoot three for 17, now that's bad. That's very, very bad. It's 18 percent. That's very, very bad.

• 58:20Ryan Clark?

  Terrible.

• 58:21Stephen A. Smith?

  Okay? And to lose by 29, it's terrible.

• 58:25Stephen A. Smith?

  But to go out and party after that? Nah.

• 58:30Channing Crowder?

  But, no, no, no, no, no, no. There's, there's your job. And then there's extracurricular activities, Stephen A. No, there's teachers that do a terrible job and they can go have a good time.

• 58:42Stephen A. Smith?

  Right.

• 58:42Channing Crowder?

  There's police officers that don't write no tickets. They go have, why when an athlete plays bad, can he not go enjoy his time off?

• 58:49Stephen A. Smith?

  Well, the first order of business is that you gotta really want the answer to that question before you ask it, because I'm not sure you want it.

• 58:54Channing Crowder?

  I want it.

• 58:55Stephen A. Smith?

  Teachers don't command an audience of nineteen thousand plus to pay tickets to walk through a turnstile to watch you perform. Professional athletes do. And so what you have to understand is that, of course, he has the right to do it. Nobody's questioning that.

• 59:11Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 59:12Stephen A. Smith?

  I don't mean can't in a literal sense. Figuratively speaking, it's a horrible look. And here's the reason why. Because the fans have to know you care as much as they do. That's the key. See, when Allen Iverson was in Philadelphia, ain't nobody partying more than him. Here's the difference. Allen Iverson usually performed. And the brother had a heart of a lion. And we saw this miniature dude going into the land of giants and challenge, challenging them every single night.

• 59:44Channing Crowder?

  Show out.

• 59:45Stephen A. Smith?

  James Harden is bigger. James Harden is stronger. He's a four-time league scoring champion. He's a former league MVP. Who got called out by another superstar in the league who called him washed up. Then showed up in your house and said, essentially, I'mma bust your ass.

• 1:00:06Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:06Stephen A. Smith?

  And then did it. When that happens to you and you go out partying,

• 1:00:15Stephen A. Smith?

  the fans ain't gonna love you that much no more. And what I was saying of James Harden was, I'm not holding it against you. Please understand you're less than a week removed from saying, "I love Philadelphia. It's my kind of town. It feels like home." I was saying to him, "That ain't gonna last if you play like that and you partying." So it was a warning to him from someone who knows Philly.

• 1:00:44Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:44Stephen A. Smith?

  If he was in Utah, I'm gonna understand that.

• 1:00:48Ryan Clark?

  And they were to party in Utah after the game.

• 1:00:50Stephen A. Smith?

  Ah, okay, okay.

• 1:00:52Ryan Clark?

  It's some strip club.

• 1:00:53Stephen A. Smith?

  I'm just saying, I don't know, but what I'm saying is, I'm just saying, listen, you, that's gonna be a problem for you. And if you don't believe me, ask Allen Iverson.

• 1:01:07Stephen A. Smith?

  Ask him. He'll tell you. He'll look at you and he'll say, "Stephen A. has a point. Stephen A. absolutely right." Because I know that town. And I'm telling you, I'm not asking you. Let that brother play like that again. God help him if it's during the playoffs. It's a different ballgame. Now with the Kyrie situation, totally different.

• 1:01:30Stephen A. Smith?

  People have the right to feel how they want about the vaccine.

• 1:01:34Stephen A. Smith?

  Tens of millions of people had to take the vaccine. I was one of those people, "Well, Disney, Lakers, Stephen A. needs to take the vaccine." And I was gonna take it anyway, but I was nervous as hell about it. Was reluctant about it. So I understand his reluctance. That's not my issue with Kyrie Irving. My issue with Kyrie Irving is that Kyrie Irving finds every excuse under the sun not to show up for work. The brother's gone for 10 months. He gets injured in February. The season gets halted in March because of the pandemic. Then after that, they resume play in the bubble. Kyrie is a vice president on a committee discouraging players from playing in the bubble. Knowing that the league owners had this provision called the force majeure provision

• 1:02:20Stephen A. Smith?

  that would have allowed them to rip up the collective bargaining agreement, thereby rendering all contracts null and void. He knew that and was still encouraging them to do it, which was ignorant. Then on top of it all, he did it without talking with the president of the players association at the time, which is Chris Paul. We fast forward, bubble play takes place, Lakers win the chip, they go to play in December. That's 10 months off. 10.

• 1:02:49Stephen A. Smith?

  Season starts December 22nd. Two weeks later, Kyrie needs time off. Why? Because the riots took place at the US Capitol and he's traumatized. Are you kidding me? Have y'all lost your mind? You got to be kidding me. He's traumatized because of the US riots. Wasn't a riot at the Barclay Center. Wasn't a riot in New York City. You understand what I'm saying? They, they, there was a riot at the US Capitol. Okay? What the hell is next? The Palestinians bombed the Israelis and you gonna take time off because of that? You know, I mean, really? He's hurt. You understand what I'm saying? The war in Afghanistan, I mean, Al Qaeda comes out of nowhere. That's gonna be a reason? Ukraine, we ain't joking about this stuff, Ukraine.

• 1:03:34Stephen A. Smith?

  I, I swear to you, my hand, my hand on the Bible. When Ukraine got bombed by Russia, I thought Kyrie was gonna take off for that. I ain't lying. I thought he was gonna take off for that. I sat up there, I went on first take, I went like this. I wanna see if he gonna take off. I, I wanna see if he's gonna take off. That's exactly what I did. I wanted to see because there's always an excuse. And I'm saying, this brother is a superstar. He's box office. And the city of Brooklyn, the borough of Brooklyn doesn't even get to watch him play. Now, he could say it's because of the mandate, which is partially true, but the other side to that is, you elect not to take it. You left your brother KD hanging. KD don't seem to mind, I don't understand why, that's a separate story.

• 1:04:20Stephen A. Smith?

  But you see the difference? Harden is a different issue than Kyrie. The, the issue determines how I feel about it on a case by case basis.

• 1:04:29Ryan Clark?

  I think my last player question for you is, you kinda talked about Ja and Luka. Right? Ja, Ja Morant and Luka.

• 1:04:37Stephen A. Smith?

  Luka Doncic.

• 1:04:37Ryan Clark?

  And Luka Doncic. And you've been talking about AI. I feel like Ja seems to be the next one.

• 1:04:44Stephen A. Smith?

  Yes.

• 1:04:44Ryan Clark?

  Right, and you've mentioned, we talked Harden and we talked Kyrie, all these superstars.

• 1:04:48Stephen A. Smith?

  Yep.

• 1:04:49Ryan Clark?

  When you look at where the league is now, who do they need to make the face of the league? Who should Stephen A. be talking about day by day? Is Ja Morant? Can Ja Morant become one of those guys in Memphis?

• 1:05:01Stephen A. Smith?

  I think Ja Morant can become that guy. I think it's still Steph. It's still LeBron. It's still KD. But definitely, Ja Morant is a future face of the league. You respect, mad respect and love for other guys like Trey Young and stuff like that. But Ja Morant can be that dude and Luca can't be ignored because he's an international star. Because he's not American. He's an international star and he's beloved. And I think that goes a long way. So names like that definitely can come into the fold. You can't ignore them because, to me, here's where I, here's what I look at. Your performance is one thing.

• 1:05:42Stephen A. Smith?

  Your willingness to embrace your stature and accept the accountability and responsibility that comes along with it is another matter. Again, in a roundabout way, how does that relate? I'm the face of ESPN. Do I not show up to work every day understanding that there's a responsibility that comes with that? You're damn right I do. I understand that I'm not just any old employee. I understand that anything that I do and anything that I say can come back on the company. And I have to embrace that level of responsibility. You got a lot of cats that want the money. They want the recognition. They want to be seen as the star. But they don't want the responsibility that comes with it. And to me, you want guys, when you talk about the face of the league,

• 1:06:26Stephen A. Smith?

  you want guys that accept that responsibility. My problem right now with somebody like KD, part of his responsibility, if you go support Kyrie in terms of saying he's his own man and I can't tell him what to do with his own body, that's fine. But then don't come out in support of him either because he ain't playing. At the end of the day, your number one priority with him should be having him on the court. We know that you don't want him to die, you don't want him to drop dead, you don't want him to get sick. We know all of that. We got all of that. That's as human beings. But damn it, we together because I need you on the court. We supposed to be doing this together. If you can't hold him accountable for that, even privately.

• 1:07:13Stephen A. Smith?

  How can you truly be seen as the face of the league when one of the preeminent faces is somebody you're condoning being off the court? Any star that you can think of, tell me which one of them would have been okay with a star like Kyrie Irving sitting out half the games? Tell me one of them who would have been.

• 1:07:33Ryan Clark?

  Ain't one, nobody.

• 1:07:34Stephen A. Smith?

  Can't find them. You can't find them. That's what I'm talking about.

• 1:07:37Ryan Clark?

  You have given us, like honestly, man, this was, this was actually more than, than I even bargained for. I thought this was going to be something totally different. And you, you gave us a little bit of the memoir. But my question for you is like, I watch you every day and I do, and Fred mentioned it earlier, watching you do multiple things has made, have made me want to do more things to show that I had more depth or, or more bandwidth than they allow me to sometimes on network TV.

• 1:08:01Stephen A. Smith?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:02Ryan Clark?

  What's enough for you? When is it, when do you get to a point and you say, you know what? I've done enough. I can rest. I don't need to do anymore.

• 1:08:11Stephen A. Smith?

  I don't know the answer to that question. I, my, my, my, my initial thought would be when I retire. My second thought would be when I, I drop dead. Because my attitude is, is that as long as I'm living and breathing, I'm going for it. I'm considered right now arguably the best at what I do. I don't look at it that way. I look at it as I gotta go on the air tomorrow and prove it again. I got Mr. SAS Productions. I started my own production company. I want to produce content and I want to be one of the best producers out there because I know that I know television and I believe that I know film and I can do some things in that regard.

• 1:08:55Stephen A. Smith?

  The podcast world is something I may venture into. The list just goes on and on. I've always aspired to do late night. I hosted Jimmy Kimmel one night. Knocked it out the park, they said. Had the second highest ratings behind Stephen Colbert that night. And that was the first time and the only time I've ever done it. It's a mistake for anybody to look at me, to think that I'm finished or to count me out because they don't understand how hungry I am. They don't understand how bad I want it. And it's not about the money. Of course I want to get paid and damn it, I intend to get paid. Ain't apologizing for that to anybody. But I don't want it by default.

• 1:09:37Stephen A. Smith?

  I like the fact that, yeah, he getting paid, but what they really look at when they see me is the man. I'm on ESPN and the first thought that comes up is me. You know, and so the other thing is, it's incredibly important to me, and it always has been, to reach back and to give to others. I can't do this forever. Ryan Clark to me is an heir apparent, along with a few others out there. And guess what? When that day comes, I'm gonna give y'all a pound of hug and I'm gonna be like, I have my time. Y'all go for it, cuz I got other stuff to do. You know, this ain't forever, and when you, when you don't have successors in place, at least in your mind's eye, you really cheating everybody.

• 1:10:21Stephen A. Smith?

  Because what you should do, if you really, really about yourself, and you really about doing what you know to be right and being successful, then you want others to come along, because they'll remember you and they'll continue what you started and then elevate it and take it to another level. The way Stuart Scott, John Saunders, even Mike Wilbon and others have done for me. That's what I'm about, and I'm gonna continue to be that way.

• 1:10:44Fred Taylor?

  You know, I, I wanted to add to that. A lot of kids that watch you every day.

• 1:10:48Stephen A. Smith?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:48Fred Taylor?

  They're gonna watch this, that they're gonna, actually, they're gonna love this, as a matter of fact. Did you have a relationship with Stuart Scott?

• 1:10:55Stephen A. Smith?

  Yes.

• 1:10:56Fred Taylor?

  How did he influence you?

• 1:10:57Stephen A. Smith?

  Nah, man. Stuart Scott was somebody that was just fantastic at what he did. People didn't realize he was legally blind practically. I mean, he took off his glasses, he couldn't see right in front of him. You know, I was with him one time where he memorized an entire rundown for a SportsCenter. The entire rundown. People don't understand how phenomenal he was at doing what he did. Fantastic writer, orator, knew what he was doing on television, had pizzazz and everything like that. The pizzazz that he showed, with what he brought to television, made it easier for them to accept me.

• 1:11:33Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:34Stephen A. Smith?

  And this is what people don't realize. When you have somebody like Stuart Scott, John Saunders was just that professional, consummate professional that knew his job inside and out, and taught you about the professionalism the industry required in order for you to elevate yourself. Stuart Scott.

• 1:11:55Stephen A. Smith?

  Brought a different dimension from a personality perspective. And that personality that he put on display. Made it easier for the powers that be in the industry to take chances on other black folks on the come up. And so now it's my turn for me to go on the air and to be who I am. But also do so in a way that embraces, that allows them to embrace others on the come up who might want to be Stephen A. And it continues and it continues and it continues. That's what we're supposed to be doing.

• 1:12:27Channing Crowder?

  And, and bro, I gotta do it because I watched you with Bimani. He brought it up. Ryan hit you on it. We didn't see Saturday Night Live hit you on it. Bro, you ever gonna let the hair go?

• 1:12:37Stephen A. Smith?

  I think, you know what?

• 1:12:38Channing Crowder?

  Because that, that man sneaking back, Stephen A. likes. It's deep. Him and Bimani had it on TV one day.

• 1:12:45Stephen A. Smith?

  Actually, it's not true. And I can prove it. Can I tell you, can I prove it?

• 1:12:48Channing Crowder?

  Okay.

• 1:12:49Stephen A. Smith?

  I looked at a photo of myself from seven years ago. My hairline was back this far then.

• 1:12:56Stephen A. Smith?

  It's, I'm, I'm holding on. It's still, it's still here. It's still, look, damn it, I'm 54. I'm 54, bro. Have you seen LeBron? Have you seen K D? Have you seen, have you seen some of these people? I mean, listen, man, I mean, the hair is leaving them. I'm 54, they in their 30s. You see what I'm saying? So I'm not saying that, listen, here's my point. I, I, I look ugly enough. I'm scared to look uglier. But here's the deal. I'm gonna hold on to this George Jefferson look for as long as I'm by speaker. In all seriousness, don't sleep on me, bro. I ain't got no shame in my game. I, I'll go to Hair Club for Men. He got money too now. I'll go to Hair Club for Men.

• 1:13:31Channing Crowder?

  You go Deion, you go Deion Sanders?

• 1:13:33Stephen A. Smith?

  You know, I talked to him about it. I talked to him about it. I, I did, I did talk to him about it. I talked to him about it. I talked to him about it. I talked to Michael Ergen with that damn toupee that he lying about. I talked, I talked to him about, I talked to all of them. I mean, listen, I can't rule out anything. Listen, I will go to Hair Club for Men and announce it to the world. That's right. And it brought you a sponsorship. That's right. Think I won't do it? Hell yeah. Get some money for a try me. I don't put no plugs. You know, the PRPs or whatever the hell it is. Make sure my old hair grows back. But will I try it? Damn right. Don't rule, don't rule it out. I don't care. But, but, but listen, listen, listen. The bottom line is ain't nobody looking, I mean, the men, y'all can insult me all the want to. Women ain't looking at me in a negative fashion. I'm good.

• 1:14:14Channing Crowder?

  That's what I need to see. I need to see your mad one.

• 1:14:17Stephen A. Smith?

  No.

• 1:14:17Channing Crowder?

  That's why I need to see your power.

• 1:14:19Stephen A. Smith?

  You don't need, you don't need, you don't need to see anything.

• 1:14:21Channing Crowder?

  I need to.

• 1:14:22Stephen A. Smith?

  I'm good.

• 1:14:22Channing Crowder?

  I show you a picture of my wife right?

• 1:14:23Stephen A. Smith?

  You're married, you're married, you're married. And when I get married, you see a picture of my wife too?

• 1:14:27Ryan Clark?

  Nah, there you go. My dog, man, we appreciate you, but this was.

• 1:14:31Stephen A. Smith?

  Appreciate y'all, man.

• 1:14:31Ryan Clark?

  Man, we couldn't have asked for a better show, bro.

• 1:14:33Stephen A. Smith?

  No problem, man. All of it, bro. Proud of y'all, man. Keep doing y'all thing, man. Y'all can do big things with this, man. Keep grinding.

• 1:14:38Ryan Clark?

  Thank you, baby. Thank you so much.

• 1:14:40Stephen A. Smith?

  Yes, sir.

• 1:14:40Ryan Clark?

  What up?

• 1:14:43Speaker 05

  Hold up. Limited, take a stomach kind of pin in it. I thought they hear the witness it. Got my people feeling militant. Way I'm feeling got me up. On the mission got me up. Knowing me, I got the key. On the vision I can trust. Trust. Limited, take a stomach kind of pin in it. I thought they hear the witness it. Got my people feeling militant. Way I'm feeling got me up.

• 1:15:06Speaker 06

  Every game day, you show up for your team. Now, it's your time.

• 1:15:11Speaker 07

  We go V.

• 1:15:15Speaker 06

  We go V. Ask your prescriber about Wegovy. Someaglutide injection 2.4 milligrams a GLP-1. Call 1-833-4-WEGOVY or visit wegovy.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Wegovy. Why wait? We go V.