These days, Stephen A. Smith is everywhere – on the sidelines, at the games, and of course all over TV. His swaggering sports talk has made him a superstar at ESPN, a modern-day Howard Cosell with a multi-million dollar media empire.
Smith begins each weekday morning with his popular cable show, "First Take." The set is his court. "We do want to one-up one another along the way," he said, "and when you want to one-up somebody, that's competition, and that's what makes it go
"The key, for us, is to be authentic; don't fake it" he said. "I'm talking about making sure that it's not choreographed. You're not just saying something just to be saying it."
Sports fans like to keep the conversation going. "Remember, the typical stars, they people want your picture, they want your autograph," said Smith. "Me, they want a debate. They want the pictures, too, but they want a debate. There's no such thing as, 'Love you, man, can I get a picture with you?' and that's it. It's, 'Man, did you really mean that about the Knicks? How could you say that about the Cowboys?'"
Smith grew up in the working-class neighborhood of Hollis, Queens, in New York City. His mother, a nurse who worked 16-hour shifts, encouraged him as he struggled with dyslexia …. and with his father. "My father said that I was a lost cause," said Smith. "My father was the one who told my mother, 'He's just not smart.'"
Does that still hurt? "Well, it hurt for a very, very long time. But it subsided significantly once I proved him wrong. And even he had to concede that I was a different beast. My issue was he didn't take care of the family. So, my mother had to."
He left New York after he won a basketball scholarship to Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. But an injury cut short that dream, so he turned to newspapers. Eventually, his columns caught the attention of ESPN executives, who gave him a show.
His first stop after signing the contract? His mother's office. "I walked up in there and I said, 'Let's go.' And I looked at the person running the center. I said, 'My mother will not be working here any longer. It's over.' And my mother never worked again. And to this day, I've achieved a lot of things, but that is the proudest moment of my life. That's me."
His combative commentary has its critics (Stephen A. Smith Comes Under Fire for Controversial Remarks on Ayesha Curry). And he has generated controversy, sometimes to the point of ESPN taking action (ESPN's suspends Stephen A. Smith over domestic abuse comments).
Of his haters, Smith says, "Well, let 'em hate. They ain't winning. We winning. Do you really, really think a show would be number one for 13 consecutive years if it was unpleasant and uncomfortable for people to watch? The critics that say that want you to think that, because you ain't watching their show."
Some critics call him Screaming A. Smith, accusing him of making journalism and sports all about shouting. "Well, those are people that want you and others to ignore my resume," said Smith. "I was a college beat writer. I was a pro beat writer. I became an NBA columnist. White men are all over the place, screaming all the time. They don't call them 'screaming whatever.' Matter of fact, they call them passionate. And they never associate the word anger. But somehow, they do that with me. Despite this fact that I smile a lot. A lot of reasons to be happy."
Happy, and busy. Just recently, at age 58, Smith became a big name at SiriusXM, with a daily sports show, and now a weekly political show, too, where the registered independent interviews leaders from both parties.
But this move toward politics has raised eyebrows, in press boxes and Washington. And even President Trump is keeping an eye on Smith, who said while calling into News Nation, "He's a good guy, he's a smart guy. I love watching him. He has great entertainment skills. I'd love to see him run."
But Smith says, "When somebody talks about me being the president or whatever, I have no desire to be a politician, zero. I have no desire to run for office."
But is he ruling it out? "I'm not ruling it out, because I'd love to be on the debate stages against some of these individuals that think they're better suited to run the country," he said. "Because I think that the American people deserve to listen to and hear from somebody who genuinely cares about making life better for them instead of yourself."
He says, were he to run, it would be as a Democrat: "Yeah, because I couldn't see myself running as a member of the GOP. I'm a fiscal conservative; I can't stand high taxes. But I'm a social liberal in the same breath, because I believe in living and let live. I pay attention to the desolate and disenfranchised. Yes, I like strong borders, that's absolutely true. We never needed open borders, but we don't need it to be completely closed, either. We are a gorgeous mosaic."
Sounds like a stump speech. "No, there's no stump speech," Smith said, "but I can give a speech without a note in front of me."
Whether he jumps into politics or not, one thing is clear: Stephen A. Smith is always up for a debate
"I will confess to you, I'm giving strong consideration to being on that debate stage for 2027," he said. "I've got this year coming up, 2026, to think about it, to study, to know the issues, et cetera, 'cause I don't know everything. But I am gonna spend this year thinking about that before I make a decision as to what I want to do."
"You've only had a few thousand debate practices over the last few years every morning," I said.
"Right. I'm not worried about a debate one bit, not even a little bit," Smith replied.
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Story produced by David Rothman, Editor: Ed Givnish.
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