TIME IS RUNNING OUT ON STEPHEN A. SMITH: WE LAUGH AND TURN THE CHANNEL
Because his ESPN bosses like him and President Trump likes him, Stephen A. thinks he can preach about anything and everything in sports and politics — a draining formula that can’t last much longer
The clock is terminally ill. No longer will it time him venturing from this point to that point, from here to there, so often that the city backdrop on set looks phony. Our minds also are fatigued watching Stephen A. Smith and considering dual eardrum surgery. He was Stephen A. at the NBA draft. He was Stephen A. at the NBA Finals. He was Stephen A. at the NFL draft. He was Stephen A. on Major League Baseball. He was Stephen A. at the Super Bowl. He was Stephen A. ripping on the NAACP for snubbing President Trump.
He appears on ESPN and his podcasts and anyone else’s content so habitually, does Stephen A. even know we’re all laughing at him? And turning off his channel? Why do his bosses, Jimmy Pitaro and Burke Magnus, forget that the cardinal rule of communication — when one predominant image and voice becomes overwhelming to the human senses — is turning him into the most excessive and draining person in American media?
That is not a good thing. People will look to someone else. He just signed a five-year contract that doesn’t expire until March 2030. Jesus. Time was, critics scolded a show called “Around The Horn” for being too involved in debate. The show is off the air after it went swampy soft. Stephen A. makes $100 million for being loud and snarling. And at this point, no one cares what he makes or says because we’ve lost interest in him.
The other day, before Game 7 of a title series that didn’t require his verbal force, he looked at panelist Kendrick Perkins and shouted, “You are really annoying me today.” The tone was so deafening and revolting, we saw another panelist, Bob Myers, say something all of us wanted to repeat — every single hour of every single day.
“Just because you yell something doesn’t mean it’s true,” Myers said.
The summer is only getting started. Stephen A. might run for the U.S. presidency in three years, which should load up outer-space journeys and make me plan a permanent vacation to Paris. At the moment, as the NAACP knows, he is a Trumper, which could not please Disney Company chief Bob Iger. Is he trying to be elected, by chance, with the same wrath as Trump?
“You don't get to ignore him! He has been the most powerful, most influential member of the GOP since 2015!” Stephen A. said. “How do you refuse to invite him, ostracize him, not wanting to hear what he has to say to you all — how does that help you!? How!? Ignoring him and not even inviting him to come and speak at your convention — what's that gonna accomplish? Are you trying to tell me that there's no president that has been as offensive to the NAACP as Donald Trump in 116 years? Are you really making that argument? That no matter what you think about Donald Trump, that's the only person, the only president of the United States that you've been able to say that about in a 116-year history of the NAACP?”
Finished? “One hundred and sixteen years!” he said.
A boring NBA draft, beyond first pick Cooper Flagg, demanded Smith’s comments on anything and everything. “What on earth are the Phoenix Suns doing? Giving up a first-round pick in 2029 for Mark Williams? This is the same dude the Lakers were trying to acquire. And supposedly, he failed the physical,” he said. “One of the reasons you made the deal to move Kevin Durant was to acquire assets. Why would you give them away for Mark Williams? Four years from now, why?”
The Suns, swallowed hard by Stephen A. They needed a center to match with rookie Khaman Maluach. Maybe they’ll trade one. Next? The New York Knicks — and whether they’ll benefit from a weakened Eastern Conference. “You can’t sit up there and just catapult the Knicks to that level when you don’t even have a coach,” Stephen A. said. “This has owner James Dolan written all over it. Because, how do you get rid of a Tom Thibodeau, who took you to back-to-back 50-win seasons and within two games of a berth to the NBA Finals. Have a plan. The Knicks have asked permission to talk to everybody but me, you, and Bob. That’s about it.”
Myers saved the episode, again. When Stephen A. was going off on the Washington Wizards, the Golden State dynasty executive said: “This is a night to be positive.”
“I am positive,” Stephen A. said. “This is gonna go a long way in avoiding that level of misery.”
Nothing is comforting about Stephen A. Nothing he blurts gives us a reason to watch. He rips on Kendrick Perkins. He rips on the NAACP. He rips on the Suns. He rips on the Knicks. He rips on the Wizards. He rips on Myers. So many media folks have grown to hate him, Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina put together a list of recent headlines, including Grizzlies star Ja Morant trashing Stephen A. for saying Memphis is dangerous.
Awful Announcing: Nick Wright accuses Stephen A. Smith of lying over ‘awful’ responses to two recent incidents.
Barrett Sports Media: Why Stephen A. Smith Isn’t the Person News/Talk Radio Should Emulate.
Former ESPN Radio Host Jason Fitz: Stephen A. Smith “Walks, Talks, Lives, Eats, Breathes Stereotypes.”
Awful Announcing: Cody Decker snipes at “little b—” Stephen A. Smith.
Yahoo Sports: Sports Fans “Done With ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.”
Mediate: Fox Sports Analyst Trolls ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith for Playing Solitaire on His Phone During NBA Finals.
Sports Media Watch: NBA will be better off without Stephen A. Smith.
USA Today: ESPN paid Stephen A. Smith $100 million to not watch NBA Finals.
Oh, there was more. Michelle Beadle was shocked when Stephen A. replaced her on Mad Dog Sports Radio. “It’s a reminder: We’re just all pieces of s-–t to someone. If you forgot, there it is,” Beadle said. “The Hollywood Reporter comes out — and there’s his face. I was like, ‘I should have known.’ That was just kind of gross. A little respect would have been nice. Good Lord. I was totally blindsided. Really embarrassed, to be honest.”
Of Stephen A., she said: “I don’t respect him. I don’t respect his work. He doesn’t like me. This goes back to the Ray Rice stuff. He made some really piggish comments on the air. I responded; he got suspended for two weeks. I think that was sort of the beginning of the end for anything. I think he gets things wrong all the time. I’m not talking about opinions; those can never be wrong. But factually, when you spread yourself so thin, it’s hard to be right. Not a fan.”
Said Barstool’s Mark Titus: “Yes, he’s appointed himself God. It’s not like him saying it, it’s like he’s threatening. He’s threatening everybody at all times, it’s crazy. It’s crazy. It’s motherf–king crazy.”
ESPN’s Joe Fortenbaugh hosts a radio show airing opposite of Stephen A.’s Mad Dog show. “This guy, what’s with this new radio show? You realize you’re going up against me and my time slot, aren’t ya? What are ya doing?” he said.
The only saving grace is that Stephen A. doesn’t do a show with Pablo Torre. After his reckless error in reporting on Bill Belichick, he says he has uncovered NFL collusion. Did Roger Goodell ask 32 franchises to squash fully guaranteed contracts for veterans after Deshaun Watson’s deal for $230 million? He might have, but because Torre reported it, I have no idea. “I just need to stress that this is a document that neither the league nor the owners nor the union wanted out,” he told Dan Le Batard. Torre is in the public eye almost as much as Smith. Too much.
Stephen A. doesn’t stoop to the media hoi polloi. But he wants it known he can’t stand LeBron James. “I don’t like him, and he don’t like me,” he said.
The only people who like Stephen A. are Pitaro and Magnus.
And Trump.
In 2025, that’s all that matters.
###
Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.