Stephen A. Smith | |
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.jpg) Smith in 2023 | |
| Born | Stephen Anthony Smith (1967-10-14)October 14, 1967 (age 58) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Winston-Salem State University (BA) |
| Occupations |
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| Employer | ESPN Inc. |
| Political party | Independent[a] |
| Children | 2 |
| Basketball career | |
| Career information | |
| High school | Thomas A. Edison (Queens, New York) |
| College | Winston-Salem (1987–1991) |
| Position | Point guard /shooting guard |
Stephen Anthony Smith (born October 14, 1967),[6][7][8] also known asStephen A.,[9][10][11] is an American television personality, radio host, sports analyst, and actor. He makes frequent appearances as anNBA analyst forESPN onSportsCenter,NBA Countdown, and the network's NBA broadcasts. He has also hostedThe Stephen A. Smith Show onESPN Radio and is a commentator on ESPN'sFirst Take. Smith is a featured columnist for ESPN andThe Philadelphia Inquirer.
Stephen Anthony Smith was born inthe Bronx, aborough of New York City. He was raised in theHollis section ofQueens.[12] Smith is the youngest of six children.[7][13] He has four older sisters and had an older brother, Basil, who died in a car accident in 1992. He also has a half-brother on his father's side. Smith's parents were originally fromSaint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. His father managed a hardware store. Smith's maternal grandmother was white, the rest of his grandparents black.[14] He graduated in 1986 fromThomas Edison High School in Queens.[15]
After attending theFashion Institute of Technology for one year, Smith received a basketball scholarship to attendWinston-Salem State University, ahistorically black university inWinston-Salem, North Carolina. He played for theWinston-Salem State Rams men's basketball team underHall of Fame coachClarence Gaines. However, Smith's basketball career abruptly ended after a severe knee injury.[16] While still on the team, Smith wrote a column for the university newspaper,The News Argus, arguing Gaines should retire due to health issues.[17] He is a member of theOmega Psi Phi fraternity. Smith graduated in 1991 with aBachelor of Arts degree inmass communication.[18]
Smith began his print media career with theWinston-Salem Journal, theGreensboro News and Record, and theNew York Daily News.
Beginning in 1994, Smith had a position as a writer forThe Philadelphia Inquirer. He began reporting on thePhiladelphia 76ers as theirNBA columnist, and eventually, as a general sports columnist. On August 23, 2007, theInquirer announced that Smith would no longer be writing columns and would instead be demoted back to the position of general assignment reporter. In 2008, theInquirer ended its relationship with Smith, which coincided with Smith starting his own blog, stephena.com. In February 2010, Smith returned toThe Philadelphia Inquirer after winning an arbitrator's ruling that he was to be reinstated but having to agree to remove all of his political views from his website and from cable news shows.[19]
On April 11, 2005, Smith became the host of a weekday noon to 2 p.m. radio show onWEPN in New York City with his "right-hand man B.T. (Brandon Tierney)". On September 20, 2007, the show was shifted to the 2–4 p.m. slot, with the second hour being broadcast nationally onESPN Radio, replacing the third hour ofThe Dan Patrick Show (Mike Tirico took over the first two hours). Smith's show came to an end in April 2008 as he sought to expand his career in television, and beginning May 1,Scott Van Pelt began hosting in the 3–4 p.m. hour that was previously Smith's.
In November 2009, Smith became an on-air contributor toFox Sports Radio and broke the story ofAllen Iverson's retirement on theChris Myers–Steve Hartman afternoon show on November 25. Iverson later ended his short retirement and rejoined thePhiladelphia 76ers on December 2. Smith became a Fox Sports Radio morning show host on January 4, 2010, replacing Washington, D.C.–based hostSteve Czaban. On his radio program, Smith correctly predicted thatLeBron James,Dwyane Wade, andChris Bosh would all sign with theMiami Heat during 2010 free agency.[20] In early 2011, Smith became a resident FSR NBA insider and ended his morning show.
ESPN announced on February 1, 2011 that Smith would return to ESPN as a columnist for ESPN.com and host for weekday local radio shows on 1050 ESPN Radio New York (WEPN-AM) at 7–9 p.m. ET as well as 710 ESPN Radio Los Angeles (KSPN-AM) at 6–8 p.m. PT. He left LA 710 ESPN on April 24, 2012.[21]
Beginning in May 2012, as part of theESPN New York move to98.7 WRKS, Smith replacedRobin Lundberg alongsideRyan Ruocco and debuted the Stephen A. Smith & Ryan Ruocco Show[22] which ran from 1–3 p.m. ET on the new98.7 WEPN.[23][24] Smith started each show with a signature pre-introcold open "rant" on a topic that would be discussed in the first segment. The show came to an end in the summer of 2013, when Smith left ESPN forSirius XM Radio, where he joinedChris Russo'sMad Dog Sports Channel. The move was announced just one day after Smith made some controversial comments onESPN2'sFirst Take program regarding theRay Rice situation.[25]
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On January 17, 2017, Smith moved from Sirius XM's Mad Dog Sports channel back to ESPN. His daily two-hour program is heard on WEPN in New York, KSPN in Los Angeles, Sirius XM's ESPN channel, and via syndication.[26]
Smith is currently one of the hosts ofFirst Take on ESPN. He also appears as an analyst on various ESPN programs. He is known for provocative analysis and dour delivery.
Smith started his television career on the now-defunct cable networkCNN/SI in 1999.
In August 2005, Smith started hosting a daily hour-long show on ESPN calledQuite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith. After the show was cancelled in January 2007, he mainly concentrated on basketball, serving as anNBA analyst. He also appeared on other ESPN shows, including thereality seriesDream Job, as well as serving as a frequent guest (and guest host) onPardon the Interruption,Jim Rome Is Burning, and as a participant on1st and 10. He appeared as an anchor on the Sunday morning edition ofSportsCenter. On April 17, 2009, Smith announced on his website that he would be leaving ESPN on May 1, 2009.[27] TheLos Angeles Times reported that ESPN commented that, "We decided to move in different directions."[28] Though according toBig Lead Sports, a source says that ESPN and Smith went to the negotiating table and could not reach an agreement.[29]
Smith later returned to ESPN, and it was announced on April 30, 2012, on air that Smith would be joiningFirst Take on a permanent, five-days-per-week basis under a new format for the show called "Embrace Debate" in which he squares off against longtimeFirst Take commentatorSkip Bayless.
On July 25, 2014, Smith made controversial remarks onFirst Take that women may provoke domestic abuse, in regards to the domestic violence situation involvingBaltimore Ravens' running backRay Rice and his wife.[30] After criticism of the remarks, including comments on Twitter from ESPN reporterMichelle Beadle, Smith apologized for his words on a taped segment on ESPN. On July 29, 2014, Smith was suspended by ESPN for a week and did not appear on any of their programs again until August 6, 2014.[31][32]
In late 2014, Smith signed a multi-year deal with ESPN paying him over $3 million per year.[33]
In a March 9, 2015, episode ofFirst Take, while discussing the topic ofPhiladelphia Eagles' head coachChip Kelly trading away running backLeSean McCoy to theBuffalo Bills for linebackerKiko Alonso, Smith said: "Chip Kelly has made decisions over the last couple of years that, dare I say, leave a few brothers feeling uncomfortable." Michael David Smith of NBC Sports believed that Smith had hinted Kelly's roster moves regarding the 2014 release of wide receiverDeSean Jackson, the McCoy trade, and letting wide receiverJeremy Maclin depart for free agency to sign with theKansas City Chiefs, while still keeping wide receiverRiley Cooper on the Eagles' roster might be racially motivated.[34] In an interview withESPN The Magazine that was published on May 8, 2015, McCoy admitted that while he respected Kelly as a head coach, he did not see eye to eye with him. McCoy also believed that some of the roster moves that are being made by Kelly are racially motivated.[35] Kelly has said that the roster moves that he has made have nothing to do with race, it has to do with finding the right players that fit well into his team.[36] Smith defended his comments by saying that he never used a form of the word racism to imply that Kelly was a racist.[37]
On June 11, 2015, Smith received criticism for a comment he made about female soccer players during the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. While onSportsCenter, a replay was shown of a goal scored byNorway on a free kick againstGermany.Tim Legler pointed out that the German players forming the wall turned their heads as the ball went by, and Smith joked that the players "might not have wanted to mess up their hair". Smith's comment was criticized as being sexist and a poor joke.ESPN said they spoke with Smith about the comment, and he later apologized in a series of tweets.[38]
On November 5, 2016, Smith joinedTop Rank's broadcasting team for theManny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas boxingpay-per-view event.[39]
In 2019, Smith signed a new contract with ESPN worth approximately $60 million over five years.[40] In 2019, Smith became aUFC commentator asESPN became the UFC's television broadcaster.
In 2020, Smith served as a commentator for the after-party coverage of the92nd Academy Awards on ABC.[41]
On June 10, 2021, Smith broke into the soccer coverage space. (As he put it, "Let's do that soccer.") Smith selected aEuro 2020 team and followed this up with another soccer segment called "Ain't No Way" on June 14, 2021.[42]
In 2025, Smith signed a new contract with ESPN worth over $100 million over five years.[43] He also signed a contract with SiriusXM worth $36 million over three years.[44]
Smith made his acting debut on theABCsoap operaGeneral Hospital in a cameo appearance as a television reporter on February 2, 2007.[45] Smith is a longtime fan of the show, as his older sisters watched it every day growing up.[46] Smith appeared as Brick onGeneral Hospital on March 31, 2016,[47] and has made guest appearances in the role every year since.[48][49][50]
In 2007, Smith was in theChris Rock filmI Think I Love My Wife.
Beginning in 2014, he has appeared in a series ofOberto all-naturalbeef jerky commercials as "The Little Voice in Your Stomach", each time appearing alongside sports figures, such as star athletesSeattle SeahawkscornerbackRichard Sherman and pro snowboarderLouie Vito, and notable basketballsportscasterDick "Dickie V" Vitale.
Smith has appeared in several sports films and TV shows playing himself talking about the fictional sports characters. Some of these shows and films include;Creed III,Happy Gilmore 2, andChad Powers.[51]
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In 2009, Smith described himself as anindependent.[52] He describes himself as a "proud capitalist", stating "I believe in making money, and ain't no damn way I'm giving that up" in a 2025 episode of his podcast.[53][54] Smith has appeared on shows such asThe View, and has interviewed politicians on his YouTube channel, includingPennsylvania governorJosh Shapiro andHouse Minority LeaderHakeem Jeffries.[9]
On November 7, 2024, following the2024 United States presidential election, Smith stated he would consider running in2028 if he had a reasonable chance of victory.[55] In February 2025, he stated on his podcast,The Stephen A. Smith Show, that he would entertain the idea of launching a presidential campaign.[56][57] His comments came after he was included in aDemocratic primary nationwide poll, where he received two percent of the vote.[58] However, during an interview onHannity in the same month, Smith clarified his stance, firmly stating that he has no plans to run for the presidency,[59] and elaborated on his own podcast that while he would run if there was enough popular support, he prefers to be apundit rather than a politician.[53][60] In April, he once again changed his mind, and explained that he was considering running for president again due to associates including elected officials urging him to do so. "People have walked up to me, including my own pastor," he stated in an interview with ABC. "You can make a difference in this country to leave the door open for any possibilities two to three years down the line. And that's what I've decided to do," he added.[61]
Smith has also made remarks critical of both the Republican and Democratic parties. During an appearance onReal Time With Bill Maher, Smith announced he voted forKamala Harris in the2024 election and that her poor performance in the race made him "feel like [a] damn fool".[62] After PresidentDonald Trump began criticizingdiversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and directing federal agencies to stop those practices, Smith criticized Trump's belief that DEI policies were often used to justify hiring unqualified individuals because they were minority status, explaining toSean Hannity, "I don't want to hear DEI automatically being about people who happen to be minorities that are unqualified."[59] In a later interview withChris Cuomo onNewsNation, Smith called Trump's proposition to place theGaza Strip under American administration, redevelop the land, and relocate itsPalestinian population "ridiculous", saying "We shouldn't be hearing about real estate opportunities out of the mouth of the president of the United States."[63]
In May 2025, president Donald Trump entertained the idea of Smith running in the next election. "I love watching him. He's got great entertainment skills, which is very important. People watch him," Trump said of him, whichUSA Today considered to be a source of skepticism for Smith's campaign, as the president's career also began on TV.[64] Shortly after, Smith told CNN'sJake Tapper that if he ran, he would run as a Democrat, but expressed criticism toward the current state of the party. "If I had to run it would be as a Democrat, but I'm not happy with the Democratic Party," he stated. "It would pretty much need to be purged in order for me to assume that I would want to be associated with them." He described himself as a fiscally conservative candidate, yet socially liberal across the board. He expressed that he believes he could win, because he would tell people one thing, that he "would be interested in serving the American people and doing what's in the best interest of this country," he concluded.[65] Smith also commented on the2025 New York City mayoral election, saying if the Democratic Party changed to be more likeZohran Mamdani, they would have "no chance" of winning future elections at the federal level because Smith believes that "America is about Capitalism."[66]
Smith is known for his frequent use of catchphrases while hostingFirst Take, such as "blasphemous" when describing something completely outrageous that does not make sense to him.[67] He also frequently refers to formerGreen Bay Packers quarterbackAaron Rodgers as a "bad man"[68] (with the "A" stretched out for several seconds). Smith has worn Rodgers' jersey on two occasions onFirst Take in 2017: once following theDallas Cowboys' elimination at the hands of the Packers[69] and once during a special taping ofFirst Take fromDallas where Smith received boos from the live crowd.[70]
Smith has been known to show a strong hatred towards the Cowboys, often at times mocking them with their "How 'Bout Them Cowboys?" slogan in a sarcastic manner, claiming that they are "an accident waiting to happen", and calling them "a damn disgrace".[71] A song was even made all about Smith's hatred of the Cowboys.[72] He has frequently mocked former Cowboys player and fellowFirst Take commentatorMichael Irvin after losses,[71] as well as other past and present ESPN employees who are Cowboys fans such asSkip Bayless,Will Cain andMarcus Spears.
Smith has been known to say many times that he knows absolutely nothing about the sport of hockey, such as by saying that tie games still exist in the sport[73] (the NHL abolished ties following the2004–05 NHL lockout), despite the presence of three hockey teams from within the New York metropolitan area where he was brought up. In recent years, and especially after ESPN acquired broadcasting rights for the NHL in the United States as of the2021–2022 season, Smith would talk about hockey more often on bothFirst Take and his new showStephen A.’s World, such as when he roasted theEdmonton Oilers’Connor McDavid andLeon Draisaitl after they got swept by theWinnipeg Jets in the opening round of the2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs[74] and equated theToronto Maple Leafs’ playoff failures to that of the Dallas Cowboys’.[75] Smith would also have NHL defensemanP.K. Subban occasionally appear as a guest on both shows.
Smith is known for his outspoken stance on athletes, in particularNFL players, and the recreational usage ofmarijuana (which, despite being legal in some US states, is prohibited by league policy and punishable by fine or suspension). On occasions when players are found to be involved with the drug, Smith may loudly tell them to "Stay off the weed!" Such NFL players includeStedman Bailey,[76]Adrian Peterson,[77]Josh Gordon,[78]Joseph Randle,[79]Randy Gregory,[80]Aldon Smith,[81]LeGarrette Blount,[82]Le'veon Bell, andMartavis Bryant.[citation needed] NBA players whom Smith has criticized in relation to marijuana includeZach Randolph,[83] who was arrested for possession of marijuana with the intent to sell in August 2017,D'Angelo Russell, who was cited for marijuana possession inside his luggage at New York'sLaGuardia Airport while flying toLouisville in May 2019,[84] andAlex Caruso, who was arrested inTexas for marijuana possession in June 2021.[85]
During the final seconds of the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the2018 NBA Finals,Cleveland Cavaliers playerJ. R. Smith dribbled the ball out without attempting a shot, believing that his team was winning the game when in fact the score was tied. TheGolden State Warriors subsequently defeated the Cavaliers in overtime. The next morning, Stephen A. Smith jokingly delivered his "Stay off the weed!" line at the request of the audience attending a liveFirst Take taping inOakland, implying that committing a blunder of J. R. Smith's magnitude would only be possible if the player was high at the time. The outburst garnered applause from the audience and hisFirst Take co-hosts.[citation needed] The Warriors ultimately won the series in four games.
In a December 11, 2019, interview withGQ, Smith disclosed that he has two daughters.[86]
Smith's primary residence is inNorth Caldwell, New Jersey.[87]
Smith is a fan of theNew York Yankees,New York Knicks, andPittsburgh Steelers.[88][89]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | I Think I Love My Wife | Allan | Romantic comedy film directed by and starringChris Rock | [90] |
| 2021 | Rumble | Marc Remy | [91] | |
| 2023 | Creed III | Himself | [92] | |
| 2025 | Happy Gilmore 2 | Himself | [93] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | General Hospital | Reporter | Cameo appearance | [45] |
| 2016–present | Brick | Recurring role; 44 episodes | [47] | |
| 2018 | Luke Cage | Himself | Cameo; 1 episode | [94][unreliable source] |
| 2022 | Black-ish | Himself | 1 episode | |
| The Best Man: The Final Chapters | ||||
| 2025 | Law & Order | Sports agent | 1 episode | [95] |
| Chad Powers | Himself | Cameo, 1 episode |
For his part, Smith has told countless interviewers some version of Hell no! when asked if he really wants to run for president.
Among the highlights was Smith, 51, reflecting on his time doubling as a basketball player and student journalist at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina.
Smith, a popular, unsmiling sports analyst widely known as 'Stephen A.'
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