ESPN’s two cash cows right now are Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith. ESPN dished out a large sum of cash for a license deal for Pat McAfee’s successful daily YouTube show and now SAS’s deal, a five-year $100M bag, seems to be locked in, keeping him under company control.
McAfee and Smith seem to be the beneficiary of some company streamlining and a re-evaluation of its programming approach. It went through sizable layoffs as part of a larger cost-cutting regime overseen by Disney CEO Bob Iger, with a number of longtime anchors and reporters leaving the company.
The terms of Smith’s new deal were reported today by “The Athletic,” which said the agreement “will result in Smith continuing to star on “First Take” on ESPN while scaling back some of his other required appearances on the network, which would free him up to talk even more about politics”
Great.
LeBron James Steps To Stephen A. Smith At Knicks-Lakers Game For Comments On Bronny James
On Thursday night, after nearly two weeks of virtual smoke, LeBron James and Smith had a one-on-one confrontation during the Los Angeles Lakers vs. New York Knicks game.
The video, posted by @LegendOfWinning on X, shows James talking to Smith after the game in a heated exchange. It was simple words between men but people acted as if Bron punched Smith or something.
Bron allegedly warned Stephen A. Smith to “keep my son out of this sh**t.”
Stephen A. Smith responded to the social media whirlwind that ensued after the video of the exchange with LeBron went viral on “First Take” on Friday.
“Coming up to me unexpectedly, I might add, to confront me about making sure I mind what I say about his son,” SAS said, while taking some blame for the situation. “Can’t repeat the words because they ain’t suited for FCC airwaves.”
“I had no intention of talking about this at all and reason why is because it was a one-on-one confrontation. Then I woke up and everybody from ESPN and my agent were telling me that this thing is going viral. That’s why I have to discuss it now
That was not a basketball player confronting me, that was a parent. That was a father. I can’t sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in any way in that regard. He’s a wonderful father who cares deeply about his son and based on comments, I think he thought he heard, he clearly took exception, and he confronted me about it.
(His agent) Rich Paul and Maverick Carter, have my number. LeBron James knows how to get in contact with me if he wants to. He never called. I would have flown out and have a conversation man to man.
He elected to confront me while I was sitting courtside. He walked right up to me and said what he had to say. He feels like I was slighting his son.
What I would have said if we were in a different environment…I would have said to LeBron James,’I never would speak negatively about your son. I was talking about you, LeBron James.’
LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith Going Back and Forth On Social Media
So, while Stephen A. Smith enjoys his max-money media deal, he continues to throw messages back and forth with the LeBron James camp and also exchanging opinions with LeBron James himself on various NBA-related subjects.
James, the unofficial spokesperson for the NBA, often hops into narratives concerning players and the media, often praising them when the subject matter is favorable to him and criticizing them when they don’t write, post or say what he wants to hear.
Smith, remains one of the most polarizing sports media personalities in the industry, even being mentioned as a potential Presidential candidate. So his opinion on sports and non-sports related issues are only increasing and becoming more influential.
James knows this and he seems to want to nip this in the bud, before it gets even more out of hand.
The most recent verbal scrap between these two comes shortly after they had differences about the face of the league debate, stemming from James’ comments regarding young NBA players not wanting to be the “face of the league” due to unfair media scrutiny.
“Why do you want to be the face of the league when all the people that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis (expletive) on everybody?” James said.
Smith took exception to James’ comments, responding the very next day. Smith decided to take James’ comments personally, as if they were directed solely at him and responded.
“When he talks about people covering the league, we know he’s talking about me,” Smith said.
LeBron James Is A Messy NBA Daddy: Threatens Stephen A. Smith For Not Kissing The Ring
There goes Bron being a messy Dad again. Now threatening reporters because they won’t bow down and kiss the ring.
Which is kind of comical because LeBron James is the one who brought all of this attention to his son. Now that Bronny is struggling at the NBA level, he wants to silent the critics.
Nah son.
James has two sons, Bronny and Bryce, with Bronny currently playing for Lakers G-League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. We know about the public ribbing Bronny and Bron have taken for his son’s journey to the league.
Smith is among those of the opinion that Bron is forcing the issue with his son and Smith went as far as to urge James to stop promoting Bronny as an NBA prospect, and in essence, embarrassing the family.
“I am pleading with LeBron James as a father: stop this. Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad,” Smith said.
Who knows what was actually said? The lipreaders did a pretty good job. Either way we have two of the sports GOATS going at it and catching feels, somebody please hand me a tissue.
