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Stephen A. Smith will not be a regular contributor to ESPN’s NBA Countdown this season. But the decision did not come as a surprise removal or firing. It was a move that was negotiated by Smith before signing his $100 million deal with ESPN last spring. But after waking up to headlines claiming ESPN pulled him from the show, Smith decided to address his status with Countdown. “I’m trying to figure out what the news is here,” Smith said on the latest edition of Straight Shooter for SiriusXM. “I had a contract negotiation last year that started in June and ended in March, going into April. It was decided at that particular moment in time that I wouldn’t be doing NBA Countdown anymore because I didn’t want to. I loved doing the show, but after the show is over, I got a whole bunch of other stuff that I gotta do and I didn’t want to be stuck in studio until midnight. No shade against ESPN, no shade against my wonderful colleagues.”
MrBuckBuck: FBI Director Kash Patel fires back at Stephen A. Smith claiming the NBA gambling bust was "REVENGE" from President Trump for the NBA's left-wing activism: "That may be the single DUMBST thing I've ever heard out of anyone in modern history. And I live most of my time in Washington, D.C."
FBI Director Kash Patel fires back at Stephen A. Smith claiming the NBA gambling bust was "REVENGE" from President Trump for the NBA's left-wing activism: "That may be the single DUMBST thing I've ever heard out of anyone in modern history. And I live most of my time in Washington, D.C."
— MrBuckBuck (@mrbuckbucknba.bsky.social) 2025-10-24T08:40:22.759Z
During a recent episode of "7PM In Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony," Smith revisited the moment with the New York Knicks legend, saying that the circumstances of the conversation with James as well as how it appeared on camera still doesn’t sit right with him. "The day that he rolled up on me courtside, it was the day my contract was announced that I had stayed with ESPN," Smith explained on the podcast. "Go back and look at the camera angle…This is 2025, we got technology everywhere. TNT is a nationally televised game. How is it we got one angle, and the only angle you see was of him and his face, but you see the back of my peanut head?"
Smith believes that, considering James’ star status, there would’ve been many more camera angles of the courtside meeting. "There’s no way that you’re in an arena, you’re LeBron James, and the only angle that somebody sees is a straight up shot of you getting in my face," Smith added. "They see no reaction. They see nothing. And that’s an accident?"
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Stephen A. Smith: "If the Clippers—let’s say for example—they win the West? I think we need to serenade CP3. Throw a damn parade in L.A. for that. But let me tell you something right now… Mr. Load Management. Kawhi Leonard. I mean, listen—that brother is a two-time champion and two-time Finals MVP... but he’s really the champion at getting days off. Ain’t nobody done this [bleep] better than him. I mean, I watch him... people think I’m insulting him. I’m like—nah—I’m marveling at his ass. I’m like, 'How did he do it?' Like—how? I mean... he’s the reason I just stopped talking about Kyrie. I’m like, this [bleep] will miss some games. He will miss some games."
Stephen A. Smith: "You got cats out there, and they go at NBA players and stuff like that. Like—you bring up LeBron. You ever see LeBron go at the white boy? Let’s call it what it is." "You ever see him do that? You saw him come at me. The closest you’ve ever seen him come to doing something like that was when he called out Brian Windhorst." "And what you calling out Brian Windhorst for? The man has covered you since junior high school. He’s praised you repeatedly. And you used the Pat McAfee situation to go at him?"
Stephen A. Smith: "I wouldn't use the word 'proud.' I would tell you that I don’t regret anything I did in terms of handling the situation. I don’t regret it now. And I would tell you—my feelings haven’t changed. I don’t like him at all. He doesn’t like me at all." "I don’t like talking about him, because I think people assume I’m looking to talk about him—like LeBron is living inside Stephen A.’s head. If you don’t ask me about him, I won’t talk about him. You see what I’m saying? I’ve got a job to do, and he will never interfere with my job. I’m going to be professional." "This man is, in my mind, the second-greatest player to have ever played the game of basketball. He’s a great ambassador for the game. He’s an incredible role model. What he has done with himself and his crew—it’s beyond admirable. And he will always warrant the utmost respect." "But everybody hasn’t had the relationship with him that I’ve had. I’m in the media. I’m a commentator and a pundit. I know the things he’s done behind the scenes. I know the things he’s said behind my back. I know what he tried to do to derail me from being in the position I’m in today. I know that if it were up to him, I’d have been stopped years ago. So, it goes far deeper than I’ll ever get into publicly—knowing that, I still went on the air and was fair."
Stephen A. Smith is already probably the most influential sports commentator in the media game. His salary proves it, as he is pushing $40 million a year in earnings, sources briefed on his contracts told The Athletic. His ESPN deal totals five years and $105 million, while his new SiriusXM contract is for three years and $36 million, according to the sources. The $33 million per year base from his two main employers, combined with the revenue from his YouTube channel and podcast, will result in him approaching $40 million a year.
Asked about James this time, Smith hinted at prior attempts by James to come at him but refused to re-engage. However, Smith took particular note of James’ decision to choose a fellow ESPNer, Pat McAfee, for his sitdown. That interview notably aired on the network directly following Smith’s First Take. “All I would say is people don’t know the things that have happened behind the scenes,” Smith said. “Things that have been said, who they’ve been said to. The kind of things that have been engaged in in an effort to hurt me, along with contemporaries and others.” “There’s a lot of sh*t that I don’t say. And there’s a reason that I feel the way that I do. And the last straw was him approaching me and turning the Bronny thing into something about me attacking somebody’s family, when it was him I was talking about. Not Bronny. And then to go on The Pat McAfee Show, which comes directly on after my show. On the channel that I work on. To insult me. Now, people can get into all kind of components that go into it and all that other stuff. I have nothing to say.”
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Stephen A. Smith on LeBron James: There's no relationship. He doesn't like me and I don't like him. Q. Still can we can we mediate? Smith: There's nobody that can mediate. I would tell you that what I won't do is spend time when I The one thing that I would like to say is that I don't talk about him unless I'm asked. Now, some people say, ‘Well, why you talking about him?’ Cuz I was asked. And this is what I do for a living. So, how the hell am I going to get away with saying no comment? That doesn't work coming from Stephen A. It might work coming from somebody else. That work coming from me. But I have no desire to talk about him at all.
Stephen A. Smith: He is, in my mind, the second greatest player in the history of basketball, who is a four-time champion, a four-time league MVP. He's been an incredible ambassador for the game of basketball. His respect has been earned, not given, and nobody can deny that. But that's the basketball player, not the man. And all I would say is people don't know the things that have happened behind the scenes, things that have been said, who they've been said to, the kind of things that have been engaged in in an effort to hurt me along with contemporaries and others. There's a lot of that I know that I don't say, and there's a reason that I feel the way that I do. And the last straw was him approaching me and turning the Bronny thing into something about me attacking somebody's family when it was him I was talking about, not Bronny. And then to go on a Pat McAfee show, which comes directly on after my show on the channel that I work on to insult me.
“Do you remember when some loud dude named Stephen A. Smith referred to you as ‘some dude named Hartenstein’? You got anything to say to somebody that said that? Gotta ask you that.” Isaiah Hartenstein: “The funny thing is, when I saw it—I wasn’t not playing at the time. Like, I was playing. I was a part of the team. I was a big part of the team at the time. So I don’t know who showed it to me, but he’s like, ‘Yo, you saw this?’ I was like, ‘What?’” “Funny thing is—he came back to me in the Finals. He was like, ‘Bro, I miss you. I miss you in New York.’ So we cool and stuff. But I think just at the time—it’s funny—but that’s kind of what Mark, our coach, talks about a lot: just blocking out the machine.” “Most of these people, he said, they put on makeup before they get on set. Most of them don’t watch every single game. So they’re just doing what’s best for TV. So it’s no hard feelings.”
Stephen A. Smith, arguably the most recognizable name in sports broadcasting, recently signed a five-year, $25 million contract with ESPN. That’s more annually than Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs’ rising star, who’s making $13.7 million. “Does Smith deserve to earn more than Wemby?” Kyrie Irving asked rhetorically—highlighting the strange optics of a broadcaster out-earning a generational basketball talent.