-Nice to see you. I wanted
to start off the interview
by showing a photo of you.
-Uh-oh. -This is posted
[ Laughter ] by Dwyane Wade.
-Oh, Lord.
-Posted a picture of you. -Oh, my goodness.
[ Laughter ]
-This is a young Stephen A. Smith. College?
-College at Winston-Salem State.
But you see, this is bad, man,
because this dude, Dwyane Wade,
the dude that walks around with pink pants on
[ Laughter ] and the whole stuff.
He's got me because he's a three-time champion,
a future first-ballot Hall of Famer.
So, when he says he would drop 50 on me,
it's not like he's lying.
[ Laughter ] You know what?
I'd be better than anybody
I've seen on the Knicks lately.
[ Laughter and oohs ]
You know? I mean, let me tell you something, man.
I'm here today
because "The Tonight Show."
Jimmy Fallon called me and it's my honor and privilege
[ Faux-tearfully ] to be here, but,
[ Laughter ] I'm getting emotional right now.
-It's alright, bud.
I know.
-These dudes, man, these -- Hold.
[ Laughter ] [ Tender music plays ]
These dudes, man... -The Knicks.
-...they keep doing this to me.
[ Laughter ]
The other night, they were up 17 points.
[ Laughter ] -I know, I know.
And I was on TV, on "NBA Countdown,"
and I said, "You know what?
It doesn't make any difference.
They're never going to change.
They're just going to lose the lead."
[ Laughter ] And, sure enough, they did it.
[ Laughter ] Sure enough, they did it.
I mean, I'm asking you to make me out to be a liar
and you couldn't do that right.
[ Laughter ]
[ Sad trombone plays ]
-I do want to discuss
more sports scenes with you,
but first, there's something
that I just loved about you.
-Okay. -I'm a fan, but,
you are a character on "General Hospital."
[ Laughter ] -Yes. Yeah. -And I did not know this
but I am a giant "General Hospital" fan
-Are you? -from back in the day.
Yeah, I'm like old-school.
-Now, you got to remember, when you say old-school,
what does that mean?
Because me, I'm talking Luke and Laura.
[ Oohs and applause ] -Yeah. I'm talking about --
♪ Think of Laura, laugh, don't cry ♪
♪ I know she'd want it that way ♪ -That's right. That's right.
That's right. That's right.
You talking about Felicia.
That's what you talking about. -Oh, no, no, no.
Her husband -- -No, I'm talking about Bobbie.
-Bobbie? Z? You talking about Bobbie Spencer?
-Bobbie Spencer, Jackie Zeman. -That's right,
Jackie Zeman, Bobbie Spencer.
That was Luke sister on "General Hospital."
-I went to -- -You know he got --
He almost died because of her. [ Laughter ]
Did you know that? -Luke, or Tony Geary?
-He was in -- Luke.
He was in the elevator, okay? -Yes.
And he was trying to protect her and got shot.
Almost got shot years ago.
[ Laughter ]
She almost got Luke killed. -I know.
[ Laughter ] Bobbie's trouble, man.
-You got the Cassadines, you got the weather machine.
-No, here's what happened. The Cassadines,
here's what happened.
I was doing stand-up in L.A.
and I got invited to lunch at Jackie Zeman's house.
-Wow! -It was amazing.
Beautiful place.
And I see the Quartermaines talking.
-Well, that kind of hurt your feelings, didn't it?
-It did bum me out. -Because, you know, you get caught up.
See, you watch a soap opera -- -Yo, this can't happen.
You know, you enemies, stay enemies!
-That's exactly right! -You can't be seen
out in public like that. -Barbecues.
Exactly right! I go, "I've got to get out."
I got to get myself out of the situation.
-That's right. -So I left.
-I'm a surveillance expert for the mob.
My character's name is Brick on "General Hospital."
-Brick! -Sonny Corinthos is my boss, alright?
[ Applause ] -That's my dude. I love Sonny Corinthos.
-We so real with each other that, even off set,
if I saw you messing with him, I might have
to try and do something. -That's what I'm talking about.
[ Applause ] -Because that's my job. -That's exactly right.
-That's my job. -Yeah. I love how excited you get.
You get me excited, watching you.
You get excited when you talk, when you talk and then you talk
about something more and then you get excited,
then you get louder! -That's right.
-You always did that? -Not always.
Well, first of all, I'm the youngest of six
and I was raised by five women. -Yeah.
-So let's be clear.
I didn't talk loud too often.
[ Laughter ] Let's be very, very clear about that.
My sisters would not hesitate to abuse me.
Their names are Linda, [Indistinct],
-Alright, alright, alright. -Abigail, and Carmen.
[ Laughter and applause ] Alright?
-You don't have to rat them out.
-Yes, I am ratting them out because they would beat up
their little brother, yes, they would.
[ Laughter ] But the bottom line is it taught you --
it taught me -- you talk to ladies a certain way
-That's right. -and you talk to the fellas a certain way.
-Okay. -And so, when I get on TV,
I'm projecting. I got to make sure.
If I'm not passionate about what I'm talking about,
why should you be passionate about listening to me?
So I got to do that. But!
[ Laughter ] When the ladies are on the air with me,
[ Softer ] I have to change my tone
[ Laughter ] and modify my delivery
just a little bit, you know?
That's right. You got to, you know,
[ The Roots playing sultry funk ] the Barry White,
Teddy Pendergrass, the Isley Brothers.
See, I'm from that school. I'm from that school.
Roots! I'm from that school! -That's okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-You understand? -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-I mean, you know, these young whippersnappers today,
nah, that's not my style. -No.
-And that's how you get "First Take," right?
And then it goes to "Stephen A's World."
-Yeah. Well, "Stephen A's World" is a little bit different.
It's on ESPN+ I executive produce that with ESPN.
I could do what I want to do there because I'm the boss.
Now, they say I could do what I want with "First Take,"
but the ladies run that.
-I have questions that I want to ask you.
Tiger Woods in the Masters. I thought it was pretty awesome
to see that guy and he did really well.
What's your take on Tiger Woods' comeback?
-He's won already. He can't lose.
It doesn't matter what happens this particular weekend.
He almost died in a car accident.
He survived a major car accident.
Then, they told him they thought
about amputating a part of his leg.
Then, he survived that. Then, they said to him,
"You may never walk straight again.
Don't even think about a golf career again,"
and now, he's back at the Masters.
-Yeah. -He's already won.
[ Cheering and applause ] -That's exactly right.
That's why I love. Stephen A. Smith and I
are going to play "Wheel of Opinions"
when we come back. Stick around.