Sports analyst Stephen A. Smith is a polarizing figure - cheered and booed as loudly as the
sports teams he covers at ESPN.
But while we know a lot about his controversial "hot takes" on sports, here is the untold
truth about the First Take frontman.
"Wish me luck, everybody, wish me luck"
Ice cold hot takes
Smith is the undisputed king of big, bold statements that fire up his audience and the
world-class athletes he covers.
"Oh my Lord.
I can't believe he's wearing shorts with a suit.
It doesn't look bad!"
But it's made him a target when his opinions run cold, like when he speculated that then-free
agent Kevin Durant would be signing with the Lakers, when he ended up choosing the Warriors
instead.
Smith said, via the Daily News,
"I report stuff weeks in advance and get vilified for it.
But when it comes to fruition, no one remembers they vilified me."
Stirring up drama on General Hospital
Smith is a drama king, so it's only fitting that he's been watching General Hospital for
more than four decades.
"Number one soap opera.
You understand.
I've been watching it for 40 years"
Smith admitted to ESPN,
"I have four older sisters and when we came home from school, all the TVs in the house
were on General Hospital.
Since I wasn't allowed outside until I finished my homework, I watched the soap every day."
"Damn they lost!
I didn't see that happening"
ESPN reported that Smith got a chance to appear on his favorite daytime soap, as the character
Brick, after Maurice Benard was a guest on First Take in 2015.
"I am so excited about our next guest right here, he taught Brick everything he needs
to know.
It's true."
Smith told the outlet,
"Maurice recognized that I was a huge fan and said he'd have to get me on the show.
I received a call a few months later to play 'Brick,' a surveillance expert for Sonny and
the Mob.'"
"Brick…thanks for doing this.
You're a preferred client.
I'm always happy when I get your call"
The TV personality confessed that he felt out of his element on the long-running medical
drama, saying,
"I research, do homework, lights come on and we go.
[…] I have to be ready and speak off the cuff.
With [General Hospital],' you memorize lines in a script, bringing other people's words
to life.
The pressure is immense."
As of 2017, Smith had returned to Port Charles five times, turning that cameo into a recurring
role.
Not exactly a class act
Smith has been accused of being demeaning toward women in the past.
During a 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup match, he belittled Norway's goal-scoring Maren Mjelde's
by saying that the German defenders gave up the goal because they were thinking about
their hair.
"They might not have wanted to mess their hair…they might not have wanted to mess
their hair"
In another not-so-hot take, Smith accused Ayesha Curry, wife of NBA superstar Steph
Curry, for quote, "[stepping] out of pocket" when she criticized the NBA. Smith said,
"You can't get caught up in your own individual emotions" "to the point where it compromises
your husband."
He dug himself a deeper hole when he compared Ayesha to LeBron James' quote, "gorgeous"
wife Savannah, praising the latter because…
"She sits there, she doesn't bring any attention to herself."
Ayesha tweeted back at Smith:
"Why are you putting two women against each other like that?
You're the one that's out of pocket."
Smith raised eyebrows again when he appeared on Snoop Dogg's YouTube show, GGN News, declaring:
"I'm associated with Walt Disney, but dammit, everybody knows that I'm a bottom feeder."
According to Slate's rundown of Smith's chauvinistic missteps - which include being a quote, "major
apologist" for "documented domestic abusers" Floyd Mayweather and Ray Rice - the longtime
ESPN host takes what Slate called "hacky sports commentary to another level."
Is he worth his price?
According to the New York Post, Smith could eventually become the quote, "richest talent
in ESPN history," raking in an estimated yearly salary in the "$8 million-to-$10 million range."
"I mean it's just pathetic, but it's predictable"
Smith is supposedly a favorite of ESPN's top brass, who reportedly like that he'll go on
air whenever needed, but Smith's success has rubbed some of his peers, such as Jeff Pearlman,
the wrong way.
The former Sports Illustrated reporter called out ESPN, in an essay via Twitter, for laying
off several respected sports journalists but holding onto Smith because:
"He's really good at yelling.
And screaming.
And shouting.
And barking.
And stewing."
The Wrap reported that Smith responded to Pearlman's criticism by calling him a "low-life"
and suggesting that he was being singled out because he was black.
Smith said,
"I'm the only dude on the air that's loud?
I know plenty of white dudes that screaming, and going off they're called passionate.
I'm called loud."
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