Episode 394： Stephen A. Smith Opens Up on Career Path to ESPN
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
188.88908
Summary
Stephen A. Smith joins First Take to discuss his life growing up on the streets of New York City, how his mother influenced his basketball career, and why he believes his mom was the most influential person in his life.
Transcript
00:00:00.980
30 seconds, one time for the underdog, ignition sequence start, let me see you put em up, reach
00:00:09.260
the sky, turn the stars up above, cause it's one time for the underdog, one time for the
00:00:17.260
I'm Patrick Mediv, your host of Altymin, today I'm sitting down with Mr. First Take, Stephen
00:00:21.060
A. Smith from ESPN, that he had a lot of things to talk about, by the way, you're gonna find
00:00:26.260
out about his story and the influence his mother had on his life, and then later on we
00:00:29.720
talked about who he feels was the best in doing interviews, you know, post-game interviews,
00:00:36.080
He picked his five, I picked my five, except he had first pick, I had second pick.
00:00:40.200
I'm very curious to know who you think would have won once you hear his five versus mine.
00:00:45.460
So if you enjoy sports, if you enjoy ESPN, you're gonna love today's sit down.
00:00:49.320
Stephen A., brother, thank you for making the time, man.
00:00:55.820
Yeah, it was an eventful, but I'm gonna keep that to myself.
00:00:58.760
So let me ask you this, high school, I'm with you, 10th grade, 11th grade, who's Stephen
00:01:05.580
Skinny kid from Hollis, Queens, New York, striving to make it, make something of myself, but very,
00:01:17.680
Coming from the streets of New York City, growing up poor, knowing that you wanted to capture
00:01:24.800
a level of success for yourself, and then wondering how you're going to maneuver yourself through
00:01:30.180
the terrain of life and all that comes your way.
00:01:34.600
Wanting to play high school basketball, targeting a basketball scholarship because you need a free
00:01:41.480
You don't just want it, you need it because your parents can't afford to pay for your education.
00:01:46.320
And also making sure that you stay away from the game.
00:01:50.740
You know, drug dealers on the corner, around the block, in the park, etc., etc., and you
00:01:56.120
stay away from the allures of life, the easy buck.
00:02:00.240
You know, you're starving and, okay, I only got about three outfits, wearing the same outfit at least
00:02:05.920
twice a week, never having a car, wanting a car, wanting those other things that going on the
00:02:13.580
wrong side of tracks could get you if you're after an immediate gratification.
00:02:17.720
And just making sure that you're finding a way to avoid those things, incentivized by
00:02:23.520
somebody that you consider to be the greatest human being alive.
00:02:35.160
Obviously, he was still alive, but he was a traveling salesman before they was in the
00:02:39.420
So just dealing with all of those different things.
00:02:41.740
A father that I didn't have the greatest relationship with, but he was still my dad.
00:02:47.000
Just finding a way to make it and trying to figure out how I'm going to do it because
00:02:56.480
I didn't see another path at that particular moment.
00:03:03.640
What age did you fall in love with the game of basketball?
00:03:06.140
That was from the time I started watching basketball games.
00:03:09.660
I didn't realize I could play until, you know, later on.
00:03:14.000
And so, you know, when people started talking about you and talking about your skill set
00:03:18.100
and how you could get a free education and knowing that that would enable you to not
00:03:22.080
have to depend on your mom in order to pull it off, you know, that was the target.
00:03:26.840
So if I'm in high school with you, we're sitting in a classroom together, are you the
00:03:36.980
I wouldn't say I was debating because the teachers didn't allow you to necessarily do that.
00:03:42.180
I was always inquisitive, particularly when it came to politics and social issues and
00:03:51.660
But I was interested in stuff like political science.
00:03:55.140
I was interested in some of the, you know, just the things that went on behind the scenes.
00:03:59.080
What led somebody to think the way that they think, articulate and elocute their thoughts
00:04:04.960
What were the kind of things that went into that thinking?
00:04:07.020
What was the difference between what you thought and what you ultimately disseminated to
00:04:13.300
I didn't necessarily have the answers, but I always thought about it because there was
00:04:17.220
too many times when I looked at television, and I'm definitely a product of the television
00:04:22.560
There were too many times that I'd look at television, and I saw people who just were
00:04:28.160
They were highly credible, but not necessarily believable.
00:04:31.580
Because they tried to, because you remember back in the day before commentary and pundancy
00:04:38.360
Back in the day, everybody was cookie-cutter, straight shooters.
00:04:41.480
You might have known the facts, but unless you could prove it, you danced that dance, that
00:04:48.280
dance of neutrality and just straightforward objective reporting as opposed to editorializing
00:04:57.260
You didn't see the talk show format all over the place, like you see on This Week with
00:05:04.580
But when you saw Peter Jennings or Dan Rather or Tom Brokaw, the list went on and on.
00:05:18.720
After his delivery, his presentation, his diction, et cetera, it came across in such a way that
00:05:27.540
But the facts that he was spewing, the substantive stuff that came oozing out of his mouth, it was
00:05:38.960
The first person that really, really gave me the idea of being able to editorialize and
00:05:45.460
That was the first person that I saw that I looked at, which is why I loved him so much.
00:05:50.540
Because that was the first person that I saw on TV and said, I believe him no matter what
00:05:56.640
he says, because he made himself come across as very, very believable about whatever it
00:06:06.740
But what you couldn't do was look at him and say, he doesn't mean what he says, because
00:06:13.200
So when did you go from the level of curiosity where you're asking because you're curious
00:06:21.460
Well, I would tell you that that didn't come until very, very later on in my life as my
00:06:29.080
If you remember, I started off as a newspaper writer.
00:06:32.640
I was a writer for the school newspaper, disc jockey for the school newspaper and stuff
00:06:38.740
And I grew up in an age before social media, before the blogosphere and what have you.
00:06:45.940
And so as a result, you were taught that you had to work your way up to the point where
00:06:53.020
you had a license to editorialize and give commentary before you were a general sports
00:06:59.020
You were a columnist covering one of the leagues.
00:07:01.500
Prior to that, you were a beat writer or a features writer or investigative writer and
00:07:06.780
One of, if not all of those different positions before you were given a license to editorialize
00:07:14.160
And so the objective and the goal all along from day one was to ultimately elevate yourself
00:07:23.580
And then I became a high school writer for the New York Daily News after interning at the
00:07:28.160
Winston-Salem Journal, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Greensboro News and Record.
00:07:32.540
I was being, I was doing, my job title was an editorial assistant.
00:07:37.240
I did calendar items and school lunch menus and things of that nature from 8.30 a.m. to
00:07:46.120
And then from 7 p.m. to midnight, I covered high school sports, high school football in
00:07:51.260
the Piedmont Triad area for the Greensboro News and Record for free.
00:07:56.840
The goal was to always accumulate published clips because I knew coming from an historically
00:08:02.880
black college like Winston-Salem State, if I was going against people from Columbia to
00:08:08.000
the University of Missouri or Northwestern, UCLA or whatever, and it was their school against
00:08:13.040
my school, my credibility would be challenged because my degree was in mass communications
00:08:18.380
and it wasn't known for journalism per se as an institution, as an HBCU, while those schools
00:08:26.400
And so I knew that I had to accumulate practical experience, published clips or whatever, because
00:08:31.580
if I did that, then I could walk into an office and sell my work to a potential employer,
00:08:38.000
not because my work was better or more gifted than the other people, even though in some cases
00:08:44.000
But it was also me displaying my level of tenacity and my commitment to being in that profession
00:08:51.880
because I knew and imagined that an employer, if he's looking at somebody that has a laissez-faire
00:08:59.380
attitude per se towards being in that industry and doesn't necessarily want it, I know every
00:09:10.440
I don't care what you're doing, if you are in a position where you hire somebody, the
00:09:15.500
number one trait that you want to see outside of their obvious ability is the want it factor.
00:09:24.580
What are you willing to do to be exceptional at this?
00:09:31.140
Is it when you punch a clock or is it when the job gets done?
00:09:34.460
Those are the kind of people that any employer that I've ever met has always wanted.
00:09:39.440
And I knew that by showing my resolve and my tenacity as a person that was willing to work
00:09:45.820
for free, as a willing to do numerous internships and stuff like that, what could they say?
00:09:53.080
So when I showed up to an employer for an internship or whatever, I remember when I first started in the
00:10:01.060
I had 250 published clips coming out of college.
00:10:08.540
And are you seeing that a lot today as well, since kids nowadays coming out of college
00:10:11.860
or high school, they have social media, so it's easier to have a resume to show.
00:10:21.160
I think it's easier, but I think it's easier in certain respects to be more accurate, but
00:10:28.380
It's easier to generate material that you can give to a prospective employer to show your
00:10:38.840
The hard part is, because it's so much easier to do, many, many more people are doing it.
00:10:44.760
And as a result, you have more competition than ever before.
00:10:49.340
You know how you look at, in baseball, you know, you look at some guys that do well because
00:10:57.300
Billy Bean says, skill set, mindset, pedigree, upbringing, strong family values.
00:11:04.760
Then you look at a player and say, this may be somebody we may want to invest in.
00:11:07.880
What are things in your world that somebody's got to look at?
00:11:11.040
Because for you, you always say, you know, stay away from the weed.
00:11:13.760
You look like a very disciplined guy, very meticulous, obviously even just watching you
00:11:18.960
And then you have strong opinions, but it also, you're not a person that sounds like you wing
00:11:22.600
You actually give your thought based on doing some research.
00:11:26.200
What would you say are great qualities in your world of somebody to sit down and become
00:11:30.980
Well, I think all the things that you mentioned about Billy Bean are applicable.
00:11:37.820
Um, I think that when I, anything that's associated with my pedigree to me is about my mom, my mom's
00:11:43.880
work ethic, her willingness to sacrifice, her being the mother of six children, um, and essentially
00:11:53.180
I don't talk a lot about my father and I'm not about to now, uh, out of respect and deference
00:11:58.980
Both of my parents have passed away, but I did not have a close relationship with my father.
00:12:03.360
Part of the reason was, uh, because of how he treated my mother.
00:12:07.120
The other part of the reason was because of his treatment to my mother and how it forced
00:12:12.200
her to have to work so much to take care of us.
00:12:15.720
I am a very, very, very old fashioned dude in certain respects.
00:12:22.120
But I'm one of those old school, old fashioned dudes from the standpoint, I believe it's not
00:12:32.420
It is not my, it is not just my job, uh, to take care of my children.
00:12:41.200
My philosophy is very, very simple when it comes to my family, particularly, you know,
00:12:47.260
If I'm hungry, if they're hungry, it's because I'm starving.
00:12:53.360
I don't not comfortable until they're comfortable.
00:12:59.280
And that's the mentality that I strictly get from my mother.
00:13:02.320
And so for me, you know, having that kind of mentality, well, what comes with that?
00:13:07.580
What comes with that is a certain work ethic that you have to put forth.
00:13:20.280
No, I'm meticulous enough and I'm disciplined enough, but I always also know how to let go
00:13:26.500
And sometimes I may not be as disciplined as I should be.
00:13:29.320
But I think the key thing is, is that the bottom line is everything to me.
00:13:34.380
And whatever the bottom line requires is what I'm going to do.
00:13:38.180
If the bottom line requires an excessive level of discipline, I'm going to do it.
00:13:43.120
If I can slack off a little bit and still achieve that goal, I might pick and choose from time
00:13:50.560
But to me, it's whatever the moment or the situation demands.
00:13:55.380
And it's I'm a bottom lines oriented kind of person.
00:14:03.880
They'll tell you I'm very bottom line kind of guy.
00:14:06.440
If you tell me that the job is going to get done and the job is going to get done in an
00:14:10.560
excellent fashion and it requires 90 percent effort, I'll let you go with that.
00:14:19.040
But if this means if this needs one, if this requires 100 percent and you give me 99,
00:14:25.640
I might want to fire you because I'm not I'm about getting the job done.
00:14:32.780
And I think that, you know, unfortunately, when we look at our generation today, not enough
00:14:40.920
Because I think that we live in a society where people have become masters at pointing
00:14:45.420
the finger at other people about reasons as to reasons why things don't get done.
00:14:50.960
I think there's too much explanation that goes on.
00:14:53.840
And, you know, I remember like I'm friends with Gayle King.
00:14:56.000
I know Gayle King, Oprah's friend for a very, very long time.
00:14:59.060
I remember years ago she and I had this argument because I always accuse stuff like that of being
00:15:06.380
And I don't mean that in a derogatory fashion at all.
00:15:10.820
She's the queen and she's a goddess in my eyes for all the things that she's done for
00:15:16.880
But I do believe that generation, led by the likes of an Oprah Winfrey, introduced explanations
00:15:30.800
There's a reason why they messed up, et cetera.
00:15:37.220
I'm saying some stuff don't I don't need to know the reason why.
00:15:41.420
If you are a murderer, for example, I don't necessarily need to know the reason why you
00:15:48.360
I understand that to do the due diligence and put forth the research and what have you.
00:15:52.220
And maybe we can study this psychopath or what have you and find out why they did what
00:15:57.160
But I don't need to understand all the reasons behind why you did something to know that
00:16:02.620
you need to spend the rest of your life in prison or in some people's eyes, the death
00:16:06.980
I don't need if you are somebody that's a heinous individual that you deserve a level of punishment.
00:16:12.200
I don't need to know all the reasons as to why you made your mistake before I need to
00:16:18.520
If you are a person that shows up to work and there are a multitude of reasons as to
00:16:23.920
why you can't get the job done, I might be empathetic.
00:16:27.880
But the bottom line is you ain't getting it done.
00:16:30.460
And if you're not getting it done, I need somebody that can get it done.
00:16:33.900
And every boss, every employer that I've ever worked for, while some may appear on the
00:16:39.820
outside more empathetic, more sympathetic than others, where they are similar is the
00:16:44.720
requirement in getting the job done because they answer the people too.
00:16:50.000
And so when you look at it from that perspective and you have that kind of mentality, I am of
00:16:54.480
the belief that if you truly, truly adopt that belief in your soul, that you walk to work
00:17:01.720
You're looking for a way for the job to get done.
00:17:04.380
And in most instances, you are going to be successful than not.
00:17:10.200
Meaning does a person have to be willing to take that mindset to internalize it?
00:17:14.180
Or can somebody just say, I don't want to deal with it?
00:17:19.940
The person that says they don't want to deal with it is not a person that's going to be
00:17:29.800
Because I don't believe that employers usually put you in a position where they know you will
00:17:39.940
If I'm a boss, it behooves me to place you in a position where I believe you can succeed
00:17:50.540
So I'm going to put you in a position where I think you can perform and you can succeed
00:17:57.040
But if you don't have that kind of mindset and you are a boss that has the kind of mindset,
00:18:09.480
Chances are that boss is not going to be successful.
00:18:11.420
So one of the things I like about you is the fact that you sit there and you say,
00:18:20.120
But even on this show, we have to understand that somebody can come here and just because
00:18:24.520
they disagree with us and we disagree with them, that they're wrong and we can't have
00:18:30.300
I think you and Max have talked about even this was like three or four weeks ago.
00:18:32.740
Why is it, Stephen A., that you, when you're giving your discourse, your feedback, whatever
00:18:38.560
may be, you're thinking from the employer standpoint, the player standpoint, the media
00:18:46.640
Because very few people have the lens to look at it from everybody's perspective.
00:18:49.660
I don't think everybody comes from my background.
00:18:52.660
But where does the employer background come from?
00:19:04.000
So when you are a person from a disenfranchised community, or dare I say a disenfranchised
00:19:12.980
But there's a reality that that disenfranchised person has to accept because you don't get
00:19:20.240
You don't get to legislate people's heart, mind, bodies, and souls in most instances.
00:19:29.180
What it's important to understand, especially in this day more so than ever before, where
00:19:34.540
the outlets, the tentacles that you have to reach the masses, it can give you a false
00:19:43.280
This belief that you can reach anybody, absolutely true.
00:19:51.240
It does not mean everybody's going to care about what you have to say.
00:19:53.960
There's a whole bunch of people with a Twitter account.
00:19:59.520
There's a whole bunch of people with Instagram accounts taking pictures all over the place.
00:20:06.300
There are people that have 50 million followers, 80 million followers.
00:20:12.060
But still people will tell them to shut up and dribble or shut up and play your music and
00:20:20.100
What I'm saying is those people might use their platform or attempt to use their platform
00:20:24.980
to disseminate a message about something completely different and separate from what they're attaching
00:20:31.240
themselves to at that particular moment in time because that's what's important to them.
00:20:36.280
The problem is that at times you're touching on something that is of no interest to the
00:20:42.900
masses as it pertains to what's coming from you because they've pigeonholed you.
00:20:49.000
They've defined what they want to hear from you.
00:20:51.480
And as a result, if you step out of that lane, some might be receptive.
00:20:55.960
Some might lie in wait just to excoriate you because they believe that you're out of your
00:21:00.460
So if you're understanding that, now transfer that to the business world, I might have a
00:21:16.820
Well, last time I checked, I'm under contract for ESPN.
00:21:26.480
Strike number two, they have pretty damn good voices on Monday Night Football.
00:21:29.920
Who are far more qualified to do football than I do.
00:21:41.900
That's generating millions upon millions of dollars for ESPN.
00:21:47.860
Why would we want to upset that apple cart to put you in a different venue that we don't
00:21:54.200
know if you'll succeed at, but we're already successful at?
00:22:09.120
And the reason why that's something that you have to embrace is because in the real world,
00:22:15.800
you usually don't get to make all your decisions for yourself.
00:22:20.020
Usually it involves participation and approval from other people.
00:22:26.380
So why talk to just one segment of the population as opposed to this segment, this segment, this segment, this segment?
00:22:34.520
And when I'm debating, I think usually I'm debating against people, particularly, for example, in Max's case,
00:22:42.220
who's incredibly altruistic in his perspective and points of view, particularly when it comes to the world of politics and social issues.
00:23:18.940
And so as a result, it puts me in a position where I'm able to deduce the difference between my perspective and informed perspective.
00:23:30.240
And a direct perspective where I'm impacted by the parties involved.
00:23:38.080
And in my seat, you have to take those things into consideration if, indeed, you care about fairness.
00:23:47.540
So this is when you work with Skip and you and him clash because off camera, you guys talk politics.
00:23:54.460
My mother was, she was, you know, I had a white grandmother, a black grandfather, and my mother was not about race at all, believe it or not.
00:24:07.060
My mother never mentioned race one day in my house.
00:24:14.000
My mother, my mother, I can come to her, everything.
00:24:23.360
I remember I was in Detroit traveling back from a Pistons game at the Palace in Auburn Hills all the way to Romulus Marriott about an hour away in Detroit near the airport.
00:24:33.360
And I got pulled over by the cops, and I got surrounded by eight cops.
00:24:43.400
Next thing you know, three different squad cars come, two in each car, eight officers total.
00:24:48.180
I had two white beat writers with me, all right, from competing papers.
00:24:57.860
They took me to the precinct in Troy, Michigan, and I was pissed.
00:25:01.820
I couldn't, I don't know how, I don't know if I've ever been that furious.
00:25:05.180
I was, because I thought it was so grossly unfair, and not only that, I knew I had paid the ticket, so it didn't make sense to me.
00:25:13.040
And I was upset, and then ultimately I got out of jail after about four hours.
00:25:25.580
Until a dear friend of mine who worked for CNN kept calling them every five minutes until they let me go.
00:25:57.440
And then I remembered, I was going like 10 miles over the speed limit, A, and B, come to find out.
00:26:05.660
And so I got there late, which means it was in a computer, but there was a late charge of $15 that I hadn't paid.
00:26:15.820
They just said, he's driving with a suspended license.
00:26:18.720
So it turns out that I served time in jail for four hours in Troy, Michigan, because of a $15 late fee on a speed of ticket.
00:26:28.640
And my mother said, if you had paid the ticket on time, you wouldn't have had that happen.
00:26:41.200
Yes, people are going to be a little bit cruel.
00:26:43.260
Yes, people are going to do this, and they're going to do that.
00:26:47.000
Because if I set the stage for you to have a crutch or an excuse to fall upon, what are you going to accomplish in life?
00:26:54.800
So kept reinforcing, taking full responsibility regardless of the –
00:27:07.560
What a – and would you say that mindset stayed with you from that day on until today who you are as far as your mom was –
00:27:16.360
And again, we make excuses every day, all of us as human beings.
00:27:20.420
There's a reason for what ails and, you know, the travails that we have to go through.
00:27:25.640
But I think the thing where first take has appeared to be so perfect for me is that on far more occasions than not, I have to speak on the issue of accountability as it pertains to the entire sports world.
00:27:41.800
And when it comes to the issue of accountability, I get all of that from mom.
00:27:46.740
And it happened with ESPN when my contract wasn't renewed back in 2008.
00:27:53.400
I was sitting at the – I was – I felt betrayed.
00:27:58.220
And, you know, it – I mean, my mother let me lick my wounds for a couple of days.
00:28:03.260
And then she said, what could you have done better?
00:28:21.000
But the biggest thing that I remember doing is that I always came to the bosses with problems.
00:28:30.660
And I don't mean always like I was a perennial complainer because I've never been that.
00:28:35.400
But any time I spoke to them about something that bothered me, my point in making that statement is that it was always about the problem, never the solution.
00:28:47.560
And I learned when I sat back and reflected on the mistakes that I had made in my career at the time, I learned that no boss wants to talk to anybody that doesn't have solutions.
00:29:03.180
I've never met a boss that doesn't want to talk to someone with solutions.
00:29:10.140
Now, if you don't want to talk to somebody with problems and you don't want to talk to somebody with solutions, then to me, you're the problem because you're not trying to solve.
00:29:21.200
You're perfectly fine with flowing along just to get along.
00:29:29.300
But when you're trying to win, you're constantly looking to get better.
00:29:33.800
And I realized as I reflected on the first part of my career at ESPN from 2003 through 2008 to May of 2009 to be exact, I just said, you know what?
00:29:50.480
And I'm never going to make that mistake again.
00:29:53.100
So I'm going to study and master my craft, my business, first and foremost.
00:29:57.500
I'm not going to talk about anybody else's business unless I'm mastering my own.
00:30:01.320
And when I have these conversations with them, I'm going to come up, I'm going to have solutions to any problem that I present them with.
00:30:08.280
And if I don't have a solution, I'm not talking to them about my problem, period.
00:30:14.440
Stephen A., did you ever have a, either an, I know you worked at SI and CNN, I think I won stint.
00:30:22.320
Did you ever have any plans of doing politics or sports or was always sports?
00:30:29.100
Um, I certainly wouldn't say I was an aficionado at it, but what I want, I've always prided myself of being a master communicator that had a decent understanding of current events and current political events.
00:30:43.680
And more importantly, I was incredibly confident and maybe it's to a fault.
00:30:49.780
I'll openly admit, but I am incredibly confident when I'm on camera.
00:30:59.240
I really, I really believe everyone's in my way.
00:31:04.580
I mean, if, if, if, for, in simpler layman's terms, I walked around and I've always believed like I'm the Michael Jordan of this industry.
00:31:13.260
When I'm on the air, I'm the one that will make you want to hear from me.
00:31:23.420
By the time I finish speaking, I am the one that you're going to want to listen to.
00:31:34.280
But that's always been my attitude because to me, presentation matters.
00:31:38.880
How you speak, how you look when you're speaking, you know, your cadence, your diction, everything that flows with it.
00:31:48.340
And when I'm in front of the camera, I'm not nervous.
00:31:53.080
I don't feel like I'm talking to millions of people.
00:32:07.340
What is your flow or structure or process and issues?
00:32:10.460
I'm curious because, you know, the whole thing with first take is do you something happens.
00:32:15.460
You know, Kobe, Shaq issue, whatever thing that takes place.
00:32:18.980
Do you go and see what other people are saying and then first take, here's what my thoughts are?
00:32:28.580
Like, for example, when I was on the news sports center today, I didn't get to see anybody because I was doing first take.
00:32:34.900
And then literally two minutes before the sports center hit, they got in my ear and said, stay right there.
00:32:40.760
Sports center needs you to do the news sports center.
00:32:57.220
So I don't have time really to watch other folks in the morning.
00:33:03.620
But 90 percent of the time, I don't get to see anybody.
00:33:09.540
And what you do is you do your research and you understand what your job description is.
00:33:17.200
If I'm a columnist, I'm looking for an angle that I want to address and I want to attack from an editorial perspective.
00:33:33.900
I'm just talking about my own individual approach.
00:33:36.480
And so for me, when I gather, when I know the subject matter we're addressing, first thing I do is acquire as much information as I possibly can.
00:33:56.520
I read the news articles, the New York Daily News, the Washington Post, the LA Times, ESPN.com, Yahoo Sports, all of them.
00:34:05.820
If it's a particular athlete, one of the first things I do is go to a local publication because those are the people covering them every day.
00:34:13.220
Because I know that as a newspaper guy, no one knew about the Sixers more than me from a national level.
00:34:20.440
Locally, you might have known as much, but from a national level, you're not there with them every day.
00:34:24.160
It's a disrespect to the reporters that are on the scene to think that you know what they don't.
00:34:31.340
Chances are they know more than you because they care about more of the intricate details that you care.
00:34:37.900
You're caring if they trade a star or, you know, somebody gets in trouble or whatever.
00:34:43.160
You ain't following the dude that signed a 10-day contract.
00:34:46.340
You're not signing a dude that signed a one-year deal for the minimum salary.
00:34:49.480
You're not paying attention to those things like that because it's not important on a national scale, but the local guys are.
00:34:55.480
And so for me, anytime there's a story that's percolating, one of the first things I do is go to the local sites because the local newspapers, the local radio folks and stuff like that
00:35:07.260
will give you more insight because they're around those folks every day.
00:35:12.220
Then what you do is go about the business of formulating your opinion.
00:35:15.180
Then after that, if you have the time, you want to hear the opinions of other people to make sure there's something that you didn't miss.
00:35:24.540
But once those bright lights come on, your voice has to be your own.
00:35:29.800
Because to me, sounding like somebody else, trying to duplicate or imitate somebody else is a form of plagiarism.
00:35:38.540
Directly, indirectly, you know, tacit or otherwise.
00:35:46.700
I think the one reason why fans watch you, I mean, I'm a business guy and I listen to First Take just because I want to see how you're processing a certain issue.
00:35:56.780
I'm more interested in interviews, post-game interviews, than I am of the game.
00:36:02.680
I'm more curious to know how people are processing it.
00:36:04.420
Who did you think was in the NBA best at post-game interviews?
00:36:14.380
But I'm going to tell you that, for me personally, Barkley was incredibly entertaining and frank.
00:36:23.620
Not just when he was on TNT, when he was a player.
00:36:31.900
Guys like Charles Oakley, for example, that used to play for the New York Knicks.
00:36:40.360
Shaquille O'Neal, because he would disrespect somebody in a heartbreak.
00:36:43.760
Like the Sacramento Queens and stuff like that.
00:36:47.780
But today, in the modern era, that person usually would be somebody like a Kevin Durant.
00:36:54.140
And the reason why I would say a Kevin Durant is because Kevin Durant has propelled himself to a height.
00:37:08.980
And he's not just more fearless than he was in the past.
00:37:14.040
He's someone who laments the fearfulness he spent years enduring when he first came into the league.
00:37:22.400
So he's like you or I reflected, like looking at ourselves now and realizing the growth and the maturation that we endured and recognizing that, boy, we wish we could turn back the clock.
00:37:34.800
He's in a position where he feels like he can turn back the clock and can say, that was Dan.
00:37:45.380
But when he speaks, particularly if he breaks down certain situations, you know what, you'll appreciate it.
00:37:51.280
For example, when he was going through the first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers and Patrick Belly spent the first couple of games as an absolute pest harassing him.
00:38:02.640
And Kevin Durant came out and comes to the media and he said, well, I could do this and I could do that.
00:38:15.140
But because LeBron was always held at a very lofty status, even though he's critiqued and dissected more than almost anyone, the reality is that he can just talk naturally, devoid of attitude, because he's just a polished individual that came into the league that way and needed to be that way.
00:38:34.820
Kevin Durant actually went through a maturation process where he wants to talk and he wants to express himself.
00:38:41.620
And he's literally, you know, begging you in his own way to ask him a compelling question that he wants to elaborate on.
00:38:57.800
Because I would have never guessed you would have said Kevin Durant.
00:39:00.740
But what I'm saying is his intellect about the game of basketball, like Kyrie is very intellectual about the game of basketball.
00:39:08.440
He can teach you about the game of basketball because he's so brilliant about it.
00:39:11.120
But in Kevin Durant's case, what makes him interesting?
00:39:14.020
And again, I thought the Allen Iversons, the Charles Barkley's, all of these interesting Shaq, all these interesting and compelling individuals that I've met over the years and interviewed as athletes.
00:39:22.140
But the reason why Kevin Durant stands out in my mind right now is because he's the one guy that I see going through a process of evolution where he's determined to sort of make up with fearlessness for the fearfulness that he had and that swarmed him at the earlier part of his career.
00:39:44.040
He's anxious to show you that he doesn't care and that he knows more than you do about the game of basketball at this moment in time.
00:39:51.960
How do you think he's going to return when he gets back?
00:39:53.880
I think Kevin Durant's going to be the superstar he's always been.
00:39:56.940
I think Kevin Durant, worst case scenario, is averaging 25 a game.
00:40:01.500
Worst case scenario, Kevin Durant will average 25 a game on 45% shooting because he's that great.
00:40:07.000
Stephen A., I'm surprised you didn't say Michael.
00:40:08.800
So Michael in interviews, post-game interviews, you don't put him?
00:40:18.020
Michael Jordan and his power came from what he didn't say.
00:40:21.900
Like, you know, if somebody, hypothetically speaking, because I don't remember the exact quote, but when he was going against the New York Knicks years ago and somebody said about him, Michael Jordan said, you know, okay.
00:40:33.640
Then he finished his interview about five or ten minutes later, and then he stopped on the podium.
00:40:46.620
And that had you waiting for the next game because you knew Michael was coming for him.
00:40:55.940
It's what you knew he was thinking and what he was going to do.
00:41:02.360
But in Kevin Durant's case, LeBron and others, especially in Kevin Durant in this day and age, it's what he says and what he's going to do.
00:41:09.080
Kevin Durant, everybody says he's too sensitive.
00:41:14.220
Every single time Kevin Durant has had an attitude, he's dropped 40.
00:41:22.540
If I was a coach or I were a team owner or a team executive and I had a guy that if you pissed him off, he would drop 40 on you, I would be devising ways to piss him off every week.
00:41:39.100
So based on what you're saying is he's going to average 15 points when he comes back because you used to piss him off all the time.
00:41:51.440
If he sees one of us say something on first take or whatever.
00:42:01.580
Kevin Durant was arguing with me the day before over something that I said.
00:42:13.340
How tough is it for you to give your what's really on your mind, knowing your friends with many of these guys, like even Magic?
00:42:21.000
You know, it's very hard for you to be critical of Magic because when I see Magic sitting next to you, it's as if it's your brother, it's your family.
00:42:30.620
It's how tough is it for you to give criticism to some of these guys that are your boys or your best friends?
00:42:49.360
I know I'm tight with Magic and, you know, Shaq and, you know, guys like Kobe and others are cool and all of that stuff.
00:43:01.860
And Lord knows we had our history in each other.
00:43:04.860
Allen Iverson and I once went eight months without talking to each other.
00:43:09.060
We walked by each other and then talked to each other by eight months.
00:43:18.340
I would never talk about his personal business.
00:43:20.980
And he knows that unless one or two things happen.
00:43:25.260
He asked me to or he ended up in the police blotters because I can't avoid that.
00:43:38.420
Those were the only two conditions under which I would do it with any of these guys.
00:43:45.420
You know how many times we look at our friends?
00:43:53.480
And so for me, what I've religiously made a point of doing is that I don't blindside you.
00:44:00.140
The people that I really, really know, I have access to.
00:44:16.180
You might not want to see first take tomorrow because I'm coming.
00:44:20.660
Now, no specifics, but what do they tell you when you say this is coming tomorrow?
00:44:24.600
Man, there you go with that bullshit, Stephen A. Blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:44:30.820
Or they'll call and explain themselves or whatever, but they always know.
00:44:35.040
At the end of the day, I might be a Mack truck, but you see me coming.
00:44:40.220
And, you know, we talk about big boy rules here.
00:44:43.680
With big boy rules in a world of adulthood, particularly as it pertains to corporate America and things of that nature, people have a problem with two things.
00:44:53.360
When you stab them in the back or when you ignore them and don't listen to them.
00:44:59.220
And you've given them no outlet to influence your thoughts if you're in a position like mine.
00:45:05.820
What I try to do is make sure they never have that problem with me.
00:45:09.800
If you are a person that if you have access to me and I have access to you, there is absolutely no excuse in my mind how I can take a position without giving you an opportunity to express your thoughts about my position first.
00:45:27.380
Now, if it can't be helped, it can't be helped.
00:45:29.340
If I find out something at 955 and I got to go on the air at 10 a.m., okay, then I might couch what I see a little bit.
00:45:40.200
Look, I could go harder, but I know this person.
00:45:48.100
You will hold back a little bit to give them that respect.
00:45:55.220
But if I don't know you, most times, and I will say this about me, I blame you.
00:46:01.740
I'm not blaming me because I am not a person that hides in studio or in other cases stands in studio and hides.
00:46:12.840
John Wall, where you try to have a conversation with him.
00:46:16.900
You know, listen, let me preface my comment about John Wall by saying he's a good guy.
00:46:23.520
He just made a mistake when it came to me because he's lying.
00:46:28.340
He said he was 36 hours before the Washington Wizards opened their season.
00:46:36.600
He was seen at a nightclub drinking and partying.
00:46:41.940
The problem with that is that he came in the training camp overweight and out of shape.
00:46:49.940
People felt you were still overweight and out of shape.
00:47:00.040
You're looking at an individual right over there that's the head of our social media department.
00:47:08.320
TMZ is reporting this with John Wall and had video.
00:47:13.840
So, I said, you cannot have TMZ having you on video saying this about you.
00:47:26.140
Dined me out and told people I was at the club.
00:47:37.780
Now, I might sit up there and see you play like garbage the next night and go like this.
00:47:47.440
I'm not going to sit up there and say you were here, you were here, you were there.
00:47:55.160
Because I'm covering athletes that are highly sensitive to that kind of things.
00:48:02.020
Where there's certain codes that you don't break.
00:48:09.120
And so, for me to sit up there and to tell people that you're trying to paint me as something that I'm not.
00:48:19.420
And whenever we have a conversation one-on-one, he's going to know exactly how I feel and why.
00:48:25.700
I don't want people interpreting it as it's going to be more than that.
00:48:30.040
I'm not trying to get into a fistfight or anything.
00:48:41.140
What if I was that kind of unethical person where I wanted to paint a picture of you?
00:48:50.600
But I would never do such a thing because I owe that to myself, my family, who I am, what my name is.
00:48:55.600
And I owe it to my employer, ESPN, to be far more responsible than that.
00:49:41.620
The greatest shooter in the history of basketball?
00:49:53.160
I have Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, and Steph Curry.
00:50:11.540
I would take Scottie Pippen, but Kawhi Leonard was a better shooter.
00:50:15.740
I'm not saying these are not my top ten players.
00:50:50.580
I have the greatest player and the greatest assassin to have ever lived.
00:51:07.340
And I have a guy in Akeemid Dream, Olajuwon, who we all know what he brings to the table.
00:51:13.460
But you have a suspect shooter, particularly from the free throw line in LeBron James.
00:51:19.080
And you have a guy that may be the most dominant force of our lifetime in Shaquille O'Neal, who's also a liability at the free throw line, not to mention had it given to him by Elijah Warren in his prime.
00:51:32.560
And so as a result of that, when all else fails, I have offense all over the place.
00:51:38.960
I have defense with Kawhi Leonard, with Michael Jordan.
00:51:43.400
I got that going on with Elijah Warren and Tim Duncan, by the way.
00:51:46.640
And when all else fails, you know what I can do that you can't refute at all?
00:51:51.380
If all else fails, all I have to do is foul you.
00:52:19.040
See, Bird is a passer, but a great shooter who's not going to have faith in the other guy's ability to shoot.
00:52:29.360
I got Kobe, who's a volume shooter, and he's going to be...
00:52:32.420
His ego's going to get involved because he's going to want to take out MJ.
00:52:44.160
I have the greatest shooter on the planet in the history of basketball.
00:52:58.160
You can say that, but again, I'll just foul him.
00:53:01.000
And I'll turn him into a two-point shooter, and I have a three-point shooter.
00:53:05.320
How many times can you foul him, though, or Shaq?
00:53:19.900
Oh, by the way, I can sit up there and put Steph on Kobe.
00:53:22.940
Now, Kobe will eat him up, but Kobe will take him down in the post,
00:53:31.400
I have a guy in Kawhi Leonard that shot 40% from three-point range.
00:53:35.240
I have elite defenders in Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, and Kawhi Leonard,
00:53:50.480
Just go through Shaq when he's playing defense.
00:54:08.960
Shaq would tell you the one person that he would not want to guard is Akeem, the dreamer.
00:54:20.640
He has never uttered a disrespectful syllable against Akeem, the dreamer.
00:54:35.380
The Portland Trailblazers drafted who at number two?
00:54:39.180
Remember how they thought they should have fired those folks twice?
00:54:47.980
Akeem Olajuwon only had two when Jordan retired.
00:54:54.440
The second year he came back from 17 games left.
00:54:58.620
Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, Shaquille, and all of that stuff, right?
00:55:05.040
Tell me one person in basketball history, I'm talking about as fans, who've ever knocked
00:55:12.340
the Houston Rockets for taking Akeem, the dreamer, Olajuwon.
00:55:16.540
Because remember, they could have had Jordan, but they never took Jordan.
00:55:22.300
Tell me one person, anywhere on this planet Earth, who ever uttered a negative word at
00:55:32.720
If that doesn't speak to your greatness, what does?
00:55:35.420
Let me ask you, in top five, you put Akeem ahead of Shaq?
00:55:40.700
I think that Shaq was more dominant, all right?
00:55:44.920
But what I'm saying to you is, I picked Akeem because you picked Shaq.
00:55:49.860
I think I'm at the edge deal with the center, though.
00:55:52.220
I could have picked Will or whatever, but what I'm saying to you is that Akeem, the dream,
00:55:56.620
Olajuwon could go tit for tat offensively, but more importantly, could hit free throws.
00:56:03.860
Is there a simulator to put in a game to see how that's going to work?
00:56:06.320
We got to do it just to kind of get a feel, but then you can't figure out the bench because
00:56:11.460
Anyways, look, if you don't follow Stephen A. and you're in business, and somehow, someway
00:56:17.640
you don't follow sports at all, but you want to find out how to process, go follow all his
00:56:21.080
social media stuff and see how he deciphers through issues that can help you in any kind
00:56:26.300
of business, investments, entrepreneurship, or whatever you're doing can help you out.
00:56:29.560
Stephen A. brother, thank you so much for making the time.
00:56:35.200
And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.
00:56:42.660
And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat,
00:56:50.600
And I actually do respond back when you snap me or send me a message on Instagram.