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Speaker 1: Tell you want to kick it off.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Busting

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Speaker 2: with the Boys. Very special guest today. The legend if

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Speaker 2: you've been turned on ESPN every probably in your entire life,

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Speaker 2: you've seen this man sitting in front of you giving takes,

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Speaker 2: going at people, having absolute receipts for everything. Mister Stephen Asmith.

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Speaker 3: What's going on, fellas? How y'all toing? How y'all doing?

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Speaker 3: Man good to be here, Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Living the dream and we're happy you came on. We

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Speaker 2: actually just saw you an hour ago doing a little

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Speaker 2: hit on ESPN. I will tell you this, it is

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Speaker 2: a very unique thing doing real TV because it's so

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Speaker 2: fast paced.

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Speaker 3: It is it is. It's fast paced, and in our

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Speaker 3: case is live. So you mess up, you mess up,

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Speaker 3: you know what I mean? And ain't like somebody's going

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Speaker 3: to say, we don't even have a seven second delay,

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Speaker 3: so you know, an any kind of hiccup that takes place,

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Speaker 3: you could say the wrong word, the wrong thing or whatever,

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Speaker 3: you can gind yourself in trouble. So that's the pressure

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Speaker 3: that comes along with doing live television.

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Speaker 4: But I like it, so it is what it is.

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Speaker 5: How do you manage to keep your level of enthusiasm

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Speaker 5: work ethic with every thing you're doing. You're also now

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Speaker 5: in the podcast space, which is a massive one, by

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Speaker 5: the way, and shout out, shout out your boy Bailey's here.

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Speaker 1: I followed him a while. I know he kind of.

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Speaker 5: Does a lot of your stuff, but he does. How

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Speaker 5: do you manage all of that stuff?

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Speaker 3: Well, y'all do what you love. That's number one. I

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Speaker 3: don't have a job. I have a career. I've often

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Speaker 3: said when I give speeches and lectures, I say a

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Speaker 3: job is doing what you have to do to sustain

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Speaker 3: or elevate your quality of life. A career is doing

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Speaker 3: what you want to do, and it just so happens

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Speaker 3: to do those things. But I also think the pressure

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Speaker 3: of covering sports contributes to that kind of mentality. You know,

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Speaker 3: you guys played in the NFL. You got guys I'm

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Speaker 3: covering to play in the NBA, Major League Baseball, professional boxes, UFC, fighters,

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Speaker 3: et cetera, et cetera. These are the best in the world.

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Speaker 3: And when you consider the fact that you not only

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Speaker 3: didn't do what they did on.

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Speaker 4: That level, but it was because you couldn't.

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Speaker 3: Yet you get to sit in judgment of how they performed.

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Speaker 4: How receptive folks should be to how.

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Speaker 3: They perform, how receptive people should be to your commentary

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Speaker 3: about it.

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Speaker 4: Then you owe it to everybody.

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Speaker 3: To make sure that you put forth a full fledged

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Speaker 3: effort with passion and enthusiasm to let everybody know not

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Speaker 3: only are you not playing around, but you care that much.

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Speaker 3: And so that's the very least that you can do.

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Speaker 3: And that's what I try to bring to the table.

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Speaker 2: When you're fighting through that process of knowing that these

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Speaker 2: guys are playing at the highest level, doing their thing

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Speaker 2: at the highest level, and you are saying there in judgment,

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Speaker 2: how was the process for you as far as like

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Speaker 2: feeling comfortable with putting out a judgment knowing you essentially

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Speaker 2: haven't done what they did.

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Speaker 3: You know, it was easy for me in this regard.

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Speaker 3: I remember when I started out in the business and

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Speaker 3: I had a clerical position at the Winston Salem Journal

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Speaker 3: newspaper in Winsters Salem, North Carolina, because I went to

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Speaker 3: Winston Salem State University, which is in historically black college

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Speaker 3: and university. And I went there and the sports editor

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Speaker 3: of my first week on a job sent me to

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Speaker 3: Wake Forest University, right down the road. Wake Forest was

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Speaker 3: the number three ranked team in the nation in soccer.

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Speaker 3: The only soccer match I had ever watched was Pele

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Speaker 3: in the nineteen eighty Olympics for the you you know

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Speaker 3: of I guess right, And so what happened is that

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Speaker 3: I knew nothing about soccer, and I went to the

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Speaker 3: coach who's now.

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Speaker 4: Deceased, God rest his soul.

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Speaker 3: His name was walk Chisowich, and I walked up to

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Speaker 3: him and I say, I know absolutely nothing about soccer.

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Speaker 3: I've never covered it on anything, sir, but the boss

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Speaker 3: sent me over here to do a feature on you guys,

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Speaker 3: and I don't know what I'm doing, but I really

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Speaker 3: want to be a sports writer.

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Speaker 4: Could you help me?

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Speaker 3: And he summoned the entire team over and he said,

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Speaker 3: for the next three days, because my piece was doing

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Speaker 3: a week.

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Speaker 4: He said, for the.

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Speaker 3: Next three days, you guys are to give complete unadulterated

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Speaker 3: access to Stephen. To Stephen, any question he asked you

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Speaker 3: answer and he said you Steven. Meanwhile, every single practice

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Speaker 3: of every day this week, you will be standing right

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Speaker 3: next to me. And he talked me the game of soccer.

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Speaker 3: And then when I finished the piece, which ultimately had

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Speaker 3: the sports that it to call me into this office

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Speaker 3: the next day and say, congratulations, you're the new beat

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Speaker 3: right of a wait for a soccer. When I went

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Speaker 3: to the coach after that and let him know, he

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Speaker 3: said to me, what do you think you've learned? What

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Speaker 3: do you think you should have learned? I said, listen

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Speaker 3: and learn. He said, you didn't play soccer, but you

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Speaker 3: learn from those who do. And as long as you

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Speaker 3: do that, then you're in a position to critique any

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Speaker 3: of us because the knowledge that you're getting is not

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Speaker 3: of your own, it's one that was provided to you.

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Speaker 3: And as long as you make sure you articulate that,

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Speaker 3: you will be respected because they know the lens that

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Speaker 3: you're looking through is not that of your own, it's

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Speaker 3: of ours. And I carried that with me for the

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Speaker 3: rest of my career.

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Speaker 5: How was it when you started to get those close

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Speaker 5: personal relationships with athletes you're obviously covering and now you are. Yeah,

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Speaker 5: I mean you're obviously ser for starting out and everybody

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Speaker 5: knows you. But as you're growing and then getting those

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Speaker 5: closer relationships with guys and then having to go on

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Speaker 5: TV and talk about, you know, stuff that as an

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Speaker 5: athlete you know, is like personal to you? How did

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Speaker 5: you start to balance that?

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Speaker 3: As The parts about your performance never phaze me because

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Speaker 3: you perform in a public platform, so the games themselves

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Speaker 3: speak for themselves.

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Speaker 4: You shoot two for twenty, it's on you.

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Speaker 1: You throw three.

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Speaker 3: Interceptions, that's on you. You fumbled three times or whatever. You

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Speaker 3: get burned and you're a cornerback and somebody catches to

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Speaker 3: over two hundred yards on you. Okay, that's on you.

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Speaker 3: I mean, there's nothing I can do for you. And

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Speaker 3: that is what it is. And I don't give a

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Speaker 3: damn about how you feel because that was in a

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Speaker 3: public setting and you put yourself on front Street, and

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Speaker 3: that's what you have.

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Speaker 4: To deal with.

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Speaker 3: It's the behind the scene stuff subject to interpretation and perspective,

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Speaker 3: or the personal stuff that I'm very, very guarded about

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Speaker 3: because what happens is is that if I have a

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Speaker 3: relationship with you, the assumption is that there's a trust.

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Speaker 3: How do you become friends with people you do? You

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Speaker 3: become friends with people you have no trust for, you

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Speaker 3: don't believe in at all. You think every word out

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Speaker 3: of their mouth is a damn line. No, that's not

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Speaker 3: what you do. Usually you cultivate these relationships, and there's

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Speaker 3: an affinity for one another and a level of trust

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Speaker 3: that's built. So when somebody comes with a different perspective

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Speaker 3: than the person you have a relationship with and it's

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Speaker 3: an opposition to what they're saying to you, it can

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Speaker 3: get tricky, and at that particular moment in time, you

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Speaker 3: have to remind that friend, that person who's become a

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Speaker 3: friend that you've cultivated a.

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Speaker 4: Close relationship with.

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Speaker 3: Look, I've got an obligation to be fair even if

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Speaker 3: I know or I believe you and I think they

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Speaker 3: may not be telling the truth. They're saying this for

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Speaker 3: the record now off the record. I ain't gonna do

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Speaker 3: that to you. But if they say to you on

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Speaker 3: the record, you know what, he ain't shit, he's a liar.

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Speaker 3: This is what he did, and blah blah blah. It's

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Speaker 3: not like I can make up a quote.

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Speaker 4: I gotta quote him. That's what he said. I gotta

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Speaker 4: give it to them, okay, and give you an opportunity

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Speaker 4: to respond.

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Speaker 3: So it can get challenging in that regard, but that

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Speaker 3: really calls for you to remind somebody of your professionalism,

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Speaker 3: your ethics, the responsibility that comes along with the job

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Speaker 3: title that you have, and it also serves as a

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Speaker 3: reminder to that person that trusts you, why did you

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Speaker 3: trust me to begin with? Because I exercised those same

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Speaker 3: principles and cultivating the relationship I did with you, I

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Speaker 3: can't go against it just because you're a man.

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Speaker 4: I can't do that.

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Speaker 3: And I've had those situations of my career before, confronted

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Speaker 3: by those kind of things, whether it be Alan Ivsen,

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Speaker 3: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille or Neil Michael Jordan himself.

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Speaker 4: The list goes on and on.

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Speaker 3: You certainly have had those things where people have given

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Speaker 3: their different perspectives aside for that would be different from

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Speaker 3: something that they said to me or whatever.

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Speaker 4: And that's the challenge that you have to deal with.

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Speaker 3: But when you're known as being straight up and up

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Speaker 3: and up, what you learn to find from professional athletes

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Speaker 3: that they appreciate most is.

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Speaker 4: Not being blindsided.

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Speaker 3: They see you coming, you know, they ain't open the

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Speaker 3: paper or turn on the TV the next day and

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Speaker 3: utterly shocked by what you're doing. And I think the

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Speaker 3: greatest example of that was Isaiah Thomas when he was

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Speaker 3: the head coach of the New York Nicks. They looked horrible,

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Speaker 3: and there was a game in which they lost by

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Speaker 3: forty five to Boston and Boston, and it was the

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Speaker 3: most emotional that I had ever been in my career

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Speaker 3: because I actually called him up and I almost started

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Speaker 3: crying because he's the person that granted me my first

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Speaker 3: ever interview as a reporter, and I had to call

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Speaker 3: him to let him know tomorrow, I'm calling for you

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Speaker 3: to be fired.

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Speaker 1: Oh damn, because it was that bad.

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Speaker 3: It was that bad, and I knew that he had

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Speaker 3: a lot going on on a personal level. His mom

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Speaker 3: was dying, and you know, he wasn't all there with

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Speaker 3: the New York Knicks at that particular, so much stuff

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Speaker 3: that was going on in his personal life that he

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Speaker 3: had to deal with that it really didn't give the

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Speaker 3: ideal example of what he was capable of doing as

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Speaker 3: a coach. But the situation had regressed to such a

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Speaker 3: point nobody worth their salt could support him staying on board.

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Speaker 3: And I had to call him to let him know,

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Speaker 3: this is what I'm doing tomorrow. And he said to me,

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Speaker 3: do what you gotta do. Bro, I understand.

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Speaker 2: And is that a common thing for you when do

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Speaker 2: you have a relationship with somebody and that it goes

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Speaker 2: downhill in a certain way where you give them a

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Speaker 2: call and you let them know. This is how I'm

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Speaker 2: about to go about business.

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Speaker 3: I'm the kind of person even if I don't have

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Speaker 3: a relationship with you, if I know you and I

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Speaker 3: know I can get in touch. If I know you

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Speaker 3: well enough that I can get in touch with you

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Speaker 3: and I have something to say about you, I'm.

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Speaker 4: Gonna call you.

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Speaker 3: I'm that guy. I'm not that guy that's on TV.

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Speaker 3: But never like when you don't see me in the

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Speaker 3: locker room and stuff anymore. Blame ESPN. You got me

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Speaker 3: doing every damn show. So you know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 4: I'm on a half hours.

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Speaker 3: You know, I gotta travel to this city that city.

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Speaker 3: I can only do but so much. But everybody that

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Speaker 3: knows me knows I've always had that reputation. I will

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Speaker 3: show up to the games. I will show up to

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Speaker 3: the locker rooms. There are times when people would see

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Speaker 3: me lurking on a basketball court and they'd be like,

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Speaker 3: who does he think he is? Like he's walking around

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Speaker 3: the court before the games when guy's on the layup line.

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Speaker 3: They didn't realize the reason I did that is because

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Speaker 3: I knew I had a national television platform, and I

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Speaker 3: knew that I didn't have to be that beat right

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Speaker 3: with a bunch of reporters surrounding your locker after a

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Speaker 3: game or something like that, but you might want to

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Speaker 3: holler at me. So I wanted to be in their vicinity,

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Speaker 3: so if they wanted to speak to me, they can

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Speaker 3: either come over and speak to me, or come over

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Speaker 3: and say, look, call me later, or plan on meet

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Speaker 3: me at this spot later or whatever so we can talk.

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Speaker 3: It was my way of giving them that kind of

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Speaker 3: access to me in case they wanted to reach me.

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Speaker 5: In those in those like UH, in those situations like

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Speaker 5: when you're closer guys have there has there been a

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Speaker 5: relationship of yours that has been burned because of uh?

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Speaker 3: Alan Joverson and I didn't talk for eight months. And

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Speaker 3: this is when I was the beat writer. Like for

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Speaker 3: those that don't understand, when you're the beat writer, wherever

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Speaker 3: the team goes, you go every single day, every single practice.

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Speaker 4: You gotta cover the team.

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Speaker 3: I was covering the Philadelphia seventy six ers and Alan

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Speaker 3: Iverson and I went eight months without talking and the

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Speaker 3: only time we talked, well, a couple of times where

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Speaker 3: he was like fuck you and I like fuck you too,

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Speaker 3: Like literally, it was like that you said it back

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Speaker 3: to him, right, get right?

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Speaker 4: I did, you know? Because that's how I felt at

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Speaker 4: the time, because I felt he was wrong, you know.

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Speaker 3: But ultimately a friend of his that ultimately was killed

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Speaker 3: the years later, believe it or not, literally got us together.

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Speaker 3: And how do we get together? He had me meet

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Speaker 3: him at the club at two o'clock in the morning.

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Speaker 3: And I met him at the night club and a

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Speaker 3: looking at me like I was crazy because I showed

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Speaker 3: up by myself. I said, I'm here. I said, I'm

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Speaker 3: here by myself. I said, cause I can be. But

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Speaker 3: more importantly, I'm right. I did not do anything wrong,

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Speaker 3: you did, you know? And we had a discussion and

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Speaker 3: we were fine.

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Speaker 1: What was he claiming that you did wrong?

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Speaker 4: Well?

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Speaker 3: He was writing some articles, some article that I had written.

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Speaker 3: He felt that I should not have written it because

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Speaker 3: I didn't have all the facts that I didn't get

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Speaker 3: his side, And I was like, you mean after trying

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Speaker 3: to reach you for three days, you mean, after trying

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Speaker 3: to talk to you, You mean coming to Fridays, coming

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Speaker 3: to the club, you know, hollering at your friends and

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Speaker 3: all that I'm like you knew I was looking for you, said,

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Speaker 3: your inaccessibility doesn't get to determine my productivity. I'm going

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Speaker 3: to do my job. I reached out, I tried to

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Speaker 3: find you. You weren't available. If you were available, I

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Speaker 3: would have told you everything. You would have given me

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Speaker 3: your perspective, and it might have altered my content. You

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Speaker 3: weren't available, and you thought being inaccessible was going to

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Speaker 3: prevent me from doing my job.

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Speaker 4: Well it didn't.

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Speaker 3: Lesson learned. Make sure when I'm trying to reach you,

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Speaker 3: I reach you because I'm not.

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Speaker 4: How can I put this fellas? I mean, I got

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Speaker 4: a good life. Now.

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Speaker 3: You know, you make a little paper, and you know

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Speaker 3: life is cool. You know it's a right.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 3: But I was never one of those nerdives dudes that

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Speaker 3: needed my career to have a life. I always had

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Speaker 3: a life, excuse my language. I always have shit to do, okay,

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Speaker 3: for my own individual pleasures, okay. And I got better

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Speaker 3: things to do with my time to chase your ass

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Speaker 3: around for a story. So if I'm looking for you,

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Speaker 3: and I'm looking for you, and I'm looking for you

300
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Speaker 3: at some point in time, you better hope I'll find

301
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Speaker 3: you if you want to have some influence over the

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Speaker 3: kind of things that I'm going to say, and if you.

303
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Speaker 4: Avoid me for too long, that's at your own peril.

304
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Speaker 3: Now it's changed now because now I'm on national television

305
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Speaker 3: and so and we live in the age of streaming

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Speaker 3: in the digital stratosphere.

307
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Speaker 4: So you know, if you're in the morning, then.

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Speaker 3: You're getting two hundred and fifty three hundred thousand viewers.

309
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Speaker 4: That's considered good. Well, I'm doubling up on that.

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Speaker 3: We've been number one for twelve years with a flagship

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Speaker 3: show for the network, the worldwide leader. We're number one

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00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,640
Speaker 3: every day and so I don't have to worry about

313
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Speaker 3: people watching us now. And then, on top of it all,

314
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:51,319
Speaker 3: in the digital stratosphere, me myself and I by myself

315
00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:57,520
Speaker 3: generate over two billion views annually. You're going to see me,

316
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Speaker 3: You're going to hear me. Do you want to have

317
00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,000
Speaker 3: some influence over what I say or not? If you

318
00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,360
Speaker 3: talk to me, I have no problem. I have an

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00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,120
Speaker 3: obligation ethically to listen to what you have to say

320
00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,040
Speaker 3: and to make sure, even if I disagree with you,

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00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:17,440
Speaker 3: that the context that you are providing is accurately display.

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Speaker 3: If you don't talk to me, that's your damn problem.

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Speaker 3: Owe you nothing. I owe you, absolutely positively nothing. All

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Speaker 3: I have to say is whatever I want to say.

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Speaker 3: I tried to reach him for comment, he was unavailable.

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Speaker 5: Simple We interrupt this episode to bring you Zip Recruiter.

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Speaker 2: Back to the episode, when you're established yourself doing all this,

345
00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,600
Speaker 2: how did you establish relationships with these athletes and also

346
00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:45,840
Speaker 2: stay as unbiased as possible and become a straight shooter.

347
00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:48,080
Speaker 2: When did you start to realize, Okay, I'm finally getting

348
00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,560
Speaker 2: the reputation of who I actually am, and I feel

349
00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:52,240
Speaker 2: I can be more free to be myself.

350
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Speaker 3: Well from day one, I always let them know, don't

351
00:15:57,440 --> 00:15:59,800
Speaker 3: look for any pity from me when it comes to

352
00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,680
Speaker 3: your game, because everyone's watching. If I'm sitting there and

353
00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,400
Speaker 3: I'm talking to y'all right now and we're having a

354
00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:11,280
Speaker 3: private conversation, that's between us, and I can interpret it

355
00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,760
Speaker 3: and I can we can discuss it, and I can

356
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Speaker 3: shut up about it, go on my merry way, and

357
00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,120
Speaker 3: it's between us. But with these cameras rolling with the

358
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:23,200
Speaker 3: world watch and I can't help you. What you say

359
00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:25,440
Speaker 3: is what you say, What you own is what you own,

360
00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,480
Speaker 3: And it's the same principle when you're watching these guys perform.

361
00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:30,560
Speaker 3: And so the first order of business is for me

362
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,240
Speaker 3: to let them know that I'm going to be incredibly

363
00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:34,680
Speaker 3: objective in calling out.

364
00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,840
Speaker 4: What I see on the basketball court.

365
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,880
Speaker 3: But there are other things that I do, and this

366
00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:45,280
Speaker 3: is where the relationship really elevated. I'm from the streets

367
00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:48,160
Speaker 3: of New York City. No, I didn't smoke weed, but

368
00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,160
Speaker 3: I know about getting high because I was surrounded by

369
00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:52,200
Speaker 3: it all my life. I was surrounded by drugs all

370
00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:53,840
Speaker 3: my life. I was surrounded by violence all my life.

371
00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,040
Speaker 3: I was surrounded by folks party and all my life

372
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Speaker 3: all of this other stuff. So all of the things devices,

373
00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:03,480
Speaker 3: the temptation and everything like that. I'm a street wise brother.

374
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:05,800
Speaker 3: I kind of know. So if you show up to

375
00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:09,040
Speaker 3: a game, I don't need a test to know if

376
00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,360
Speaker 3: you hide. I'm looking right at you. I know if

377
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:16,840
Speaker 3: you hie, I know if you drunk. And then when

378
00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,200
Speaker 3: you dig the way that I dig, because remember, I'm

379
00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:21,520
Speaker 3: a beat right at the time. So you get to

380
00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,160
Speaker 3: know everybody, And this is what people don't realize about

381
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Speaker 3: few people that are beat writers.

382
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Speaker 4: With a beat writer's.

383
00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,680
Speaker 3: Nature, you don't only just know the athletes, the coaches,

384
00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:31,479
Speaker 3: the player personnel, directors of scouts.

385
00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:31,880
Speaker 4: They value.

386
00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,639
Speaker 3: You know their families, You know their friends, you know

387
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,000
Speaker 3: their hanger ons, you know their associates, you know all

388
00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:40,080
Speaker 3: of that stuff. So just imagine that you're covering sports

389
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Speaker 3: and you're dealing with twenty year olds and late twenties

390
00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,880
Speaker 3: and early thirties, and imagine the stuff that you're making,

391
00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:48,480
Speaker 3: all of this money and the stuff that you might

392
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,359
Speaker 3: find yourself getting into because you know, you live in

393
00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:53,520
Speaker 3: a life that most people don't get to live.

394
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Speaker 4: Think about the trouble that brings. You think I didn't know.

395
00:17:58,600 --> 00:17:59,840
Speaker 4: You think I didn't know that.

396
00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:03,280
Speaker 3: You got traded because you were fucking the same girl

397
00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:05,760
Speaker 3: as the coach, and the coach wanted you gone. You

398
00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:08,200
Speaker 3: think I didn't know that the coach couldn't stand you

399
00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,600
Speaker 3: because you tried to came on. You tried to come

400
00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:12,879
Speaker 3: on to his wife, and his wife was interested. Do

401
00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,240
Speaker 3: you think that I don't know that you really really

402
00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:18,399
Speaker 3: can't stand this dude, because guess what, you wouldn't trade

403
00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,080
Speaker 3: with this team because that former executive used to screw

404
00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:24,000
Speaker 3: around with your wife and you didn't want anybody to know.

405
00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:25,080
Speaker 1: That's why.

406
00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:28,320
Speaker 4: When you remember, if you recall when we were doing the.

407
00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:32,440
Speaker 3: Whole Boston Celtics thing where emil U Doka got pushed

408
00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:35,440
Speaker 3: out because of a consensual relationship with somebody.

409
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:36,720
Speaker 4: You saw me going.

410
00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,959
Speaker 3: Ballistic because I was like, oh, that's the first time

411
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,560
Speaker 3: that happened. I've been in this business for thirty years.

412
00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:43,920
Speaker 3: Ain't a year that went by that I don't know

413
00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:48,040
Speaker 3: about people screwing around in the office. It's always happening,

414
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:53,120
Speaker 3: like always, But this guy is the one y'all.

415
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:54,000
Speaker 4: Gonna bust Now.

416
00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:57,280
Speaker 3: That pissed me off because I'm like, there's a code

417
00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:00,800
Speaker 3: and what I didn't want to say, but I will

418
00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,080
Speaker 3: say any damn way because I'm still getting pissed off

419
00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,320
Speaker 3: about it just thinking about it. It was almost like

420
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,000
Speaker 3: it's like, wait a minute here, you know, did I

421
00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,360
Speaker 3: bring up the black element? Sure, because there's a whole

422
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:13,160
Speaker 3: bunch of white dudes the last time I checked, y'all

423
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,159
Speaker 3: like sex too. You don't saying nobody's telling you on

424
00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,040
Speaker 3: y'all have it, nobody's tying that to damn right, Ain't

425
00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:18,719
Speaker 3: nothing wrong with it.

426
00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,640
Speaker 4: So the point is, So the point is I get it.

427
00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,760
Speaker 4: I get it. But what really ticked me off as

428
00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:25,760
Speaker 4: well as that.

429
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:31,679
Speaker 3: There's certain codes like if you without getting into details

430
00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,199
Speaker 3: because I don't want to get sued you kind of

431
00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:40,359
Speaker 3: know that the person that he was with had connections

432
00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:42,719
Speaker 3: to somebody else within new organization?

433
00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:44,640
Speaker 4: Can I say that?

434
00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:48,000
Speaker 3: So I'm going like this now, is that not the

435
00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:49,400
Speaker 3: epitome of weakness?

436
00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:52,000
Speaker 4: As men? Your woman?

437
00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:58,199
Speaker 3: There's nothing around with somebody allegedly right, and you victimized

438
00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:02,800
Speaker 3: in him? Well, he wanted to relationship with you, she was,

439
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:05,520
Speaker 3: but he victimized.

440
00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,840
Speaker 4: But you're still probably with that person.

441
00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:15,760
Speaker 3: Really now, I'm saying that as men, we would call

442
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,159
Speaker 3: a dude out for that. We'd be like, yo, b

443
00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:20,640
Speaker 3: it's pretty damn weak. I mean, if you couldn't handle

444
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,440
Speaker 3: your business, you couldn't handle your business. But as wrong

445
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:24,639
Speaker 3: as he might have been, unless he was your friend

446
00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:26,520
Speaker 3: or brother, whatever, he ain't owe.

447
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:32,160
Speaker 4: It to you. You understand saying she did. But they

448
00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:33,399
Speaker 4: called him out.

449
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,600
Speaker 3: And I didn't want to go nuclear at that moment

450
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,439
Speaker 3: and say that, but that's what I was thinking, like,

451
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,320
Speaker 3: you know, you got to be pretty damn weak to

452
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:46,240
Speaker 3: be instigating this kind of shrapnel against that guy because

453
00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:47,920
Speaker 3: you didn't handle your business.

454
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:49,879
Speaker 4: You know, I'm not fault.

455
00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:53,000
Speaker 3: I'm not saying she wasn't wrong and he wasn't wrong

456
00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,000
Speaker 3: or whatever, but there was another element to it that

457
00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,840
Speaker 3: came with it that you saw there was a level

458
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:03,200
Speaker 3: of victim of then dictimness and hostility aimed solely at

459
00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:08,320
Speaker 3: him who was not married and he wasn't involved with you,

460
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,800
Speaker 3: So why is he the one suffering more than anybody else?

461
00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:15,480
Speaker 3: That's where I was coming from, And those kind of

462
00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:19,159
Speaker 3: perspectives you get from seeing a lot and being around

463
00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,280
Speaker 3: a lot and covering sports and seeing a whole bunch

464
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,760
Speaker 3: of things that go on. That was the stuff that

465
00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,560
Speaker 3: that noise away at me because I look for consistency.

466
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,560
Speaker 3: I want fairness. It doesn't matter whether it's right wrong, whatever,

467
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:34,240
Speaker 3: I understand it. We could debate that, we can debate

468
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,520
Speaker 3: it or whatever, but consistency needs to be the order

469
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,840
Speaker 3: of the day when we're doing this. And that's what

470
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:41,640
Speaker 3: I try to bring.

471
00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:43,520
Speaker 4: When you talk about you brought the code.

472
00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:45,879
Speaker 2: And obviously it's easy sitting as Steven A Smith right

473
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,040
Speaker 2: now to go, but when you're a beat writer just

474
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,399
Speaker 2: trying to scratch and claw for that interview and you

475
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,240
Speaker 2: know things are going on and you could it'd be

476
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,440
Speaker 2: very easy for you to get way more clicks or

477
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,800
Speaker 2: way more whatever by saying, hey, so and so is

478
00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,080
Speaker 2: cheating with so and so or whatever philandering was going

479
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:00,440
Speaker 2: on in this facility?

480
00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:01,760
Speaker 4: How did you figure out the code?

481
00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,400
Speaker 2: Like? How quickly do you learn that this code exists?

482
00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:09,320
Speaker 3: Well, for me, it's a personal decision. My personal morals

483
00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:13,359
Speaker 3: and ethics are different than other people. Fellas, there certain

484
00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:16,520
Speaker 3: lines I'm just not crossing. I don't know y'all from

485
00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:18,639
Speaker 3: a cannapign I'm just meet y'all, happy to get to

486
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:19,240
Speaker 3: know y'all.

487
00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:21,680
Speaker 4: Show all the time. I've watched a couple of times.

488
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:22,560
Speaker 4: Y'all do a great job.

489
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,200
Speaker 3: Man, I could see you doing something that I might

490
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,040
Speaker 3: deem to be unethical as it pertains to your personal

491
00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:30,280
Speaker 3: relationship with somebody.

492
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:32,320
Speaker 4: Man, ain't none of my damn business.

493
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:35,040
Speaker 3: I might not like it, I might hold it in,

494
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,359
Speaker 3: but I'm not diming you out. I'm just not doing it.

495
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:41,760
Speaker 3: It's none of my business. Now you're on a football field,

496
00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,560
Speaker 3: you play like garbage. That's different. You know what I'm saying.

497
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,959
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say that, and by the way, and by

498
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,159
Speaker 3: the way, and by the way and by the way.

499
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,960
Speaker 3: If you do that, because we've seen people. I've seen

500
00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:00,679
Speaker 3: people show up the games and you look sluggish. The

501
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:06,080
Speaker 3: audience didn't know you was screwing somebody two hours ago.

502
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,840
Speaker 4: But I did because I knew her. You see what

503
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:11,280
Speaker 4: I'm saying.

504
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,080
Speaker 3: So I'm not gonna tell on you, but I'm gonna

505
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:17,120
Speaker 3: go like this. I don't know what was wrong with him.

506
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:19,199
Speaker 3: He seemed a bit slow, you know, the legs did

507
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,640
Speaker 3: seem to be there. You know, my way of letting

508
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 3: him know, Man, I know what you did. It's a

509
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,879
Speaker 3: matter with you. You couldn't wait till after the game, you know.

510
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:30,800
Speaker 3: That's how I've done or a guy that you know what,

511
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:32,520
Speaker 3: you're on a source a little bit. You' drinking a

512
00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:34,760
Speaker 3: little bit too much alcohol. You know he's supposed to

513
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:36,679
Speaker 3: be doing that. You're supposed to do that the night before,

514
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,200
Speaker 3: not an hour, but not the hour before.

515
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:40,040
Speaker 4: The game, you know.

516
00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,199
Speaker 3: And I'm like, I'm looking at you like, you know,

517
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 3: you didn't seem like yourself.

518
00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:45,119
Speaker 4: You seemed a little bit off kilter.

519
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,119
Speaker 3: And you know they raised the eyebrow because they know

520
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 3: what I'm alluding to the audience, does it? You see

521
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,000
Speaker 3: what I'm saying. But I'll do stuff that's to let

522
00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,560
Speaker 3: him know. Yeah, I could, but I'm not. But don't

523
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,120
Speaker 3: think I don't know. Come on, man, do your job.

524
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,479
Speaker 3: Do your job and then afterward live your life. And

525
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,480
Speaker 3: so you know, I've been doing stuff like that, you know,

526
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,120
Speaker 3: throughout my career. The difference between me now and then

527
00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 3: you got some of these athletes can't stand my ass,

528
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:12,320
Speaker 3: hate my ass, whatever case may, because they see me

529
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:12,560
Speaker 3: on TV.

530
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:13,760
Speaker 4: They don't have a relationship with me.

531
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:15,719
Speaker 3: For the reason why is because I'm stuck in studio

532
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:17,840
Speaker 3: and I can't get to the games the way that

533
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:19,280
Speaker 3: I used to as many gigs. I used to go

534
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,400
Speaker 3: to like two hundred, like one hundred and twenty hundred

535
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,560
Speaker 3: and twenty five games a year. Now I have to

536
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,359
Speaker 3: cut that in half because of my schedule. But the

537
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:28,359
Speaker 3: reason why they could feel that way now compared to

538
00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:30,679
Speaker 3: the way they were before is because before this was me,

539
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,640
Speaker 3: I'd roll right up into the locker room.

540
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:35,240
Speaker 4: You seem like you got a problem. What's up?

541
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:40,240
Speaker 3: You can't possibly have a problem, How could you possibly

542
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:40,840
Speaker 3: have a problem?

543
00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:42,879
Speaker 4: You know, what the hell you did? You know?

544
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,840
Speaker 3: And I would roll up on them like that. I

545
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,760
Speaker 3: remember years ago, mad love and respect for John Wall.

546
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,760
Speaker 3: But John Wall I was doing first take. John Wall

547
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:54,439
Speaker 3: walked up and he was like, you know, I just

548
00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,399
Speaker 3: wish cats like you know, Stephen nay, you know, you know,

549
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 3: say something on TV. Be man enough to you know,

550
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,200
Speaker 3: come to the locker room knowing good and damn well.

551
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:07,080
Speaker 3: I couldn't get to Washington that day. Man brother said

552
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,000
Speaker 3: that stuff. Man, I took off my microphone a good

553
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:09,840
Speaker 3: commercial break.

554
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,040
Speaker 4: I flew to DC. I was in front of his

555
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:12,680
Speaker 4: locker that.

556
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,919
Speaker 3: Night, like what like, I'm scared to do my job.

557
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:19,800
Speaker 3: It's not not talking about no fighting or anything. You're

558
00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:22,320
Speaker 3: acting like I'm scared to do my job. This is

559
00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 3: my job. I am not scared to do my job ever. Ever,

560
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,760
Speaker 3: this is my job. Personal stuff is beyond the scope

561
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,320
Speaker 3: of the job. That's all that's that's wrong. You know,

562
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 3: somebody disrespecting your family member, your girls are no. No,

563
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:38,800
Speaker 3: you want you want to bust ass, can't have that

564
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:40,440
Speaker 3: because you violating codes.

565
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:42,119
Speaker 4: But me just doing my job.

566
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:43,720
Speaker 1: If you can't play, you can't play.

567
00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:46,840
Speaker 4: You play like garbage. You play like garbage. You messing up.

568
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,119
Speaker 4: You're messing up me scared to do that.

569
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,680
Speaker 3: Anybody that implies that they're gonna see me in front

570
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:54,600
Speaker 3: of that locker room, they're gonna see me in front

571
00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:56,400
Speaker 3: of that I'd walk in the middle of the Dallas

572
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,360
Speaker 3: cowboyd locker room after a game. If they said something

573
00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:02,120
Speaker 3: like that about me, you got to be crazy, because

574
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,920
Speaker 3: that's the job and I'm never going.

575
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:05,960
Speaker 4: To be scared to do my job.

576
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,119
Speaker 5: Your first big break getting in the national television can

577
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,200
Speaker 5: you talk about that? And then also seeing it transcend

578
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,240
Speaker 5: into what it's become, and obviously the.

579
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 1: Spotlight of Stephen A. Smith.

580
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,320
Speaker 5: But when was your first big break on when you

581
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:21,160
Speaker 5: do hit that national television scene.

582
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:24,160
Speaker 3: I think when people would say when it was CNNSI,

583
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:25,840
Speaker 3: which was a big deal because I was on the

584
00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:29,520
Speaker 3: NBA show on Sunday mornings. But I would say the

585
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,280
Speaker 3: real big break was when I went to Fox Sports

586
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:37,280
Speaker 3: Television because it was before the formation of the best

587
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:41,240
Speaker 3: damn sports show period, and I was on their national sports.

588
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:45,440
Speaker 3: They had their national sports desk. Kevin Frazier, who's now

589
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,760
Speaker 3: at Entertainment Tonight, was one of the hosts along with

590
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,679
Speaker 3: various others. He's a dear friend of mine and I

591
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:55,280
Speaker 3: went there. Jim Rome had Rome The last word I

592
00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 3: believe was the name of the show when it kime

593
00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,720
Speaker 3: the ESPN, it was Rome is Burning, which is always

594
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:00,760
Speaker 3: a great name. I always loved that name. But I

595
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:03,719
Speaker 3: was there, and Jim Rohn would bring me into his

596
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 3: office after shows and talk to me and give me

597
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:09,880
Speaker 3: guidance about some of the mind fields to maneuver through

598
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:11,600
Speaker 3: and what kind of things to watch out for, which

599
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:14,400
Speaker 3: I was always greatly appreciative for. And so I would

600
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:18,440
Speaker 3: call that my first big break because being in television

601
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:22,760
Speaker 3: and making that kind of noise when ESPN was so prolific,

602
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,240
Speaker 3: that was one thing, but then the creation of the

603
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,400
Speaker 3: best damn sports show period. They offered me the job

604
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,200
Speaker 3: full time. I turned it down, which is how John

605
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 3: Sally got offered the job. The reason I turned it

606
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,639
Speaker 3: down is because I knew that my aspirations would end

607
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,360
Speaker 3: up at ESPN one day, and I knew in order

608
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:42,919
Speaker 3: to achieve that, I had to be taken seriously, and

609
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:46,520
Speaker 3: I would never be able to be taken seriously if

610
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:48,800
Speaker 3: I was sitting next to a comedian that was Tom

611
00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,640
Speaker 3: Onnold every day. I'm not talking about him specifically, I'm

612
00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:52,920
Speaker 3: talking about any comedian.

613
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,480
Speaker 4: It was a comedic show, or at least they aspired

614
00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:57,160
Speaker 4: for it to be.

615
00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,840
Speaker 3: That way, and for me to go there and sit

616
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:02,320
Speaker 3: next to him every day, I knew.

617
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,200
Speaker 4: Esthetically, optics wise, that.

618
00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,399
Speaker 3: Would not be a good look if I wanted to

619
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:11,240
Speaker 3: be taken seriously. So I declined to play that role

620
00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:15,600
Speaker 3: on that show and instead elected simply to be an

621
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:19,680
Speaker 3: NBA insider for that network, and lo and behold. A

622
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:24,360
Speaker 3: year later, ESPN came calling, and two thousand and three

623
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,760
Speaker 3: I landed at ESPN and everything is taken off since then?

624
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 2: How do you get to that conclusion with best dam

625
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,000
Speaker 2: of sports show period where they're offering you a job,

626
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,720
Speaker 2: They're offering you probably more money than you've been making before,

627
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:37,679
Speaker 2: and to have the wherewithal to sit there and be like,

628
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 2: tactically strategically in this video game of life I'm playing,

629
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:43,040
Speaker 2: this is not the move to make. Although it's better

630
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:43,840
Speaker 2: right now than it is.

631
00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:46,160
Speaker 4: Same thing you're doing now. You're playing a long game.

632
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,280
Speaker 3: You know, Clicks would be nice, Views per episode would

633
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:54,400
Speaker 3: be nice. A subscriber base that builds is something that

634
00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:57,560
Speaker 3: you want. We all know what the business entails. But

635
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:00,520
Speaker 3: if you want to do something and just be a

636
00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 3: one off, that's entirely different than building a career that's sustainable.

637
00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,840
Speaker 3: And for me, I always played the long game. I

638
00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,680
Speaker 3: still do. I think ahead. You know, somebody asked me

639
00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,360
Speaker 3: the other day, They said yo, man, what did you

640
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:19,760
Speaker 3: do when you got your contract in twenty eighteen?

641
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:21,680
Speaker 4: I said, I went home.

642
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:24,200
Speaker 3: I was a little sad for a little while because

643
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 3: I had lost my mom a year earlier. God rest

644
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,120
Speaker 3: her soul after long battle with cancer. And I said,

645
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,400
Speaker 3: so I licked my wounds there because I was sad

646
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,400
Speaker 3: because I knew the kind of money that I was earning,

647
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:38,920
Speaker 3: what I was going to be able to do for

648
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:40,880
Speaker 3: her if she had been alive, and I had never

649
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:43,760
Speaker 3: had a chance to do that, you know, for what

650
00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:45,560
Speaker 3: I would have been able to do for alfter I

651
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:48,600
Speaker 3: signed that contract. But then ultimately I spent some time

652
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 3: with my sisters and you know, and my family, my

653
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 3: daughters and everything like that for the weekend. That Monday morning,

654
00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 3: I woke up and they said, what were you thinking about?

655
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 4: I said, my next contract? And I wasn't playing.

656
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:05,600
Speaker 3: I knew that I had five and a half years

657
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,120
Speaker 3: to go, and I was thinking about five and a

658
00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,440
Speaker 3: half years down the road. What am I going to

659
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,240
Speaker 3: do and where am I going to be in five

660
00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:17,520
Speaker 3: and a half years. And that is my mentality always

661
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:22,560
Speaker 3: to try to maintain three, five, ten steps ahead, to

662
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 3: see the forest from the trees to anticipate the kind

663
00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,160
Speaker 3: of things that are going to happen, so I'm not

664
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,720
Speaker 3: lost in the shuffle, and we're not rewinding the clock

665
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:33,320
Speaker 3: back to two thousand and nine where I'm asked out, unemployed,

666
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,040
Speaker 3: wondering what my prospects are, wondering whether or not I

667
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:39,960
Speaker 3: have any living off my savings, and knowing that I

668
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 3: had about six to eight months to survive on that.

669
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:45,040
Speaker 3: My goal is to never be in that position again.

670
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:46,840
Speaker 3: And so I think, like that.

671
00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,000
Speaker 1: What is your vision? What are your vision for yourself

672
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:50,640
Speaker 1: down the road?

673
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,560
Speaker 5: Like you know, obviously you sign the massive deal with ESPN,

674
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:54,840
Speaker 5: You're You're Stephen A.

675
00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:56,640
Speaker 1: Smith, You've come out with the podcast.

676
00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,400
Speaker 5: Everybody knows this media landscape on the leveraging building your

677
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,200
Speaker 5: own platform. Okay, I'm on this massive network. You might

678
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:03,640
Speaker 5: think you're.

679
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 1: Building me up.

680
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:05,240
Speaker 5: Let me go show you how I can do it

681
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:07,680
Speaker 5: on my own as well. What is the north star

682
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:09,640
Speaker 5: look like for you five ten years done there? Well?

683
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:11,880
Speaker 3: The north star for me is to have that level

684
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:14,600
Speaker 3: of independence, to establish it in such a way where

685
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:16,880
Speaker 3: I'm there because I want to be there, not because

686
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,160
Speaker 3: I need to be there. I love working for Disney

687
00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 3: and ESPN. I love being associated with the world of sports.

688
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,040
Speaker 3: I think that's one of the five pillars in this

689
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,680
Speaker 3: nation that you want to attach yourself to if you

690
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,000
Speaker 3: can pull it off. And I'm certainly not interested in

691
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,000
Speaker 3: giving that up. But I'm neither going to lie nor

692
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:37,680
Speaker 3: be apologetic about what i want for myself. I've done

693
00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 3: a lot at ESPN. My contract's up in seventeen months.

694
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:49,640
Speaker 3: I'm interested in staying if I have the opportunity to

695
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,840
Speaker 3: do an abundance of other things that I want to do.

696
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:57,000
Speaker 3: If that opportunity doesn't present itself, then I'll have decisions

697
00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,520
Speaker 3: to make, and so will they. I own my own

698
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,600
Speaker 3: production company. I'm producing a docu series. Actually, it comes

699
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:06,760
Speaker 3: out later this month as a three part series on

700
00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,400
Speaker 3: the history of sports commentators. I've got another series that

701
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 3: has been green lit, a drama series that I've created

702
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:14,560
Speaker 3: that I'm not at liberty to talk about, but it

703
00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:18,120
Speaker 3: has nothing to do with Disney or ESPN. I've created

704
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 3: a drama series that's coming out. I've got my podcast,

705
00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,760
Speaker 3: which is not really a podcast, it's a show. Why

706
00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,880
Speaker 3: because I spent my own money and seven figures to

707
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,960
Speaker 3: build my own television studio, I want people to look

708
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,480
Speaker 3: at it and think hybrid. It not linear, it's not digital.

709
00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:36,120
Speaker 3: It could be both. You want a linear sports show,

710
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,720
Speaker 3: got you? You want a sports digital show? Got you?

711
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 3: You want a podcast? Got you? You want a late

712
00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:43,480
Speaker 3: night show? Done?

713
00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:45,720
Speaker 4: You want an afternoon talk show? Fine?

714
00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:49,600
Speaker 3: You want me to be another version of PTI or

715
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:50,320
Speaker 3: something like that.

716
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,920
Speaker 4: Good. You want another creation of First Take? Fine?

717
00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 3: You want me to create a weekly format show that

718
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,480
Speaker 3: would rival Real Time with Bill Maher or the John

719
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:02,719
Speaker 3: Oliver Show or the Daily Show. Fine, whatever it is,

720
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,959
Speaker 3: I can do it, because I've shown I can do it.

721
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:10,080
Speaker 3: And so that's where my mentality is having the doors open,

722
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,680
Speaker 3: the opportunities available to me, and being in the position

723
00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:17,560
Speaker 3: to explore things that I may have never imagined because

724
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,320
Speaker 3: I never knew it was available to me. Because all

725
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,600
Speaker 3: anybody thought about when they saw me with sports, now

726
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:27,080
Speaker 3: they don't think like that anymore. They see my range.

727
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:29,880
Speaker 3: So who's to say whether it's me or somebody else

728
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:32,560
Speaker 3: that wants to work with me comes forth with a

729
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:37,080
Speaker 3: level of creativity and ingenuity necessary to say, Stephen Aate

730
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,040
Speaker 3: is what we think we could do with you and

731
00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:41,440
Speaker 3: for you is the kind of money that you can make.

732
00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,440
Speaker 3: Because the one thing I will never apologize for I

733
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:48,720
Speaker 3: am about my money. I want to get paid. I

734
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:52,560
Speaker 3: ain't apologizing for that shit to anybody. I'm not talking

735
00:33:52,600 --> 00:34:00,000
Speaker 3: about Disney, I'm not talking about ESPN. I'm talking about colleagues, contemporaries,

736
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:03,000
Speaker 3: people who have been in this business, who knows what

737
00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,800
Speaker 3: it takes to succeed. Look at my resume, look at

738
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:10,080
Speaker 3: what I've accomplished. Oh, make no mistake. I intend to

739
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 3: get paid.

740
00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:12,120
Speaker 4: I can tell you that.

741
00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:15,719
Speaker 2: Right now on this on YouTube and we post this

742
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:19,919
Speaker 2: black and white music behind it self titles the Whole

743
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:22,719
Speaker 2: Thing that is Gonna Go Nuts. I know you, I

744
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:24,879
Speaker 2: know you got to leave. But obviously the competitive drive

745
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:28,200
Speaker 2: the why you have literally everything. And in sports, when

746
00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:30,480
Speaker 2: you're on a team, your goal is to win the

747
00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:32,759
Speaker 2: Super Bowl or the NBA Championship, all these different things.

748
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:37,120
Speaker 2: You're competing against other teams, but also internally in the

749
00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:39,959
Speaker 2: on the team you're at, you're competing with the guys

750
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:42,719
Speaker 2: around you. And so ESPN comes in. You talked about

751
00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:44,799
Speaker 2: two billion views, you talked about being the man number

752
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:47,560
Speaker 2: one for twelve years, and you see ESPN making a

753
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:51,080
Speaker 2: pivot to McAfee. Obviously great for the network. How do

754
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 2: you in your mindset view. A guy like McAfee, who

755
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,080
Speaker 2: is extremely good at his job in a lot of ways,

756
00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 2: is changing the course of mainstream media and all those

757
00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:02,840
Speaker 2: things competitive standpoint. Also as a as a partner.

758
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:07,600
Speaker 3: I am an aberration in this regard. I love Pat McAfee,

759
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:12,640
Speaker 3: love the death, love the death. I love his swag.

760
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,000
Speaker 3: I love the fact that he's an honest brother. He

761
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,719
Speaker 3: don't give shit, lets you know exactly where he's staying.

762
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:21,960
Speaker 3: That's my kind of dude. That works for me now

763
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,320
Speaker 3: as he as polished politically as me, Nope, because he

764
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:28,160
Speaker 3: has no desire to be number one and number two

765
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:28,960
Speaker 3: if we're being honest.

766
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:30,799
Speaker 4: He's white and I'm black. He didn't have to be.

767
00:35:31,239 --> 00:35:31,840
Speaker 1: I had to be.

768
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:34,160
Speaker 3: So I get all of that, and I'm not knocking

769
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:37,440
Speaker 3: him for it. I get it. Pat McAfee is a

770
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:41,719
Speaker 3: sensational talent, and it would be stupid for me not

771
00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:45,560
Speaker 3: to root for him because he's one of the pioneers

772
00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,239
Speaker 3: in this business, just like Bill Simmons is, just like

773
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:52,400
Speaker 3: Joe Rogan is in others. What they have done for

774
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,920
Speaker 3: themselves in the digital stratospy, it speaks for itself.

775
00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:56,680
Speaker 4: I'm new to this.

776
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,520
Speaker 3: I'm a baby, I got I'm approaching five hundred and

777
00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:02,640
Speaker 3: fifty thous and subscribers in ten ten and a half months.

778
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:04,879
Speaker 3: People see me, Oh my god, you're averaging over two

779
00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:06,120
Speaker 3: thousand subscribers a day.

780
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:08,720
Speaker 4: And look at the views forever. So it's just climbing

781
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 4: and climbing.

782
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,600
Speaker 3: And look at the consistency to growth, especially by God Bailey,

783
00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:14,400
Speaker 3: the social media gurule. I mean these strategies. He's painting

784
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,439
Speaker 3: this beautiful picture every day. I'm looking at the fact

785
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,120
Speaker 3: that my numbers pale in comparison to those folks who

786
00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:22,320
Speaker 3: have been there and have like a four.

787
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:25,960
Speaker 4: Or five, seven, eight year head start on me. Why

788
00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:27,879
Speaker 4: because I'm looking at who's number one?

789
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:28,320
Speaker 1: And why?

790
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:29,240
Speaker 4: Okay?

791
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,480
Speaker 3: But in the same breath, don't get it twisted. I

792
00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:35,360
Speaker 3: love Pat pet knows that I'm rooting for him. I

793
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:39,320
Speaker 3: help him anyway. I can't help him. But we know

794
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:43,520
Speaker 3: who number one in linear television is. You know, way backseat,

795
00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 3: you've been number one for twelve years. People come, people go,

796
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:50,160
Speaker 3: people come, people stay.

797
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:52,280
Speaker 4: But there's a top perch.

798
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 3: Now you could take it away, knock on wood. It

799
00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:57,600
Speaker 3: could be next year, be next week, it could be

800
00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:01,840
Speaker 3: two years, five years from now, whatever. But Since twenty twelve,

801
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 3: it's been me with Skip, Payler's with Adam, with Max Kellerman,

802
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:11,240
Speaker 3: with Adam with a Polpoerrie of contributes. It don't matter.

803
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:14,480
Speaker 3: I come to win, and when it comes to linear television,

804
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:17,120
Speaker 3: that's exactly what the fuck I have done. And so

805
00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:19,480
Speaker 3: my attitude is, as long as I'm doing it, I'm

806
00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:20,480
Speaker 3: gonna continue to win.

807
00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:23,960
Speaker 4: McAfee or no McAfee, get up or no get up.

808
00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:27,360
Speaker 3: It don't matter who it is, FS One, Comcast, whatever

809
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 3: you come for me, I'm coming for you.

810
00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:30,279
Speaker 4: I'm here to win.

811
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:34,880
Speaker 3: Digital is different because I'm a baby, I'm crawling, I'm

812
00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:37,040
Speaker 3: an infant. You understand I'm saying I ain't even learn

813
00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:39,440
Speaker 3: how to walk yet. You understand them saying let alone

814
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:43,400
Speaker 3: run and sprint. But once I get to that point,

815
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,600
Speaker 3: I'm a comfort folks then too. But in the process

816
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,160
Speaker 3: of doing so, it will never be to root for

817
00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:51,879
Speaker 3: them to fail. And that's why I'm very guarded when

818
00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:53,840
Speaker 3: people sit up there and they try to remember Dan

819
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,279
Speaker 3: Levata said one time, you know, he wants to ruin

820
00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,160
Speaker 3: Skip's career, and he had to retract that statement because

821
00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,640
Speaker 3: that's totally fault. I never want Skip to fail. I

822
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:04,480
Speaker 3: just don't want them to be number one over me.

823
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,440
Speaker 3: Same thing with Keith Shawn, Michael IRV and Richard Shermanham.

824
00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:10,560
Speaker 3: These are my boys. I don't want them to fail,

825
00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:14,160
Speaker 3: but they know who's trying to be number one. And look,

826
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:16,799
Speaker 3: these are Hall of famers, these are Super Bowl champions.

827
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:19,360
Speaker 3: When they roll up over there, Yeah.

828
00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:20,360
Speaker 4: Man, we know you.

829
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:22,480
Speaker 3: I said, you know I'm coming for you, right, you

830
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:25,520
Speaker 3: know you know you don't expect to beat me.

831
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:26,879
Speaker 4: You understand now.

832
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,360
Speaker 3: Of course, one day somebody can hell, it could be

833
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 3: them with somebody else, but all in fun, I'm letting

834
00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:37,040
Speaker 3: them know I don't ever root against you.

835
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:38,760
Speaker 4: I don't ever want you to fail.

836
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:41,160
Speaker 3: But in the same breath, it is perfectly within my

837
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:43,600
Speaker 3: right to want to be number one. And I want

838
00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:45,160
Speaker 3: to be that guy that's at the top of the

839
00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:49,000
Speaker 3: perch that reaches back white and black, finding young talent

840
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:54,040
Speaker 3: folks on a come up, inspiring and motivating and assisting

841
00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:56,120
Speaker 3: others in being their best selves.

842
00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:59,680
Speaker 4: But do I want you to be better than me? No?

843
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:02,040
Speaker 3: No, And I'm gonna do everything that I can to

844
00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:05,279
Speaker 3: make sure you're not better than me. I've done it

845
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:08,560
Speaker 3: in linear television. I'm going to continue to do it

846
00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,279
Speaker 3: in linear television at least as long as I have

847
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:15,080
Speaker 3: a contract to do so, and hopefully I'll be able

848
00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:17,520
Speaker 3: to do it in the digital stratospy as well, and

849
00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:18,120
Speaker 3: then after that.

850
00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:20,600
Speaker 2: It's kind of production we're doing around here that we're

851
00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:22,960
Speaker 2: trying to throw in this talking about being the one

852
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:23,440
Speaker 2: Steve A.

853
00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:26,239
Speaker 1: This has been an honor man, Thank you so much.

854
00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:28,120
Speaker 2: I wish we had a longer time. I don't know

855
00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:30,680
Speaker 2: if you saw on the internet all black versus all

856
00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:31,320
Speaker 2: white team.

857
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:33,000
Speaker 4: Okay, I did not see. You didn't see that. I

858
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:33,399
Speaker 4: did not see.

859
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:36,399
Speaker 1: Have been something you be covering, you know that one?

860
00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:38,640
Speaker 2: And if you look at the old white team except

861
00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:41,320
Speaker 2: for that backing on defense, not a bad squad.

862
00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:42,759
Speaker 4: I'll check it out, Yeah, I'll check it out.

863
00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:45,359
Speaker 2: I think I think the bunch squads minus twenty four

864
00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:46,160
Speaker 2: and a half when we go.

865
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:46,560
Speaker 4: Well over it.

866
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:50,200
Speaker 3: But it'll be all right, Okay, Hey, we'll get your man, siate,

867
00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:51,759
Speaker 3: y'all man, all the best of both of y'all.

868
00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:53,200
Speaker 4: Man. Keep doing the great job been doing.

869
00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:55,000
Speaker 1: We'll be seeing you soon, all right, yes, sir, take

870
00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:55,080
Speaker 1: ca