Speaker 1: All right, folks, I need you all to start what
Speaker 1: you're doing and listen up. You know how much I
Speaker 1: love this time of year, the NBA Playoffs. It's in
Speaker 1: full effect and with all its action jumping off the
Speaker 1: Stephen the Smith Show.
Speaker 2: Wants to make sure you take advantage of it all.
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Speaker 1: I'll give you my picks for Sunday's game between my
Speaker 1: beloved New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons.
Speaker 2: So let's get to it. First.
Speaker 1: Up, well, Jalen Brunston score more or less than twenty
Speaker 1: nine and a half points.
Speaker 2: Have you seen the way Jalen Brunts has been playing.
Speaker 1: Please That brother is a closer clutch Player of the
Speaker 1: Year in the NBA. Showed up in Game three and
Speaker 1: showed you exactly why I'm going with more on this
Speaker 1: particular answer. Next up, we'll call Anthony Towns cat Man
Speaker 1: score more or less than twenty three and a half points.
Speaker 1: He just finished dropping thirty one hit ten and eighteen shots.
Speaker 1: Why would I believe he's gonna be any differently in
Speaker 1: game four? I think he's gonna show up. He's gonna
Speaker 1: score more than twenty three and a half. I'm going
Speaker 1: with more on this one too. Next up with Tim
Speaker 1: Hardaway Junr. Score more or less than ten and a
Speaker 1: half points. He got hot in the first half tailed
Speaker 1: off in the second half in Game three, but that
Speaker 1: only calls for a few threes. He can score more
Speaker 1: than ten and a half points. I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: more on this one. And finally, well Kaid cutting him
Speaker 1: score more or less than twenty seven and a half points.
Speaker 2: I'm going with more. So that's it.
Speaker 1: You see what I said, Jaylen Brunson, call Anthony Towns okay,
Speaker 1: Tim Hardaway Junior and of course, the one and only
Speaker 1: Kaid cutting him.
Speaker 2: More and more and more and more. That's what we
Speaker 2: like on prospects.
Speaker 1: We love that word more because it means more money
Speaker 1: for everybody.
Speaker 2: We like that. We like that. It's been a rough week.
Speaker 1: It's been a lot of things going on, not just
Speaker 1: in the world of politics. Of course, there's the NFL
Speaker 1: Draft as well, along with the NBA playoffs, but needless
Speaker 1: to say, on a personal level involving Shannon Sharp, it's
Speaker 1: a lot to talk about.
Speaker 2: I'm here for it.
Speaker 1: Got to do the job, got to do the job.
Speaker 1: The steven Ate Smith Show in the house. Let's go.
Speaker 2: What's up everybody.
Speaker 1: Welcome to this the latest edition of The Steven A.
Speaker 1: Smith Show, coming at you as I love to do
Speaker 1: it at the very least three times a week over
Speaker 1: the digital airways of YouTube and.
Speaker 2: Of course iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1: As always, I like to pause to take a moment
Speaker 1: to thank my subscribers and followers for continuing to support
Speaker 1: the show. We've now eclipsed more than one point one
Speaker 1: nine million subscribers on YouTube. Of course, there's millions of
Speaker 1: over the last several months courtesy of iHeartRadio. Can't thank
Speaker 1: y'all for love and support enough keep it coming, and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep on coming. To continue to like and
Speaker 1: follow the show, just click the right hand just click
Speaker 1: the bell in the lower right hand corner, and you
Speaker 1: too shall be considered the latest member of the Stephen A.
Speaker 1: Smith Show family courtesy of being updated on all of
Speaker 1: our newest content. And while you're doing that, make sure
Speaker 1: to pick up a copy of my New York Times
Speaker 1: best selling book, Straight Shooter, a Memoir of Second Chances
Speaker 1: and First Takes, now in paperback. Let's get to the
Speaker 1: latest news, and it's involving mister Shannon Shop who announced
Speaker 1: yesterday that he would be stepping away from ESPN and
Speaker 1: ESPN's First Take my daytime job at least until the
Speaker 1: NFL preseason sometime later on this summer. As you may recall,
Speaker 1: a lawsuit was filed against Shannon on Sunday by a
Speaker 1: woman using the name Jane Doe or using a Jane
Speaker 1: Doe suitonym. The thirteen page civil complaint filed in Nevada,
Speaker 1: alleged that Shannon Sharp committed assault, sexual assault, battery, and
Speaker 1: sexual battery. Shannon and his attorneys responded with evidence of
Speaker 1: the relationship being quote unquote consensual, and Jane Doe's attorney,
Speaker 1: Tony Busby responded by releasing audio of an alleged conversation
Speaker 1: between his client and Shannon. For those that don't know,
Speaker 1: Tony Busby is the same attorney that filed a lawsuit
Speaker 1: against jay Z and Diddy alleging they both sexually assaulted
Speaker 1: a minor, which has since been withdrawn. Jay Z has
Speaker 1: now countersued Busby. Needless to say, the headlines this week
Speaker 1: took on a life of their owner, and as a result,
Speaker 1: Shannon announced he was stepping away from ESPN. He is
Speaker 1: a portion of Shannon's statement that he posted on social
Speaker 1: media quote, I will be devoting this time to my
Speaker 1: family and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive
Speaker 1: allegations set against me. I plan to return to ESPN
Speaker 1: at the start of the NFL preseason. I sincerely appreciate
Speaker 1: the overwhelming and ongoing support I have received from my family, fans, friends,
Speaker 1: and colleague.
Speaker 2: Quote.
Speaker 1: It's been a difficult week from a sports media perspective,
Speaker 1: certainly as it pertains to first take, Shannon Sharp became
Speaker 1: a friend when I recruited him to come on board
Speaker 1: on ESPN's first take. He came on board, and he
Speaker 1: did a sensational job. No matter the amount of success
Speaker 1: that we enjoyed for the twelve years prior to his arrival,
Speaker 1: he helped take it to another level last year, and
Speaker 1: we were doing our thing this year as well.
Speaker 2: And so when the news came down that he and ESPN.
Speaker 1: Had mutually agreed that he would need to come off
Speaker 1: the airwaves of ESPN, it was a blow. Blow to
Speaker 1: the show, or blow to me personally, because I'm gonna
Speaker 1: miss him.
Speaker 2: But it was not a surprise.
Speaker 1: When I was on the airge just a few days ago,
Speaker 1: a lot of people were looking for me to say something.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to go there.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna speak to one's innocence or one's guilt
Speaker 1: about something I have absolutely, positively no knowledge of whatsoever.
Speaker 1: Do I believe that Shannon Sharp is guilty of what
Speaker 1: he has been accused of.
Speaker 2: Absolutely not. That is my personal opinion.
Speaker 1: The brother that I've come to know, I don't believe
Speaker 1: would assault or rape anybody.
Speaker 2: And I'm gonna state that.
Speaker 1: Emphatically, but just as emphatically, I'm going to remind everybody
Speaker 1: it is my opinion because of what I feel about him,
Speaker 1: not in any way implying that I know a damn
Speaker 1: thing beyond that, because I don't know. I've seen the
Speaker 1: text messages really by his lawyer, who, by the way,
Speaker 1: I don't think has been impressive in this at all,
Speaker 1: because some of the information that was let out to
Speaker 1: the public. I have no idea why a lawyer would
Speaker 1: advise such a thing. But that's a different subject for
Speaker 1: another day. And we're allowed to deduce from.
Speaker 2: An opinion perspective.
Speaker 1: What we believe in what we don't, so long as
Speaker 1: we concede that we have no way of knowing definitively
Speaker 1: what the truth is. What I can't speak about is
Speaker 1: the fact that this three times Super Bowl champion, and
Speaker 1: this Hall of Famer, who emphatically stated to me over
Speaker 1: the phone how innocent he is of these allegations that
Speaker 1: have been levied against him, insisting repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly that
Speaker 1: anything you read, anything you see, anything you hear, was
Speaker 1: fully and totally consensual. In the same breath, what's inescapable
Speaker 1: is that, without us knowing all the merits, he was
Speaker 1: working with Disney, where I've worked since two thousand and three,
Speaker 1: excluding my departure from two thousand and nine to twenty
Speaker 1: and eleven when I was going for those two years.
Speaker 1: Outside of that, I've been at Disney since October of
Speaker 1: two thousand and three.
Speaker 2: I know this place, I know.
Speaker 1: The worldwide leader that is ESPN, who's under the umbrella
Speaker 1: of Disney, and it wasn't difficult for me to figure.
Speaker 2: Out what was transpiring.
Speaker 1: As I sit here before you today discussing this matter.
Speaker 1: ESPN and Disney have a weight and see attitude when
Speaker 1: it comes to whatever evidence they may learn about this
Speaker 1: entire situation involving Shannon Sharp, from a legal and from
Speaker 1: a civil perspective, what they didn't need as it pertains
Speaker 1: to those two things that I just mentioned, They didn't
Speaker 1: need any definitive evidence at this particular moment in time.
Speaker 2: About all of that stuff. Wants.
Speaker 1: All the things Shannon Sharp's lawyer put out there, it
Speaker 1: was uncomfortable to listen to and it was not something
Speaker 1: that Walt Disney wants associated with its brand. So to
Speaker 1: have him on the airwaves while all of.
Speaker 2: That stuff was put out there.
Speaker 1: Was not something that Disney was going to take. That
Speaker 1: is what I mean when I say I am not
Speaker 1: surprised in getting to no share in the shop. I
Speaker 1: know a lot of things that he has articulated that
Speaker 1: he has been through in his life. I can't imagine
Speaker 1: too many things in life tougher than what he's going
Speaker 1: through now. And there's a lot of people out there
Speaker 1: talking a lot of smack and a lot of stuff
Speaker 1: about him.
Speaker 2: You will never hear that from me. It will not happen.
Speaker 1: I don't give a damn if we speak a day
Speaker 1: from now, a month from now, a year from now,
Speaker 1: years from now. He's my friend and it's always going
Speaker 1: to be that way. I'd say the same thing to
Speaker 1: you about anybody else else that I know to be
Speaker 1: my friend. I don't have to work with you. I
Speaker 1: don't have to be around you, I don't have to
Speaker 1: be around you all the time, talking to you all
Speaker 1: the time, to have love for you and.
Speaker 2: To wish you the best.
Speaker 1: And that's exactly what it's going to be for him.
Speaker 1: I sincerely hope that all of this goes away and
Speaker 1: we find there's a bunch of falsehoods to these allegations
Speaker 1: and he's able to come back in this industry and
Speaker 1: do what he has been doing, which has been phenomenal.
Speaker 1: I hope Club Shay Shay and Nightcap and all of
Speaker 1: these other things that he's associated with, that he continues
Speaker 1: to thrive in his life and move forward, and whatever
Speaker 1: mistakes he may have made along the way, I'm not
Speaker 1: talking from a legal or civil perspective. I'm talking about
Speaker 1: in his eyes or that of others, whether it be
Speaker 1: moral or something else.
Speaker 2: I hope that.
Speaker 1: He corrects whatever he feels he needs to correct, and
Speaker 1: he moves forward. But in the process of doing all
Speaker 1: of that, I hope we're all reminded.
Speaker 2: Of a few things.
Speaker 1: And this extends far beyond a Shannon Shop for anybody else.
Speaker 2: One of the things.
Speaker 1: That we need to remind ourselves of is that in
Speaker 1: this day and age, very few things of private. In
Speaker 1: this day and age, there's very few things that won't
Speaker 1: come to light, because most things do. But thinking beyond Shannon,
Speaker 1: thinking beyond myself, just.
Speaker 2: Thinking about the world that we live in.
Speaker 1: In terms of the podcast, Stratosphy and everything like that,
Speaker 1: a lot of people want to walk around thinking you
Speaker 1: could do what you want to do when you want
Speaker 1: to do it, You could your own, your own operation,
Speaker 1: You don't have to answer to anybody.
Speaker 2: That's not true. I've had people.
Speaker 1: Open their mouth, and they've said, stephen A, you work
Speaker 1: for ESPN, What kind of control do you really have?
Speaker 2: This is my podcast, this is my YouTube show. I
Speaker 2: owned this.
Speaker 1: But if you think for one second that I could
Speaker 1: just do what I want to do, when I want
Speaker 1: to do it, how I want to do it, and
Speaker 1: there's not going to be any repercussions, you're clueless and
Speaker 1: you're destined to fail and fall in your face. I'm
Speaker 1: not talking about Shannon Shop. I'm not talking about Shannon Shop.
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about anybody in particular. I'm talking about
Speaker 1: a climate that we're living in. Some people sit up
Speaker 1: there and they look at me and they say, stephen A,
Speaker 1: don't get himself in this kind of trouble.
Speaker 2: How does he pull it off?
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, there's certain behaviors and proclivities that
Speaker 1: you never have to worry about me engaging in. But
Speaker 1: most importantly than that, I often say this about Walt Disney.
Speaker 1: I'd rather work for a place.
Speaker 2: With standards than one looking for them.
Speaker 1: You know why, because lines are drawn and I never
Speaker 1: have to worry about crossing them because guess what, I've
Speaker 1: got something there reminding me, hold on, hold on, you
Speaker 1: don't need to do that. It's not a silo. I'm
Speaker 1: not by myself. I don't get to operate in any
Speaker 1: way that I want without having to worry about ramifications
Speaker 1: or repercussions. I always have to be concerned about that.
Speaker 1: So I'm challenged every day to come on the airwaves
Speaker 1: and think about the ramifications with repercussions of anything that
Speaker 1: I do.
Speaker 2: Constantly.
Speaker 1: And because of that, that's an additional guardrail to secure
Speaker 1: me from putting myself in a position that could jeopardize myself,
Speaker 1: my show, my brand, my family, the company that I
Speaker 1: work for, anything like that. Again, I'm not talking about
Speaker 1: Shannon right now. I'm talking about what people say when
Speaker 1: it comes to people like myself and others who unapologetically
Speaker 1: explain that we have people to answer to. And all
Speaker 1: you folks out there with your own podcast, running your
Speaker 1: own operations, if you have advertisers and sponsors, get what
Speaker 1: you answer to somebody too. And I'm here to tell you,
Speaker 1: don't be upset about it.
Speaker 2: Feel good about it, because you need to view it
Speaker 2: as an extra line of security that enables you. It
Speaker 2: being a guardrail, it enables you to watch.
Speaker 1: Lines that you want to make sure that you don't
Speaker 1: cross because when those lines are always there, you usually
Speaker 1: know it and you usually make sure you don't cross it,
Speaker 1: because the bigger picture is always staring in front of
Speaker 1: your face. I've seen a lot of stuff happen over
Speaker 1: the last few months. I've seen a lot of stuff
Speaker 1: happen over the last few years, and in almost every case,
Speaker 1: guard rails were pretty much absent. I'm glad I have
Speaker 1: God rails. The people that work for me, the people
Speaker 1: that work with me, the people I work for.
Speaker 2: The public at.
Speaker 1: Large, find a way to be me while in the
Speaker 1: same breath guarding myself against some of the things I
Speaker 1: need to be guarded against. Just the thought, just the
Speaker 1: thought back to Shannon, I'll always be here for him
Speaker 1: if he needs me, just the same way I said
Speaker 1: that about Skip Bayless we he departed from Fox, just
Speaker 1: the same way that I would say about any of
Speaker 1: my friends. That's what friends do, even in the toughest
Speaker 1: of times, sometimes.
Speaker 2: Especially the toughest of times.
Speaker 1: They ain't telling you you're right all the time, and hell,
Speaker 1: sometimes they may not stop you from falling into that abyss,
Speaker 1: but they're there to lift you up when nobody else will.
Speaker 1: That's all I have to say other than I hope
Speaker 1: he's back in his business real soon on linear television
Speaker 1: talking from football, because that man knows his football and
Speaker 1: he certainly knows how to entertain.
Speaker 2: Us while he's talking about football.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna miss him. I hope he's back soon. But
Speaker 1: if by some happenstance that doesn't happen, I'm always gonna
Speaker 1: be wishing the best form no matter.
Speaker 2: What coming up.
Speaker 1: Longtime Trump support the canvas, Owens is turning.
Speaker 2: Her back on the President.
Speaker 1: I'll get into exactly why that is straight ahead. But
Speaker 1: first round one of the NFL drafts toward Travis Hunter
Speaker 1: go back to Florida whiles your door Sanders was left
Speaker 1: out still looking for a team the draft them. We'll
Speaker 1: break down what we saw in Green Bay last night
Speaker 1: with the one and only Adam Scheffler, the Ultimate Inside
Speaker 1: from esp He's right here up next on The Steven
Speaker 1: Nick Smith Show from go Away All right, everybody, listen
Speaker 1: up with all the big time sports action that's happening
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Speaker 2: Run your game. Welcome back to Steven A. Smith Show.
Speaker 1: Now let's get to Round one of the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: As expected, cam Ward went number one overall to the
Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans, and not too long after the pick was announced,
Speaker 1: news broke that the Jacksonville Jaguars traded with the Browns
Speaker 1: to acquire a second pick in acquiring Heisman Trophy winner
Speaker 1: Travis Hunter. Meanwhile, my Steelers are still looking for a
Speaker 1: quarterback after day one, and Shador Standers is still on
Speaker 1: the board for round two. So joining me now to
Speaker 1: break it all down? Break it all down the headlines
Speaker 1: we saw last night as the one and only Adam Schefter.
Speaker 2: What's up, buddy? How you doing? Steven A?
Speaker 3: Always great to be with you, Nice to see you.
Speaker 1: Shador Sanders didn't even get drafted in round one?
Speaker 2: Were you surprised by that?
Speaker 3: The longer this went on, the more it seemed like
Speaker 3: this was a possibility. It felt like the Giants weren't
Speaker 3: gonna take him at three, the Saints weren't gonna take
Speaker 3: him at nine, and the one shot he had was
Speaker 3: twenty one to Pittsburgh. And the Steelers talked about the
Speaker 3: idea of taking him, but there was not consensus within
Speaker 3: the organization. They needed help along their defensive line, and
Speaker 3: they opted for the Oregon defensive line and Derek Harmon,
Speaker 3: and so Shador Sanders was left sitting on the board
Speaker 3: watching other quarterbacks like Jackson Dark go number twenty five
Speaker 3: to the New York Giants. So when you asked it,
Speaker 3: were surprised. I think the longer this went on. The
Speaker 3: closer we got to the draft, the more we all
Speaker 3: recognized that this was possible, and when the Steelers passed
Speaker 3: them at twenty one, it became a reality.
Speaker 1: What about Jackson Dart, the Giants moving up to grab him.
Speaker 1: I didn't hear from anybody other than I very own
Speaker 1: Dan Alowski that Dart was going to be somebody that
Speaker 1: possibly would be taken ahead of Shador Sanders. Was I mean,
Speaker 1: that did throw you full loop at all.
Speaker 3: And we talked about it in the pregame show on
Speaker 3: College Game Day, Pete Famill pointed out that there was
Speaker 3: a possibility that Jackson Dart could go ahead of Shador.
Speaker 3: And look, the Giants and Saints and I believe the
Speaker 3: Cleveland Browns as well, all really like Jackson Dart so
Speaker 3: much so that I think each of those teams would
Speaker 3: have taken Jackson Dart ahead of Shador Sanders. One of
Speaker 3: the three did, and I believe the other two are
Speaker 3: in the same category as well. And so Shador Sanders
Speaker 3: is still sitting there right now, going into round two
Speaker 3: on Friday night. I really think we're at the point
Speaker 3: now the Steelers don't have a second round draft pick.
Speaker 3: Their next pick is number eighty three in the third round,
Speaker 3: and you say, well, could he would? He would he
Speaker 3: last till then, and it's hard to imagine that he would.
Speaker 3: But strange things have happened. And I also think that
Speaker 3: people are reacting like, oh my god, he didn't go
Speaker 3: in round one and he is milk Kiper Junior's top
Speaker 3: rated quarterback. Guess what, there have been a lot of
Speaker 3: quarterbacks over the years that have slipped into the second
Speaker 3: round that have gone on to have successful NFL careers.
Speaker 3: When milk Kiper first started in ESPN in his very
Speaker 3: first year, his third rated prospect on the entire board
Speaker 3: was Boomer Sison Boomer size and went into the second
Speaker 3: round and all he did in the National Football League
Speaker 3: was win MVP. Drew brees felt into the second round,
Speaker 3: Jalen Hurts fell into the second round, and now Shador
Speaker 3: Sanders has done the same.
Speaker 1: Adam Scheft, I always appreciate the knowledge that you dropped.
Speaker 1: So help me with your perspective, because I'll certainly take
Speaker 1: it from you verbatim covering this league the way that
Speaker 1: you have me covering the NBA and just overall sports
Speaker 1: over the last thirty years. Certainly your talent and your
Speaker 1: skill is paramount. That's primary issue.
Speaker 2: Number one. You gotta have the ability.
Speaker 1: But I've seen many executives sometimes make decisions because they
Speaker 1: didn't want to deal with potential headache, somebody that could
Speaker 1: have the ear of folks, somebody that could have the
Speaker 1: kind of influence in cachet that could disrupt whatever their
Speaker 1: vision was for their franchise.
Speaker 2: That brings me to Dion Sanders.
Speaker 1: Did that play Did his presence aura, his cashet and
Speaker 1: the fact that he's a relatively loquacious individual what he
Speaker 1: needs to be and he will speak up for himself,
Speaker 1: his son, et cetera. Did that play any role in
Speaker 1: your mind at all in the possibility of Shadu falling
Speaker 1: out of the first round?
Speaker 3: Oh? Probably did? I mean again, I don't want to
Speaker 3: blame Deang, That's not what we're doing. But I think
Speaker 3: when a team is drafting shador it recognizes what would
Speaker 3: come along with that, and you'd have a very famous,
Speaker 3: very accomplished father that would come along. And we wrote
Speaker 3: this in our ESPN Draft Intel column that ran on
Speaker 3: ESPN Plus last week. I said, short of Mike Tomlin,
Speaker 3: there aren't many coaches around the league that might be
Speaker 3: comfortable drafting Shador and knowing that if and when their
Speaker 3: seek gets warm, people in that city could be calling
Speaker 3: for his job and calling for Shador's dad to replace him.
Speaker 3: Like that definitely could happen in time. I don't think
Speaker 3: Mike Tomlin would care about that, but I think there
Speaker 3: might be other coaches who would. And beyond that, I
Speaker 3: just feel like, for whatever reason, chedor didn't have the
Speaker 3: best interview process. There are some teams that did like him,
Speaker 3: there were more that didn't for whatever reason. It's strange
Speaker 3: to me because again, he does have the support and
Speaker 3: when you watch him, you see how talented he is.
Speaker 3: And the bottom line, stephen A, is the facts speak
Speaker 3: for themselves. Every team had a chance to pick him
Speaker 3: in Round one, nobody did. We're back at it again
Speaker 3: Friday night. More teams will have another chance to draft him.
Speaker 3: And so that's the great part about the NFL Draft.
Speaker 3: You got to put your cars on the table and
Speaker 3: you see where teams stand on certain individuals, and right
Speaker 3: now you're seeing where teams stand on Shador.
Speaker 1: Sanders, his collegiate teammate, didn't have that problem. Travis Hunter,
Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguas. Moving up to the number two spot and
Speaker 1: making a deal with the Cleveland Browns that ultimately landed
Speaker 1: them Travis Hunter. You broke that story. Can you talk
Speaker 1: about that Travis Hunter and what.
Speaker 2: They told you or why they told you they liked
Speaker 2: this kid so much?
Speaker 3: Oddly enough, I think we could first lean into what
Speaker 3: the general manager of the Cleveland brown said about him,
Speaker 3: despite the fact that he traded away the draft. He
Speaker 3: called Travis Hunter a unicorn. He compared him to show
Speaker 3: Hey Otani Wow, a two way player. And I think
Speaker 3: those are some of the things that the Jacksonville Jaguars
Speaker 3: were drawn to. In the end, they saw what they
Speaker 3: felt was like the best player in this draft. They
Speaker 3: saw somebody that they thought could come in and play
Speaker 3: wide receiver at a high level for them. They're gonna
Speaker 3: onboard him as a wide receiver, They're gonna have him
Speaker 3: play defense. I think they're gonna do everything they can
Speaker 3: to get the value out of the number two pick
Speaker 3: in this draft, and they felt like they were getting
Speaker 3: a star player, a dynamic presence, a great personality. You
Speaker 3: saw him last night dancing on the stage. Once he
Speaker 3: was selected, they loved everything about him so much so
Speaker 3: that they were willing to give up their second round
Speaker 3: draft pick today and their first round draft pick next year,
Speaker 3: which is quite a lot. But Jacksonville would tell you, hey,
Speaker 3: there's no price that's too great for a star that
Speaker 3: has been compared to Shoho Tani and that's why they
Speaker 3: paid up and they're going to play him on both
Speaker 3: sides of the football.
Speaker 1: How a would Jacksonville Jaguass feeling about Trevor Lawrence right now?
Speaker 2: They're fifty five million dollar quarterback.
Speaker 3: Well, Steve and I what I would tell you is
Speaker 3: they have a new head coach and Liam Cone who
Speaker 3: they brought in to elevate Trevor Lawrence. They have a
Speaker 3: new general manager, James Gladstone, the youngest general manager who
Speaker 3: pulled off that trade on Thursday night. That's a huge
Speaker 3: swing to take. Think about that. The first trade of
Speaker 3: draft picks in the twenty twenty five NFL draft pumps
Speaker 3: from the youngest GM in the league and somebody who's
Speaker 3: making his first draft day, and that was a doozy.
Speaker 3: There aren't too many people that start that big. But
Speaker 3: he comes from the Rams. Don't think he cares about
Speaker 3: taking big swings, not as concerned about keeping the draft picks.
Speaker 3: And I think that they feel like he can help
Speaker 3: elevate Trevor Lawrence. And so that's the idea and the
Speaker 3: thinking gear. They're giving Trevor Lawrence a restart, a reboot,
Speaker 3: with a new head coach who has worked in elevating
Speaker 3: the playoff quarterbacks. They're giving him a new GM who
Speaker 3: obviously thinks differently and aggressively than a lot of other gms,
Speaker 3: and they're hoping that between the new head coach, the
Speaker 3: new GM, the new assistant coaches, and the changing culture
Speaker 3: that Trevor Lawrence can turn out to be the quarterback
Speaker 3: that many thought the Jaguars were getting when they selected
Speaker 3: him with the number one overall pick.
Speaker 2: That would be crazy.
Speaker 1: The new GM is thirty four years old, so it's
Speaker 1: gonna be really interesting to see how that works out
Speaker 1: for them. Switching to the Cleveland Browns. They're on the
Speaker 1: other side of this deal. They passed up on a
Speaker 1: Travis Hunter to make this deal, move down the fifth
Speaker 1: in the draft, ultimately got a first round pick for
Speaker 1: the next year, sort of recouping some of the losses
Speaker 1: that they have to you know, they have to suffer
Speaker 1: from the Deshaun Watson trade. What did you say, Adam Scheffer.
Speaker 1: How isn't that how you would break it down?
Speaker 2: Well, Steve and A.
Speaker 3: They have not had a top fifty pick in the
Speaker 3: three previous drafts. So when they selected Mason Grant from
Speaker 3: my University of Michigan and Thursday Nights first round, that
Speaker 3: was the first time in four years, wow, that they've
Speaker 3: had a top fifty pick. And they're making up for
Speaker 3: it now because now going into tonight's draft, they have
Speaker 3: two of the top four selections in the second round,
Speaker 3: picks thirty three and thirty six, and they already have
Speaker 3: the Jacksonville Jaguars first round draft pick in twenty twenty six,
Speaker 3: so they're on the board with two first round picks
Speaker 3: next year. And that's why I know a lot of
Speaker 3: people are saying, what are back tonight for the Browns.
Speaker 3: They might go that route, they could, certainly, but they
Speaker 3: also could opt to pick two really strong players and
Speaker 3: say we're punting on quarterback in what we consider it
Speaker 3: to be a week quarterback draft class, and we will
Speaker 3: revisit this topic a year from now when we have
Speaker 3: double once. That is an option going into the draft tonight,
Speaker 3: and we'll see how the Browns react to it.
Speaker 1: What's the NFL feeling about the draft that the Giants
Speaker 1: had last night Carter and then obviously moving up to
Speaker 1: draft Duard. How are people feeling about the Giants right now?
Speaker 3: Well, I think most talent evaluators felt there were two
Speaker 3: blue chip prospects in this draft, Dravis Hunter and Abdul Carter.
Speaker 3: Jacksonville got one, The New York Giants got the other,
Speaker 3: an Abdula Carter, who has been compared to Michael Parsons,
Speaker 3: who wore number eleven at Penn State, plays like him,
Speaker 3: looks like him, and if Michaeh Parsons a version of
Speaker 3: that showed up on the Giants roster, that would be great.
Speaker 3: Jackson Dart the quarterback, they move up, and Steven Aams
Speaker 3: is telling you, I think that they jumped in front
Speaker 3: of the Browns. The Browns are happy to sit and wait,
Speaker 3: and they jumped in front of the Saints, who definitely
Speaker 3: wanted Jackson Dart. The Saint Swarren schedule to pick again
Speaker 3: to number forty. Saints weren't willing to use their number
Speaker 3: nine overall selection on Jackson Dart, but clearly there was
Speaker 3: something of an arms race to try to get the
Speaker 3: Jackson Dart and The Giants won that, and the great
Speaker 3: part about that is that they did it without having
Speaker 3: to give up a first round draft pick next year.
Speaker 3: So if Jackson Dark comes in this year and they
Speaker 3: feel like he's a total bust, which isn't going to
Speaker 3: be the case, they could always use their first round
Speaker 3: pick on a quarterback next year if that's what they want.
Speaker 3: That's not their plan, trust me. But all they have
Speaker 3: to do is trade. I believe was a couple of
Speaker 3: third round picks to move up to that spot, whereas
Speaker 3: the Atlanta Falcons, one slot in front of them, wound
Speaker 3: up trading a first round draft pick for next year
Speaker 3: to go get draft James Pearce, a defensive lineman. Giants
Speaker 3: didn't have to give up the future one the Falcons did.
Speaker 3: The Giants didn't, and the Giants moved up for a
Speaker 3: quarterback and the Falcons a pass rusher. So again, what
Speaker 3: they gave up in return they felt was more than
Speaker 3: worth it to get the quarterback that at least a
Speaker 3: few teams wanted.
Speaker 1: Here, there's a couple of minutes left with you, Adam Schefter.
Speaker 1: Very few things surprised you, one can imagine, because you're
Speaker 1: the ultimate inside of you know what the hell is
Speaker 1: going on better than anybody in the National Football League.
Speaker 2: Anything shocky last night.
Speaker 3: Well, that trade that came down was such a huge
Speaker 3: trader was one of the biggest on the clock trades
Speaker 3: that we've seen in NFL history. There have been only
Speaker 3: two teams that had top five picks traded. One was
Speaker 3: the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons in the eighties when
Speaker 3: the Vikings traded their pick to go get Chris Dolman
Speaker 3: and the Falcons got Bill free Look. And the other
Speaker 3: time it happened was when the Chicago Bears traded up
Speaker 3: with the forty nine ers to go get Mitch Trubisky,
Speaker 3: famously in a draft where they drafted Mitch Trubisky ahead
Speaker 3: of Patrick Mahomes. That was the size and scope of
Speaker 3: this trade last night, and it was a trade that I
Speaker 3: think you look at and you say, both teams win
Speaker 3: here because the Jaguars get a certifiable star in Travis
Speaker 3: Hunter and the Browns come away with so much draft
Speaker 3: equity team that hasn't had any draft equity in recent years,
Speaker 3: and a chance to remake their roster. I was surprised
Speaker 3: that we saw two teams last night that we're willing
Speaker 3: to part ways with their first round draft pick in
Speaker 3: the twenty twenty six NFL Draft. For the record, if
Speaker 3: I ever were part of a front office, and I
Speaker 3: never will be, but if I ever were, I would
Speaker 3: never trade a future one unless I was some super
Speaker 3: Bowl champion in some great position. I would hold onto
Speaker 3: those picks like my life depended on it. And we
Speaker 3: saw the Falcons, who haven't won a playoff game in
Speaker 3: any recent season, trade their one next year. And we
Speaker 3: saw the Jaguars, who haven't had recent playoff success, trade
Speaker 3: their one next year. We'll just wait to see how
Speaker 3: that works out for the Cleveland Browns and La Rams
Speaker 3: who hold those future picks in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: Speeking to the end of the NFL analysts and knowing
Speaker 1: the game the way that you do. Who's the biggest
Speaker 1: winner of round one? Does fall in estimation?
Speaker 2: Is it simply Jacksonville and Terrapasento? Is this somebody else?
Speaker 3: Well, Steven A, it doesn't really matter what I say
Speaker 3: as the winner right now, because we could go into
Speaker 3: any year and annoy some winner, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: some player turns into some star that we never saw coming.
Speaker 3: It's a fun exercise. I mean, it's always gonna be
Speaker 3: about quarterbacks. So really, if cam Wod turns out to
Speaker 3: be a star, then the Titans won the draft. If
Speaker 3: he doesn't, then they failed. If Jackson Dart turns out
Speaker 3: to be the quarterback, then the Giants get eight plus.
Speaker 3: And if they don't, no one's keeping their jobs. So
Speaker 3: I mean it's greats to me. It's like giving a
Speaker 3: student a grade on the first day of school before
Speaker 3: they completed their first homework assignon return paper. It doesn't
Speaker 3: mean anything like you gotta take some tests before we're
Speaker 3: giving him a grade.
Speaker 2: Totally fair.
Speaker 1: Shador Sanders, Cleveland or New Orlean's gonna pickhim up in
Speaker 1: the second round of estimation.
Speaker 2: You think that's you think that's likely.
Speaker 3: Not expecting New Orleans, And I don't feel overly confident
Speaker 3: on Cleveland, But I don't know that for sure. We'd
Speaker 3: have to see again. You get to certain spots in
Speaker 3: the draft where if Shaudor is the best player on
Speaker 3: your board, even if you didn't think you were gonna
Speaker 3: take him, you go ahead and pick him. I steven A,
Speaker 3: I just got a feeling that, like I said to you,
Speaker 3: I'm not going to be surprised if he winds up
Speaker 3: on a team that we just never connected to him whoever.
Speaker 3: That is, unless and this is hard to imagine, unless
Speaker 3: he falls to number eighty three and the Pittsburgh Steels
Speaker 3: is a third round.
Speaker 2: Last question.
Speaker 1: I love that I saw asking Gent just running back
Speaker 1: extraordinar out of Boise State landing with the Raiders. One
Speaker 1: of the things that I love about what I saw
Speaker 1: this week as they were talking about him, you brought
Speaker 1: up Saquon bark People brought up Sakuon Barkley. I remember,
Speaker 1: I brought up Derek Henry. I remember a few years ago,
Speaker 1: back to twenty twenty three to be exact, but you
Speaker 1: had Austin Ecklin, these guys rallying the running backs to
Speaker 1: sort of make a case because they were being devalue
Speaker 1: just by their birth certificate, the loan you collected enough
Speaker 1: dust or excuse me, we ain't giving you a long
Speaker 1: term contract. We don't know if you'll be able to last.
Speaker 1: And you heard guys like mel kaype Jr. And others
Speaker 1: never draft a running back in the first round, et cetera,
Speaker 1: et cetera. To see him go in the first round,
Speaker 1: it's like hope that running backs and being more appreciated
Speaker 1: with what Sakwuon Barkley did for the Eagles last year,
Speaker 1: what Henry did for the Ravens last year. You just
Speaker 1: sort of find yourself hoping that the running backs there's
Speaker 1: going to be an elevated level of appreciation for them.
Speaker 1: What do you think about that? Is that possible?
Speaker 3: Well, I think it's interesting that there was an elevated
Speaker 3: level of appreciation. We saw the Eagles reward Satroon Berkley
Speaker 3: and redo his contrary after one year, the Ravens have
Speaker 3: talked to Derrick Henry about a new deal. We're here
Speaker 3: in Green Bay where Josh Jacobs came to Green Bay
Speaker 3: and had a huge impact on the Packers roster, and
Speaker 3: we are heading into rounds two and three in a
Speaker 3: draft where the strongest position in this draft was running back,
Speaker 3: and we're going to see a slew of running backs
Speaker 3: taken tonight and on Saturday they can come in and
Speaker 3: make a difference for teams, but you're gonna get a
Speaker 3: bunch of running backs tonight that teams are counting on.
Speaker 3: This was considered the big press count or the big
Speaker 3: draft for these running backs. Again, people texting me out
Speaker 3: press counter so sorry, big draft of running backs and
Speaker 3: that's the strength of this draft.
Speaker 2: The best in the business.
Speaker 1: To one and only Adam Schefter live from the NFL Draft, Man,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for taking time out of your
Speaker 1: busy schedule.
Speaker 2: I know how busy you are. I really appreciate it. Man,
Speaker 2: thank you so much.
Speaker 3: I appreciate you. Stephen A, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2: All the US.
Speaker 1: Talk to you soon. Well, only Adam Schefter. There's nobody
Speaker 1: better when it comes to the NFL.
Speaker 2: Nobody better. Coming up.
Speaker 1: Candace Owens was once a big supporter of President Donald Trump.
Speaker 2: Now she's speaking out against him. What's up with that.
Speaker 2: I'll get into that and more next right here in
Speaker 2: the Steven eight Spress Show. I Don't go away. Welcome
Speaker 2: back to the Steven A. Smith Show.
Speaker 1: Now it's time for me to get into some political talk.
Speaker 1: Due to a headline that I just saw yesterday that
Speaker 1: I found very very interesting, far right conservative Candace Owens
Speaker 1: is speaking out against one of her favorite people in
Speaker 1: the world, supposed to lead, mister President Donald Trump himself,
Speaker 1: and accusing the administration of fighting against free speech right
Speaker 1: here in the United States of America. The comments are
Speaker 1: reference to Harvard University, who is suing the Trump administration
Speaker 1: for threatening to withhold federal funding if the school did
Speaker 1: not comply with its list of White House demands. As
Speaker 1: a result, lawyers for the university sued the administration earlier
Speaker 1: this week. In the suit, university lawyer claimed that Trump
Speaker 1: administration is unlawfully using billions of dollars in federal funding
Speaker 1: as quote leverage to gain control of academic decision making
Speaker 1: at Harvard end quote. They also allege that the funding
Speaker 1: freeze violates the First Amendment and flouts federal law, and
Speaker 1: that is essentially what Owens is saying as well.
Speaker 2: Take a listen to her thoughts from a podcast yesterday.
Speaker 4: I never thought that I would see a day where
Speaker 4: I would be rooting for a university above Donald J.
Speaker 4: Trump and his administration. But I don't recognize his administration
Speaker 4: right now. I don't recognize what's happening.
Speaker 2: I have a theory I do.
Speaker 4: We were kicking around some theories earlier, me and the team,
Speaker 4: and we were going, what how could Trump be such
Speaker 4: a free speech enthusiast and being allowing these things to happen,
Speaker 4: going after college universities, trying to suppress speech while pretending
Speaker 4: that you're not suppressing speech while pertaining that you're fighting DEI.
Speaker 4: It's so messy, it's so obvious. Everyone knows what you're doing.
Speaker 4: People who are still trying to grift I get. I
Speaker 4: suppose are not willing to challenge you on this, which
Speaker 4: is ridiculous because when you are out of office, we
Speaker 4: are going to have to live with these consequences. Our
Speaker 4: children are going to have to grow up in this America. Okay,
Speaker 4: so when you threaten our speech, it's not worth it
Speaker 4: so that we can have pom poms and go Hurrah
Speaker 4: for a couple of years. Then go, okay, well, yeah,
Speaker 4: now it kind of stinks because we're getting arrested for
Speaker 4: wrong think. You got David Freeman, Yeah, arrust them a rush,
Speaker 4: Tucker Carlson and Candice Owens.
Speaker 2: Get them. I love it.
Speaker 4: And if you think it's gonna stop with college campuses,
Speaker 4: you're out of your mind. So you better buck up
Speaker 4: and root for Harvard University.
Speaker 2: Fight. See. It's moments like this that.
Speaker 1: When the show is over and I go home and
Speaker 1: I have an opportunity to look at some content, and
Speaker 1: then I see the comments that come in my direction.
Speaker 1: One of the things that grates my last damn nerves
Speaker 1: is when everybody's acting like, Oh, I'm flip flopping all,
Speaker 1: I'm timid, or I'm scared to take a position.
Speaker 2: No, ladies and.
Speaker 1: Gentlemen, there's something to be said about exercising common sense,
Speaker 1: not living on the fringes or the extreme, and deducing
Speaker 1: that both sides can actually make sense, because that's what
Speaker 1: we're going to do here. First off, to stop the
Speaker 1: press and disappoint some of y'all. Candice owns is not
Speaker 1: totally wrong. The President of the United States knows that
Speaker 1: Harvard receives billions of dollars in funding.
Speaker 2: He knows this that.
Speaker 1: Last year, in fiscal year twenty twenty four, Harvard got
Speaker 1: six hundred and eighty six million dollars in taxpayer dollars
Speaker 1: a fiscal year twenty twenty four. Now, this is an
Speaker 1: institution with an endowment exceeding fifty three point two billion dollars.
Speaker 2: And so when you hear stuff.
Speaker 1: Like the president is trying to impose his will on
Speaker 1: the country's oldest university, accusing it of engaging in anti semitism,
Speaker 1: along with other things, wanting them to eradicate DEI programs.
Speaker 1: How far fetched is it to deduce that he's trying
Speaker 1: to control speech, He's trying to control what institutions of
Speaker 1: higher learning are actually teaching it this eminating to the masters.
Speaker 2: How far fetched is it to say that.
Speaker 1: The president of the United States of America, the forty
Speaker 1: seventh president, who campaigned on a lot of this stuff,
Speaker 1: is keeping his word yet again, albeit to the chagrin
Speaker 1: of millions of tens of millions of American citizens throughout
Speaker 1: the United States of America.
Speaker 2: It's not far fetched.
Speaker 1: And when candaice One's sit up there says, be alert,
Speaker 1: be alarmed, because if they get away with this, if
Speaker 1: you're not rooting for Harvard on this and the federal
Speaker 1: government and the Trump administration is successful.
Speaker 2: In muzzling or dictating, dare I say the kind of education.
Speaker 1: That a university like Harvard is allowed to impart upon
Speaker 1: its student body, if they get away with that, one
Speaker 1: could easily ar you and does interfere with free speech. Remember,
Speaker 1: Harvard University just sued the federal government this past Monday
Speaker 1: after Trump threatened to pull nine billion dollars in federal
Speaker 1: funding unless the school agreed to a set of demands
Speaker 1: that included broad changes to its admissions, its discipline, and
Speaker 1: its management policies.
Speaker 2: I'm reading from the story right here.
Speaker 1: The Trump administration says it's actions, which included a threat
Speaker 1: to revoke Harvard's tax tax exempt status, our response to
Speaker 1: unchecked anti semitism on campus.
Speaker 2: Remember just a few weeks ago or a few days.
Speaker 1: Ago, Trump throughout two tweets. One he said, perhaps Harvard
Speaker 1: should lose his tax exempt status and be taxed as
Speaker 1: a political entity if it keeps pushing political ideological and
Speaker 1: terrorists inspired slash supporting sickness. Remember, tax exempt status is
Speaker 1: totally contingent on acting in the public interest.
Speaker 2: Before so that Trump had said this about Harvard.
Speaker 1: Harvard is an antisemitic, far left institution, as are numerous
Speaker 1: others with students being accepted from all over the world
Speaker 1: that want to rip our country apart.
Speaker 2: The place is a liberal mess.
Speaker 1: Allowing a certain group of crazed lunatics to enter and
Speaker 1: exit the classroom and spew fake anger and hate. It
Speaker 1: is truly horrific. Now since our filings began, they act
Speaker 1: like they are quote all American apple pie end quote.
Speaker 1: Harvard is a threat to democracy with a lawyer who
Speaker 1: represents me, who should therefore be forced to.
Speaker 2: Resign immediately or be fired. He's not that good anyway.
Speaker 1: Now, I hope that my very big and beautiful company,
Speaker 1: now run by my sons get rid of him.
Speaker 2: A sap. There's a word other than anger and hate
Speaker 2: to bring into this equation, and the word to bring
Speaker 2: into this equation is liberal. Why because Trump, although.
Speaker 1: One would argue he's not necessarily a conservative, the.
Speaker 2: Same breath to me is because you ran with the GOP,
Speaker 2: you won.
Speaker 1: Representing that ideological body, and on top of it all,
Speaker 1: you've put three conservatives on the Supreme Court, basically registering
Speaker 1: the six to three majority.
Speaker 2: So again, you are a conservative.
Speaker 1: Why does that liberal? Why was the word liberal? Throw
Speaker 1: me aback a little bit.
Speaker 2: I'd love to hear.
Speaker 1: If Trump feels the way that Hillsdale College runs its
Speaker 1: operations as a conservative institution. How about Liberty University of Virginia.
Speaker 1: Hillsdale is in Michigan, by the way. How about Grove
Speaker 1: City College in Pennsylvania. How about Texas A and M University,
Speaker 1: a large public university with a strong military tradition and
Speaker 1: conservative student base.
Speaker 2: That Texas A and M. How about Brigham Young University.
Speaker 1: That's just naming a few, Patrick Henry College of Virginia,
Speaker 1: University of Dallas, and Texas Pepperdine University. These are institutions
Speaker 1: that some would say are conservative.
Speaker 2: I'm saying it shouldn't matter. If you feel that way about.
Speaker 1: Liberal institutions, why are you not feeling the same way
Speaker 1: about conservative institutions. If you felt that way about both
Speaker 1: on either side of the ideological bar, then there's no argument.
Speaker 1: The problem is it only seems to be one side
Speaker 1: that's problematic. Now that's stephen A on this side. Let
Speaker 1: me go to this side and bring this point up,
Speaker 1: because we like to be fair on this show. When
Speaker 1: we've seen some of the actions taking place on some
Speaker 1: of these campuses, it has looked like anger and hate.
Speaker 1: There's no way around that. When we think about speech,
Speaker 1: we don't talk much about this Israely Palestinian conference.
Speaker 2: We don't talk much.
Speaker 1: About when Hamas or members of AMAS stormed into Israel
Speaker 1: and kidnapped and ultimately murdered hundreds.
Speaker 2: If not thousands of people. We don't talk about that.
Speaker 1: Nor have we talked about the fact that even though
Speaker 1: you want to go after any terrorist organization, because no
Speaker 1: terrorist organization is a good organization. The flip side to
Speaker 1: it is that you have a lot of people out
Speaker 1: there lamenting the fact that innocent women and children are
Speaker 1: being harmed, if not killed in the gods of stripping beyond,
Speaker 1: and that's where some of the protesters on these college
Speaker 1: campuses come from. I'm not taking aside I don't know enough.
Speaker 1: I didn't bring that up for that reason. I brought
Speaker 1: it up because that's what folks on the right are saying,
Speaker 1: and they're accusing some of our prestigious universities like Harvard,
Speaker 1: like Columbia, and others in the United States of America
Speaker 1: of fostering thoughts of anti Semitism, building tents on campuses,
Speaker 1: blocking students from getting their education, pointing out Zionists when
Speaker 1: they see them, and impeding their ability to learn peacefully. Now,
Speaker 1: when the right brings that up, what do you say,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm simply saying. That's the reason we
Speaker 1: got to watch the outcome of this case. Because if
Speaker 1: Trump wins this case, even though he's highlighting liberal institutions,
Speaker 1: which will be alarming and concerning in and of itself,
Speaker 1: because we know he's gonna favor the right over the left.
Speaker 1: He's gonna leave some other institutions alone while he bothers others.
Speaker 1: It's problematic because there's a bigger, grander issue here. If
Speaker 1: he wins the case, then guess what he's showing an
Speaker 1: ability to impede upon one's right to the first Amendment,
Speaker 1: which is free speech. And if he could pull that off,
Speaker 1: what can he do to anybody that opens their mouth
Speaker 1: and the sense in any way that is displeasing to him?
Speaker 3: What will he do?
Speaker 2: Then? We don't know, but it's scary. It is scary.
Speaker 1: My thing is, we also have to be mindful that
Speaker 1: when somebody brings up the fact that Harvard received six
Speaker 1: hundred and eighty six million dollars in tax payer money
Speaker 1: for fiscal year twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Four, when they ask the question on the right.
Speaker 1: Why does an institution with an endowment of over fifty
Speaker 1: three billion dollars, which is the largest in this country,
Speaker 1: why do they need taxpayer dollars close to seven hundred
Speaker 1: million of our money. That is a legitimate question. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying I got no to answer. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that it doesn't benefit our society. Considering the students and
Speaker 1: the quality of the students that emanate from places like
Speaker 1: Harvard and Columbia and come out into American society and
Speaker 1: make a contribution to this country. I'm simply saying it's
Speaker 1: a legitimate question. This is not stephen A casting the
Speaker 1: spurs is a cast in judgment. You have some folks
Speaker 1: on the right that believe some of these universities are
Speaker 1: engaging in anti Semitism and beyond which is what Trump articulated.
Speaker 1: You got Candice Owens, a renowned Trumps supporter, unapologetically so
Speaker 1: suddenly going against the administration because she says they're repeating
Speaker 1: on free speech.
Speaker 2: Which side do you roll on? And why you want
Speaker 2: me to give y'all a piece of advice on this subject?
Speaker 2: Bump the individuals.
Speaker 1: Don't think about Donald Trump, don't think about Candace Owens.
Speaker 2: Think about the issue, think about.
Speaker 1: The potential policy, not the people, Because if you really
Speaker 1: really think about what has ailed our society, that's.
Speaker 2: Really what it comes down to. We don't like him, aha,
Speaker 2: we love him a her, and that's what the issue is.
Speaker 2: And a lot of times our emotions.
Speaker 1: Are dictated by people we do or don't like, as
Speaker 1: opposed to the actual policy and issues that will affect
Speaker 1: lives far extending beyond ourselves. This is one of those
Speaker 1: times Candace Owens is bringing up the issue of free
Speaker 1: speech and Donald Trump, who she has supported for years,
Speaker 1: is challenging Harvard's right to do whatever it wants as
Speaker 1: an institution of higher learning, which by the way, is
Speaker 1: a private institution.
Speaker 2: Who's right, Who's wrong?
Speaker 1: The courts will decide. And if the courts decide that
Speaker 1: Donald Trump is right, Candice Owens is arguing that the
Speaker 1: courts will be giving him the right to impede on
Speaker 1: free speech, not just for institutions of higher learning, but
Speaker 1: for American citizens.
Speaker 2: All over this nation. Is she right or is he right?
Speaker 2: Inquiring minds would love to hear what you think. That's
Speaker 2: why you got to watch. I know I am, Oh,
Speaker 2: I know I am.
Speaker 1: Before we go, I want to quickly extend my well
Speaker 1: wishes to the family of Gilbert Arenas, former NBA star.
Speaker 1: Gilbert's son Elijah, had been placed in a medically induced
Speaker 1: coma after he was involved in a serious car crash
Speaker 1: in the Los Angeles area early Thursday morning.
Speaker 2: As of this afternoon, he's now out of that coma.
Speaker 1: Elijah, by the way, is a five star recruit who
Speaker 1: committed to play for usc this fall. According to the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Fire Department, Elijah was driving a Tesla cybertruck
Speaker 1: that crashed into a tree and fire hydrant, and a
Speaker 1: fire ensued. Reports say it appears Arenas suffered no major
Speaker 1: bodily injuries, but he inhaled a lot of smoke from
Speaker 1: the burning cyber truck and putting a smoke inhalation victim
Speaker 1: in an induced coma. It's actually protocol. But again he's
Speaker 1: out of that coma and on the road to recovery.
Speaker 1: I've gotten to know give the Arenas. I was a
Speaker 1: guest on Gil's Arenas podcast. I know he was a
Speaker 1: star player in the NBA. I remember when he went
Speaker 1: into the La one time and drive sixty. The brother
Speaker 1: was a scoring machine, formal All Star.
Speaker 2: He could really, really ball.
Speaker 1: I'm hearing a lot of special, special things about Elijah.
Speaker 1: I'm hearing this brother can really really play. This young
Speaker 1: kid is something special and so thank God, whether he
Speaker 1: could play or not, it's not the point in terms
Speaker 1: of him surviving this ordeal. Thank god he did and
Speaker 1: he was able to escape from that car safe and
Speaker 1: sound before the truck became completely inflamed. Thank the Good
Speaker 1: Lord that he survived, and he's gonna be able to
Speaker 1: recover and recuperate and ultimately play basketball again. I saw
Speaker 1: that cyber truck. I'm one of those guys, young kids
Speaker 1: driving that thing. I don't understand that that's a big
Speaker 1: that's a big that's a big ride. It takes a
Speaker 1: lot to control that thing. You need to be an
Speaker 1: experienced driver to drive something like that. But that's neither
Speaker 1: here nor there. I'm just thinking, he thankful that he's
Speaker 1: okay and that he's gonna be able to resume, resume
Speaker 1: his aspirations and continue to pursue those things. And I've
Speaker 1: grown up to become very fond of Gilbert Arenas and
Speaker 1: Gil's Arena is a tremendous podcast with you know, Swaggy
Speaker 1: P and Kenyan mar And and Rashard the Canton, all
Speaker 1: of those guys.
Speaker 2: They do a hell of a job. Let's give props
Speaker 2: with props us do.
Speaker 1: They're different, a little bit wild at times, but they
Speaker 1: know they're basketball and they do a lot to promote
Speaker 1: the game, a game that I love and has been.
Speaker 2: Largely responsible for what I've achieved in my career.
Speaker 1: But more so, more so than anything else, Gilbert Arenas
Speaker 1: is doing special things, and his son seems destined to
Speaker 1: do special things, and it would have broken all of
Speaker 1: our hearts if anything catastrophic and fatal had happened to him.
Speaker 1: So thank god he's okay, young fella learned FM be
Speaker 1: careful behind that wheel and make sure you do everything
Speaker 1: to keep yourself safe and prioritize your safety in the future.
Speaker 1: That goes for all of y'all out there. Life is
Speaker 1: just beginning for y'all. Be very, very careful about everything
Speaker 1: that you do and how you do it. You never
Speaker 1: know what it can cost you. Thank god, it didn't
Speaker 1: cost him much, and he's okay, and he's gonna be
Speaker 1: able to resume everything.
Speaker 2: All right. That's it for this addition that Stephen A.
Speaker 1: Smith show, I got to get on out of here
Speaker 1: because I got to get to LA to cover the
Speaker 1: NBA playoffs. She had again for NBA Countdown over the
Speaker 1: weekend on ABC and ESPN.
Speaker 2: Until next time, y'all, enjoy y'all week and be safe.
Speaker 2: God blessed. Looking forward to talking to you on Monday.
Speaker 2: Until then, He's in love