Stephen Anthony Smith (born October 14, 1967) is an American television personality, radio host, sports analyst, political commentator, and actor. He makes frequent appearances as an NBA analyst for ESPN on SportsCenter, NBA Countdown, and the network's NBA broadcasts. He has also hosted The Stephen A. Smith Show on ESPN Radio and is a commentator on ESPN's First Take. Smith is a featured columnist for ESPN and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Early life and education Stephen Anthony Smith was born in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. He was raised in the Hollis section of Queens. Smith is the youngest of six children. He has four older sisters and had an older brother, Basil, who died in a car accident in 1992. He also has a half-brother on his father's side. Smith's parents were originally from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. His father managed a hardware store. Smith's maternal grandmother was white, the rest of his grandparents black. He graduated in 1986 from Thomas Edison High School in Queens.
After attending the Fashion Institute of Technology for one year, Smith received a basketball scholarship to attend Winston-Salem State University, a historically black university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He played for the Winston-Salem State Rams men's basketball team under Hall of Fame coach Clarence Gaines. However, Smith's basketball career abruptly ended after a severe knee injury. While still on the team, Smith wrote a column for the university newspaper, The News Argus, arguing Gaines should retire due to health issues.Richard Sandomir, ESPN's New Master of the Offensive Foul, The New York Times, July 31, 2005, Accessed January 22, 2009. He is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Smith graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communication.
Career
Print media Smith began his print media career while still in college working for the Winston-Salem Journal as the beat writer for the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons soccer team. He later worked for the Greensboro News and Record and the New York Daily News. Beginning in 1994, Smith had a position as a writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He began reporting on the Philadelphia 76ers as their NBA columnist, and eventually, as a general sports columnist. On August 23, 2007, the Inquirer announced that Smith would no longer be writing columns and would instead be demoted back to the position of general assignment reporter. In 2008, the Inquirer ended its relationship with Smith, which coincided with Smith starting his own blog, stephena.com. In February 2010, Smith returned to The Philadelphia Inquirer after winning an arbitrator's ruling that he was to be reinstated but having to agree to remove all of his political views from his website and from cable news shows.Stephen A. Smith in Inquirer After 2-Year Feud | The Maynard Institute . Mije.org (February 8, 2010). Retrieved on December 22, 2011.
Radio
On April 11, 2005, Smith became the host of a weekday noon to 2 p.m. radio show on WEPN in New York City with his "right-hand man B.T. (Brandon Tierney)". On September 20, 2007, the show was shifted to the 2–4 p.m. slot, with the second hour being broadcast nationally on ESPN Radio, replacing the third hour of The Dan Patrick Show (Mike Tirico took over the first two hours). Smith's show came to an end in April 2008 as he sought to expand his career in television, and beginning May 1, Scott Van Pelt began hosting in the 3–4 p.m. hour that was previously Smith's. In November 2009, Smith became an on-air contributor to Fox Sports Radio and broke the story of Allen Iverson's retirement on the Chris Myers–Steve Hartman afternoon show on November 25. Iverson later ended his short retirement and rejoined the Philadelphia 76ers on December 2. Smith became a Fox Sports Radio morning show host on January 4, 2010, replacing Washington, D.C.–based host Steve Czaban. On his radio program, Smith correctly predicted that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh would all sign with the Miami Heat during 2010 free agency.LeBron James Picks Miami: Stephen A. Smith Was Right – Speakeasy – WSJ. Blogs.wsj.com (July 8, 2010). Retrieved on July 26, 2014.
In early 2011, Smith became a resident FSR NBA insider and ended his morning show. ESPN announced on February 1, 2011 that Smith would return to ESPN as a columnist for ESPN.com and host for weekday local radio shows on 1050 ESPN Radio New York (WEPN-AM) at 7–9 p.m. ET as well as 710 ESPN Radio Los Angeles (KSPN-AM) at 6–8 p.m. PT. He left LA 710 ESPN on April 24, 2012.Stephen A. Smith is reportedly close to new deal to return to ESPN. NY Daily News (January 26, 2011) Retrieved February 10, 2012 Beginning in May 2012, as part of the ESPN New York move to 98.7 WRKS, Smith replaced Robin Lundberg alongside Ryan Ruocco and debuted the Stephen A. Smith & Ryan Ruocco Show which ran from 1–3 p.m. ET on the new 98.7 WEPN. Smith started each show with a signature pre-intro cold open "rant" on a topic that would be discussed in the first segment. The show came to an end in the summer of 2013, when Smith left ESPN for Sirius XM Radio, where he joined Chris Russo's Mad Dog Sports Channel. The move was announced just one day after Smith made some controversial comments on ESPN2's First Take program regarding the Ray Rice situation. On January 17, 2017, Smith moved from Sirius XM's Mad Dog Sports channel back to ESPN. His daily two-hour program is heard on WEPN in New York, KSPN in Los Angeles, Sirius XM's ESPN channel, and via syndication.http://www.talkers.com January 4, 2017
Television
Smith is one of the hosts of First Take on ESPN. He also appears as an analyst on various ESPN programs. He is known for provocative analysis and dour delivery. Smith started his television career on the now-defunct cable network CNN/SI in 1999. In August 2005, Smith started hosting a daily hour-long show on ESPN called Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith. After the show was cancelled in January 2007, he mainly concentrated on basketball, serving as an NBA analyst. He also appeared on other ESPN shows, including the reality series Dream Job, as well as serving as a frequent guest (and guest host) on Pardon the Interruption, Jim Rome Is Burning, and as a participant on 1st and 10. He appeared as an anchor on the Sunday morning edition of SportsCenter. On April 17, 2009, Smith announced on his website that he would be leaving ESPN on May 1, 2009. The Los Angeles Times reported that ESPN commented that, "We decided to move in different directions."Stephen A. Smith is leaving ESPN – latimes.com. Latimesblogs.latimes.com (April 17, 2009). Retrieved on December 22, 2011. Though according to Big Lead Sports, a source says that ESPN and Smith went to the negotiating table and could not reach an agreement.Enjoy Stephen A. Smith While You Can – He’s Got About Six Three Weeks Left at ESPN. The Big Lead (April 16, 2009). Retrieved on December 22, 2011.
Smith later returned to ESPN, and it was announced on April 30, 2012, on air that Smith would be joining First Take on a permanent, five-days-per-week basis under a new format for the show called "Embrace Debate" in which he squares off against longtime First Take commentator Skip Bayless. On July 25, 2014, Smith made controversial remarks on First Take that women may provoke domestic abuse, in regards to the domestic violence situation involving Baltimore Ravens' running back Ray Rice and his wife. After criticism of the remarks, including comments on Twitter from ESPN reporter Michelle Beadle, Smith apologized for his words on a taped segment on ESPN. On July 29, 2014, Smith was suspended by ESPN for a week and did not appear on any of their programs again until August 6, 2014.Fiorillo, Victor (July 30, 2014). "Stephen A. Smith Suspended for Domestic Violence Comments; Did ESPN make the right call?", Philadelphia. Retrieved August 8, 2019. "ESPN sportscaster and Cherry Hill resident Stephen A. Smith has been suspended for one week by the network for comments he made suggesting that female victims of domestic violence should examine their own role in the abuse."
In late 2014, Smith signed a multi-year deal with ESPN paying him over $3 million per year. In a March 9, 2015, episode of First Take, while discussing the topic of Philadelphia Eagles' head coach Chip Kelly trading away running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Kiko Alonso, Smith said: "Chip Kelly has made decisions over the last couple of years that, dare I say, leave a few brothers feeling uncomfortable." Michael David Smith of NBC Sports believed that Smith had hinted Kelly's roster moves regarding the 2014 release of wide receiver DeSean Jackson, the McCoy trade, and letting wide receiver Jeremy Maclin depart for free agency to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs, while still keeping wide receiver Riley Cooper on the Eagles' roster might be racially motivated. In an interview with ESPN The Magazine that was published on May 8, 2015, McCoy admitted that while he respected Kelly as a head coach, he did not see eye to eye with him. McCoy also believed that some of the roster moves that are being made by Kelly are racially motivated. Kelly has said that the roster moves that he has made have nothing to do with race, it has to do with finding the right players that fit well into his team. Smith defended his comments by saying that he never used a form of the word racism to imply that Kelly was a racist.
On June 11, 2015, Smith received criticism for a comment he made about female soccer players during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. While on SportsCenter, a replay was shown of a goal scored by Norway on a free kick against Germany. Tim Legler pointed out that the German players forming the wall turned their heads as the ball went by, and Smith joked that the players "might not have wanted to mess up their hair". Smith's comment was criticized as being sexist and a poor joke. ESPN said they spoke with Smith about the comment, and he later apologized in a series of tweets.
On November 5, 2016, Smith joined Top Rank's broadcasting team for the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas boxing pay-per-view event. In 2019, Smith signed a new contract with ESPN worth approximately $60 million over five years. In 2019, Smith became a UFC commentator as ESPN became the UFC's television broadcaster. In 2020, Smith served as a commentator for the after-party coverage of the 92nd Academy Awards on ABC.Haring, Bruce (February 7, 2020). "'Live From Hollywood: After The Awards' Aims to Keep the Party Going Apres-Oscars." Deadline.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020. On June 10, 2021, Smith broke into the soccer coverage space. (As he put it, "Let's do that soccer.") Smith selected a Euro 2020 team and followed this up with another soccer segment called "Ain't No Way" on June 14, 2021. In 2025, Smith signed a new contract with ESPN worth over $100 million over five years. He also signed a contract with SiriusXM worth $36 million over three years.
Acting Smith made his acting debut on the ABC soap opera General Hospital in a cameo appearance as a television reporter on February 2, 2007. Smith is a longtime fan of the show, as his older sisters watched it every day growing up. Smith appeared as Brick on General Hospital on March 31, 2016, and has made guest appearances in the role every year since.