The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Stephen A. Smith Talks Colin Kaepernick Ben Simmons Making Time For His Daughters + More

Episode Date: October 6, 2023

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Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

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We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. Nimany here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop.

Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different, inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Did you know, did you know, I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was called a moment. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records.

Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God. We are The Breakfast Club.

We got a special guest in the building from Queens, Stephen A. Smith, ladies and gentlemen. What's up? How you feeling? I'm good, man. How y'all doing, man? Bless Black and Holly favorite, the Cowboys, the 3-1, man. You know, our life couldn't be better.

Enjoy it. He already purchased his tickets for Super Bowl. You know that? That's the same. That's the only thing. I got love for Charlamagne, but my God. I mean, I just, I don't understand it, man. Dallas Cowboys, they're like a virus, man.

I mean, you just can't get rid of them. I mean, everywhere you go, you see Dallas Cowboys fans. I do not understand it, but, you know, they got a damn good team this year for their defense as a lead. They're off it, but it's still going to come down to Dak. You know that, right? You know that. I mean, it's going to be that moment.

And I just want to – because I want to look out for you, because you're all important. You know that, right? You know that. I mean, it's going to be that moment and I just want to look out for you because y'all important, you know what I'm saying? And I don't want you to just get into a state of depression. You know, your enthusiasm just elevates and then that moment arrives and Dak's got to come through and it ain't going to happen. I will say as a Cowboys fan,

I agree with everything you say about Dak Prescott. I think your assessment of Dak Prescott on first take is absolutely spot on. I've never said he's a scrub. I never said he can't play. What I said is that it's about moments. And every time there's a big moment, he has not shown up. It's just that simple.

And so he's got to do it. You know, think about this, man. I mean, you got a cat like Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant, last pick in the draft and all this other stuff. He's considered a better quarterback than Dak Prescott. Jalen Hurts, he was and all this other stuff. He's considered a better quarterback than Dak Prescott. Jalen Hurts, he was just in the Super Bowl. He's considered a better quarterback than Dak Prescott. Jared Goff, he's been balling for the Detroit Lions.

He's considered a better quarterback than Dak Prescott. And so when you – I was at the Errol Spence-Terrence Crawford fight, you know, by the way, an annihilation I did not expect. I picked Crawford to win that fight, but I didn't know it was going to be like that. But I got to tell you, I'm at the fight, and a whole bunch of Dallas Cowboys fans, I'm sorry, Dallas Cowboys, they're there. And supremely confident in their defense.

And then when you asked them about the quarterback, we believe in them, Steve. And I'm like, y'all know the difference. Y'all know the difference. Y'all know the difference. You know when that little extra hesitation, the stuttering, they're like, damn. They're like, we know what we going to do. We hope he's going to do it. Well, I hope the defense in the running game can overcompensate

for the flaws that Dak has. Well, listen, Ezekiel Elliott is not there anymore. Tony Pollard's that dude. He can ball, but can he be that bell cow that can carry the ball as much as they'd like him to? I don't know that to be the case. CeeDee Lamb can ball. Brandon Cooks can ball.

We got that. Gallop can ball. Dalton Schultz is gone now as your tight end. That was his security blanket. You don't have that now. And so what they're trying to do, and this is where the setup comes. This is where I'm going to help you out here. See, what happens is that they, in the past,

was just trying to put up points averaging more than 29 a game, rather than killing more than the offensive coordinator at the time. He's now at the Chargers. Okay, we're going to put up points. What they decided to do now is run the ball more, take the ball out of his hands, be a bit more conservative, you know, spell for the defense, et cetera, et cetera. Against the better teams, it's going to still come down to him.

And now he'll be throwing the ball less. So as a result, it's going to be a bit foreign to him because the defense is going to put you in a position where you got a comfortable lead most times and you ain't under that pressure. And then when the pressure mounts, what you going to do? I can't wait until we beat the 49ers this weekend. No, that's not going to happen.

That's not going to happen. I'm predicting you're going to lose. I'm predicting Dak's going to throw two interceptions. Damn. I got to bet with Shannon he's going to throw two interceptions. Damn. So who's your Super Bowl pick and why is it the Cowboys? I think, well, first, it ain't going to be the Cowboys.

Definitely not the Cowboys. It ain't going to be the Cowboys. It ain't going to be the Cowboys. You keep trying. You keep trying. I had the Eagles at the beginning of the season. I still believe in them, but I just think that San Francisco, the more I look at San Francisco, remember,

they was in the NFC Championship game. They didn't have a quarterback. It's never happened in the NFL history. All four quarterbacks got hurt. And so because they didn't have a quarterback, they literally got to a point after Brock Purdy went down and their backup went down, Christian McCaffrey had to line up behind center. They didn't have a quarterback. They literally got to a point after Brock Purdy went down and their backup went down, Christian McCaffrey had to line up behind center.

They didn't have a quarterback. So it was a foregone conclusion that the Eagles were going to win that game and they were going to the Super Bowl once that happened. Well, this year they motivated. And you got Ayuk, and you got Debo, and you got Kittles, and this boy Christian McCaffrey could be the league MVP right now. The brother is

balling, and Purdy is leading everybody in QBR. And the defense is top three. And so when you look at it right now, I would have to say in all honesty, San Francisco is the favorite. And then when you look at the AFC, it's up for grabs. Two weeks ago, I was like, yo, man, I ain't seen an offense like this in Miami since the days of Dan Fouts with Charlie Joyner and Kellen Winslow Sr. and Chuck Muncy and these brothers.

I'm like, this is something special. And then they go to Buffalo and get bum-rushed, beat the hell down. And I'm like, well, damn. There goes that, and then you got Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes still that dude. Kelsey still that dude. But their receivers can't get open. But they got Taylor Swift now.

I know that. That helps. That damn sure helps. But not on the football field. Let me ask you a question. In terms of popularity, but not on the football field. Now, is that affecting the game now? Because, you know, we watched the game this past weekend, and they must have shown Taylor Swift 19 times. I know.

But listen, listen. It's overkill. There's no doubt you even hear Kelsey speaking out against it. But let's be real about something. First of all, it's his fault. We didn't know his interest in Kelsey and Taylor Swift until he told us. Well, nobody mind him. We thought he was with the ex

for crying out loud. We didn't know. But Taylor Swift, I mean, that's $6 billion in the latest concert tour. Damn it, I went to the concert. You went to Taylor Swift's concert? Man, my daughters made me take them, man. You know what I'm saying? I said it was the greatest show you ever saw in your life.

No, I said it was the greatest show I had ever been to. Now, I'm a Beyonce fan all day, every day. I don't think any of them compare to her. But I've never been to her concert. I went to Taylor Swift's concert. Yo, man, at SoFi Stadium in L.A., she brought the house down. Really? And, I mean, these little girls, man, I've never seen,

I haven't seen anything like this since Michael Jackson. I mean, there was a, in between songs, what I mean by that is in between songs, they gave her a nine-minute standing ovation, nonstop. They were screaming. They wouldn't let her sing the next song. These little teenage girls, and I mean, every one of them knew every line of every song they

were singing it with her they were crying and screaming i saw people in the audience fainting i saw mamas and papas like jamming and the kids are like this is embarrassing that you are enjoying this more than me i mean i i saw it all i couldn't believe it i couldn't believe it i was like and i'm not into her music or anything like that, but she put on a hell of a show, bro. Three and a half hours, no intermission. Wow. Three and a half hours, no intermission.

$2,000 a pop. And it was worth it. Really? And it was worth it. I don't want to talk to no Stephen A. Smith about no damn Taylor Swift. I'll just ask about that. I got to ask about Damian Lillard. What was your thought with him going to the Bucs?

I love it. That's my brother. I got a lot of love for him. He's a superstar in this league. I think if it were not for Steph Curry, we'd be talking about him as the best in the game at that position. Having said all of that, I think that it elevated Milwaukee, no doubt about it, because Giannis ain't had no weapon like that.

I think what you got to look at with Damian Lillard is him being on that squad. Giannis was their option. You gave the ball to Giannis. He's the Greek freak. He coming at you, pushing you downhill. How you going to stop this locomotive? Well, how you stop the come playoff time is you suffocate the paint. You dare him to shoot a perimeter shot.

If he gets to the hole, he going to get his 30. You know that. He going to get his 13 rebounds. But when it really, really counts, is he going to make those rethrows? You don't know that. So it's limitations, and you've got confidence. Now you done brought in a closer. You done brought in a brother that has sent people home

and waved goodbye to them while doing it. The Paul Georges, the James Hardens, the Dwight Howards, the Russell Westbrooks of the world. Ask them. Damian Lillard has sent them home and waved goodbye to them while doing it. This is what he does. And so it's elite. But what I said to everybody at the time is, let's not rule out Boston.

And this was before they got Drew Holiday. I said, yo, I don't like the fact that they lost Marcus Smart. I really don't. I mean, that brother's something special, and I think he's going to help Memphis immensely. But make no mistake, you get a 7'3 dude in Chris Dapps for Zingas who can block shots, who can hit the three, who just finished averaging 23-24 game.

He ain't no number one option. He's not the ideal second option. But in Boston, well, that's Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown and so you talk about a third option there and so that made them formidable to begin with but then when you turn around and you take that piece and then you add Drew Holiday to that I don't like the fact that they lost Malcolm Brogdon I don't like the fact that Marcus Marta's gone but if you got Drew Holiday and Derek White as your backcourt and you have Brown and Tatum and Horford as your frontcourt and on top of it all, or Porzingis, okay,

and you got Derek White coming off the bench because you got Jalen at the two and you're going to use Jason Tatum at the three, I'm looking at them and I'm saying, the same crew of fellas that took Milwaukee out a couple years ago when they were down 3-2 and Jason Tatum rolled up in there for game 6 and dropped 46. You understand? This is just the Jason Tatum we talking about here.

This is Jalen Brown. We told you he had a bad game 7 last year once Tatum got hurt in the first offensive play, and he was supposed to be able to carry the team. He couldn't do it. But this is the same Jalen Brown that outplayed Jason Tatum in the NBA Finals, lost to Golden State. Brother been averaging, he averaged 26 a game last year.

He averaged 24, 23, and 26 over the last three years. Brother can ball. And so I'm looking at it from that perspective, and I'm looking at the size that they have at every position. Even though they don't have a seven-footer like Greek and Brook Lopez, you can't use Brook Lopez but so much against them because he got to come out to the perimeter and guard some of these brothers because Al Horford can shoot and Al Porzingis can shoot

and Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown can shoot as well. And Drew Holiday is one of the best catching three shooters in the game. So you look at it from that perspective and the fact that they can play defense on an elite level, I can't sit up there and say Milwaukee got them. So that's your pick for the NBA championship? For me, it's Boston. It's Boston ahead of Milwaukee.

I kind of hope I'm wrong, not because I have any desire to go to Milwaukee, but it's because I'm rooting for Damian Lillard. What about the Warriors, though? Chris Paul and the Warriors. Does that help? Does that hurt? Well, listen, I told Chris Paul and them I wasn't happy about it. I wasn't excited about it because I'm like,

unless you're telling me that Klay Thompson is going to be Mork from Mork and Mindy back in the day, he gonna get younger as he gets older. Can he go at the three for you? Because to me, when I think about Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, that's the backcourt. Where does CP3

fit into that? I looked at him as a reserve coming off the bench, being that point guard that's gonna run the show with Kaminga and Moody in that second unit and upgrading them. All right? Is CP3 going to accept that? Is he going to embrace that? Because, listen, Draymond didn't like him,

but now they're trying to work things out because they're teammates and all of that other stuff, and that's cool. But they undersized, and they got a system, and they're a custom play it that way. Chris Paul slows the pace down, controls pace. That's fine. That's not how they roll. And so if you're going to do that, how effective is that going to work out for you?

I believe in Steph Curry, the greatest shooter God ever created. I believe in that Splash Brothers, that backcourt. I believe in their pedigree, their experience, their championships, pedigree and stuff like that. So they'll be in the mix. But I can't give them the edge over the Lakers who took them out in the postseason. I can't give them the edge over the

deraining defending champion Denver Nuggets. I can't give them the edge over Phoenix with KD, Devin Booker, who's now going to be at your point, and Bradley Beal. And that's the three of them. What about Memphis? Remember Memphis last year? It wasn't

just John Morant and his troubles. It was also Steven Adams and Brandon Clark that were hurt. Well, they back. What you gonna do with that? I mean, you can't ignore Memphis, and you can't ignore the Clippers, because if Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are healthy, one could easily argue. They could

have won the championship three years ago when Phoenix was in the finals against Milwaukee. Because if Kawhi is healthy and Paul George is healthy, I don't know if Phoenix beats the Clippers. And so you got to look at all of those teams before you make that kind of decision, and that's where I'm at with it. I got one more question about sports,

and I want to talk strictly about Stephen A. Since you brought up the Clippers, who do you think will play more games next year, Ben Simmons or Kawhi Leonard? Kawh lennon okay i i've lost complete faith in ben simmons hey the only the only thing i'm mad about is i ain't get a chance to tell him to his face and and and the reason why is that we we were at the spot last year man and you know he you know i got a lot of i got a lot i had a lot of respect for him you know i'm not going to disrespect him as a man or a human being but it's like my god bro i get the i get the mental aspects obviously you know you and i have talked about that a lot of times with all

the great work you've done in that regard but you take the money you know i'm saying somehow some way no matter what troubles you're through, the check is in the account. Yeah. And you cashing it. Somehow you're on the bench looking like a male model, you know what I'm saying, while the rest of your team out there playing. You know, you're just looking at it and it's like,

yo, bro, your boys need you. You understand that if you in Philly and you balling with Embiid, the way Tyrese Maxey is elevated, you realize what y'all could have been, right? You understand that if you in Brooklyn and with Katie and Kyrie at the time and you could ball, you understand what you could have accomplished, right? I'm looking at scenarios over the last two years where he could have helped two teams to a championship

because that's how legit Ben Simmons is. And I know that he's had the injuries. I'm not trying to question that. But the point is other people are going to question it because you couldn't bring yourself to play basketball. It literally was tantamount to you, like standing on the front lines in Ukraine against Russia. It don't make no damn sense to me.

And so I look at it from that perspective, and then now you talk about you ready, you ready, you ready. And he's one of those guys that i would tell you this his talent is big time if i could get away with it as a team i wouldn't give him a damn dime until he plays you gotta show up to work man and to me he hasn't done that and and that's my disappointment with him i got got one last sports question. What was your thoughts on Colin Kaepernick riding the Jets and saying that he wanted to be, work on the practice team to get the squad

where they needed to be? We always butted heads on this, y'all. It meant nothing to me. I knew it was going to be much ado about nothing. In 2019, and I remember when you came up first, and we talked about it later, you know, listen,

Colin Kaepernick's team. I'm going to say it again, reached out. They wanted help. They wanted a tryout with one team. I had sources inside the league office and connected to the league office from the outside rock nation. And those boys,

yo, they're going to give him a workout. At least 24 teams are going to show up. It ended up being 26. The quote I received, and I said it on the air at the time, this brother would have to throw it into the stands to not have a job in two weeks. All he got to do is show up. So I'm looking at a team of people that came to me along with others asking for assistance to get him a tryout.

The league didn't want to give the league had to give him the tryout. I'm sorry, because individual teams didn't want to y'all because they were fearful that if they gave him a tryout and he didn't work out he would be ready to sue them because he had already sued the league reached the settlement etc etc and all the whole you know the racial strife that existed and he had articulated and highlighted wasn't just about police brutality and all that stuff he was also talking about the nfl to some degree the teams were scared so the nfl stepped in and they said for the first time in history we we going to conduct this workout. And it was an issue with the wave and the waiver was different than what

other teams had. So I call a league office called general counsel. It was like this. You're damn right. It's different. We never conducted a workout as league. We don't do individual workouts. That's a team's job.

Since this is the first time we've ever done it. And we just reached the settlement with the guy for millions of dollars, we, of course, are going to do a different kind of waiver, okay? Having said all of that, here's what I said publicly on first take. Go back and look at the tapes. I said, the world is watching. You want to play ball, you show up to the workout. Because now we know where it's going to be.

We know when it's going to be. We're going to get the tape. We're going to see what happens. And we know what sorry-ass quarterbacks exist in the NFL. And they're going to be hard for you if you go out there and do it. Go out there and do it and trust the rest of us. You had the Breakfast Club. You had

First Take. You had Get Up. You had everybody everywhere. Black America was like, yo, you're going to treat this brother right. Show up and work. If he show up, give him a fair shot. And in my eyes, he didn't trust us enough to look out. I'm talking about the tsunami of folks that talk sports and beyond.

You didn't trust us to use your greatness as an athlete and say, we see what you got up in there and bring the tsunami down upon the NFL and make sure now that you gave him this tryout that ultimately you give him a job. You passed and you did some work out of the high school football field an hour and 20 minutes away, giving them two hours notice. Nah, nah. I said it from that day i said it's over they just found the perfect excuse they ain't never gonna look at them again just this past year you know 14 quarter black quarterback started in the nfl opening week and seven of the top 11 paid players in the nfl at the quarterback position are black i only bring up that number because that's what the owners are going to say.

They're going to be like, look, man, we good. We got it. We getting our money. We got black folks in here excelling and getting paid. He had an opportunity to do that. He passed. And it's that simple. I said it that day.

It's over. I ain't been wrong yet. You know, people don't often look at what we do in the terms of athletes, but I do. So when I see you get a player of Shannon Sharpe's caliber on your team, how do you adjust your game? Well, listen,

first of all, it's about respect and humility. And here's what I mean by that. I ain't no three-time Super Bowl champion. I ain't no future, I ain't no Hall of Famer. I'm not the greatest tight end in NFL history. One of arguably the greatest tight end in NFL history. He had those credentials coming to the table.

And so for me. That don't got nothing to do with this though. I understand that. But he has done a good job. And he has been in the business for years. Absolutely. And so looking at the job that he did, knowing the roster of cats that I had,

Marcus Spears, Ryan Clark, and all these other folks, I certainly wasn't interested in getting rid of them. But I knew that he was a talent that would add, he would be an additive to me. He wouldn't be a liability. But more importantly than that, man, I was where he was. 2009, we talked about this when it was me and my book

or various other interviews both of y'all have done with me, man. I know what it's like to be out in that streets and be unemployed and, and, and, and for them to be writing your epitaph and all of that other stuff. And I was like, there wasn't somebody, there wasn't a brother in Stephen A's position to help me, but I'm in that position. And so I called them up and I said, yo, what you want to do? And he's like, yo, man, you know, if you have me. I said, yeah, I want you. Hell yeah. Absolutely.

I'm shocked he wasn't in a non-compete. Said what? I thought he was going to be in a non-compete. Well, listen, when they let you go, they let you go. I mean, like if you leave, that's when a non-compete kicks in. But when they let you go. And that's why I was like, I'm sitting there when people argue and they talk about, listen, I'm not trying to tell their business.

That's their shop. I got my shop. But at the end of the day, it's like, yo, y'all, he's here. What the hell do you think happened? You know what I'm saying? Because if he left of his own volition, he would not have been able to be at the competition. So it's just, just, just pay attention to the logic of it all.

He was available because they let him go. And so they let him go to him. To me, that was their loss. It's my gain. And I'm going to always, guys know what my approach is. I know what I'm talking about as a reporter and pundit that covered the sport. I didn't do what you do. So, yeah, look at me as described as walking into the locker room, telling you what I saw, what I think I saw, do what you do. So, yeah, look at me as the scribe that's walking into the locker room,

telling you what I saw, what I think I saw, nudging you, even antagonizing you from time to time, trying to make sure you understand I'm trying to get to the bottom of the situation. Just like when y'all interview folks, y'all do the same thing. It's your job as that expert to say, nah, that ain't what happened. Here's what happened. Absolutely. Right?

And I know at that moment in terms of doing television when it's time to debate and when it's time to step the hell back and be informed and that's what all of them ryan clark is sensational knows and the no knows his football shannon shannon sharp knows his damn football y'all i'm just telling you right now dan olavsky all of these cats know it i'm arguing with mad dog russo that's different we're both scribes we're both pundits we've been doing that for our careers but when you are sitting across from players you gotta have that respect where they know that you know who they are compared to you in terms of their athletic knowledge about what's actually happened on that field or court of play or in the locker room.

When you see me butting heads with an athlete, it's because I'm saying, you ain't giving it to me. There's more to this. Tell me what it is. You see what I'm saying? Because you know. And so when you're trying to give an answer, and not only that, I'm going to your contemporaries.

So if you play for the Knicks and you play for the Knicks and somebody else plays for the Knicks, if I'm debating you, it's not because I think I know something you don't. It's because somebody else told me who knows what you know. And I happen to believe you holding out on me because I've heard otherwise. And that's where you go at it. But what you don't do is talk to them like you know what they know as players no you don't but they got to be able to communicate that everybody can't do it that's right ryan can do it that's correct and it can do it that's correct everybody can't get on that microphone to

communicate that that's correct and you and but you have to be compassionate enough to know the difference like some cats they just don't have the ability to articulate that's right and so when you know that it's like how cruel you gonna be it's like i'm talking to somebody and every other word out of your mouth you know i'm saying well no i don't know you because you ain't say shit so i don't know what you're saying but my point is you i you got to have some level of compassion where you know all right i can peel this out of them but this person don't have that ability to articulate it i'm not gonna sit up there and just bring it down on them. I was going to ask, how much flack did you get?

Because, you know, when you're arguing or going back and forth with a player, a football player, I'm sure they're thinking, you never played the sport. Nah. You didn't have the oxygen in Denver when that dude was. Yeah, you don't go with that. But they don't do that anymore. And that's where my reputation has helped me immensely

because anybody that walked through the doors and you tell me this is what you want to do, all you got to do is ask for my help and I'm going to give it to you. You know what I'm saying? I mean, you want to do this, here's how you do it. And I'll tell them that. And a lot of times I'll let them know, listen, I'm going to come at you. We're not orchestrating anything.

I'm not letting you know what all my opinions are. But from a generic perspective, I'm letting you know if I see something, I'm going to come at you. We're not orchestrating anything. I'm not letting you know what all my opinions are. But from a generic perspective, I'm letting you know if I see something, I'm going to attack you. I'm going to get right at you. But the reason I'm doing it is for you to pull out your level of expertise. So if you watch Kat's debate with me, all of a sudden, they'll up the ante as a segment progresses because I zero in on them and they get up because they know he's coming for me now.

Because that's my way of saying to them, you're holding out. You didn't give me what you got and I'm going to get this. Now, either that or I'm right. Which one you willing to admit? Stephen A, you right? Or Stephen A, you wrong? And if you say Stephen A, I'm wrong, you got to tell me why. And so when you

have to tell me why, that's what makes a debate show. And that's what it's about. Now some weeks ago uh something you said what you said several times you wrote about it in your book you talked about you know your experience with max kellerman working on the show and i saw a reaction from marcellus wiley and he said you got rid of max kellerman because max wasn't dumb and white okay well let me say this i'm not talking about i'm going to address that last part the first part i'm not talking about i'm going to address that last part the first part i'm not addressing it anymore and here's the reason why some people want to do anything for clicks y'all don't have to do that i don't have to do that established but others have to do that

and so when you see that's the tsunami of comments and all of this other stuff. Even my bosses called me. It was like, yo, man, it's in your book. Enough's enough. And I'm like, they right. I had nothing to say about it anymore. The ratings speak for itself. The decisions that were made speak for itself. It is what it is. Business is business, period.

In terms of what Marcellus Wiley said, now that I will address directly. And I only have one thing to say. He and I work together. Got a lot of respect for him. I know the man he was talking about as his best friend. I get all of that. No problem. Here's my only issue.

For a black man to sit up there and say another black man is scared of somebody's intellect come on bro that's just the line you crossing and i have nothing more to say other than that that's sad that he would go that route um i guess that he's gonna get attention because obviously everybody who watches the breakfast club every chance we get, he don't see, um, talk about it. I'm certainly not going to argue with him. Um,

I've always had a lot of respect for him. Me and Marcellus Wiley have never had one issue. Um, and I don't care what support he has for his boy or anybody else. I, I get that. I support my boys too, but I would never in a million years say that

one black man is scared of the intellect of a white man i would never ever ever do that and for him to do something like that that's him. Y'all have known me for years. The business has known me for years. I've been on national television with the number one debate show on television for the last 12 straight years and counting. I've been winning. But more importantly, I've been in a bubble, in the public eye, on national television every day.

We've had disagreements, you know what I'm saying? The whole bit. Y'all have never questioned my intelligence. No. Ever. And so for me, it's like, you know, I get it. I understand it. There's a lot of brilliant brothers out there.

Max is one of them. Genius. Absolutely true. And a good brother too good do rather um and i get that but to me forget all that i wish him nothing but the best i ain't rooting against anybody i'm rooting for him i'm even rooting for marcellus i don't want him to fail but if I ever saw him again, one-on-one, it would be like a black man going in a public platform and saying another black man is scared of a white guy. No, no. Forget not as smart because most people are not as smart

as some other people, I guess. But that don't mean we're devoid of high intellect and intelligence. But to say that I fear the intelligence of any man, any man. I've debated Dr. Michael Eric Dice. I've debated Cornel West. You see what I'm saying? I've been on the phone with President Obama. I've debated political pundits, and I'm not even a political aficionado.

We're talking sports, y'all. This ain't science class. This ain't, you know, I mean, this ain't geometry or trigonometry or something. This ain't, you know, we ain't in law school trying to pass the ball. This is sports. Scared of the intellect and intelligence of a white man? Okay. What pissed you off more, Marcella's comments

or Terrell Owens' comments when he was on First Take back in the day? And said you weren't, Max was blacker than you. Oh, no, that was just ignorant. You know, like blacker than you oh no that didn't that that was just ignorant um you know like listen you and i've talked about that we all have talked about it um black folks our community you know there ain't nothing in this world that i love more than black people ain't nothing i'd rather be other than black but that don't mean that we don't have our issues as a community and a lot of times when you see, when you think differently,

when you think independently, our own gets at you because they want us, you know, one minute we want to be independent in a maverick style, and another minute we want to walk around and act like we're supposed to be one monolithic group all aligned in terms of our thinking. I don't subscribe to that. Nobody thinks for me. I think for me.

And I make my own decisions. But when Marcellus said what he said, it was a disappointment. You know, because you hurting us when you say that, not me. You hurting us. Because, dare I say, I think I've accomplished enough where, you know, my level of intelligence is respected. So what about those that may not have accomplished what I've had or haven't had an opportunity to really, really expose the level of intellect they possess? Well, what are you going to say about them? Not him specifically,

but a country that's looking at a black man saying that about another black man. So that's fine. But the T.O. thing was just that was what pissed me off because the lawyers, his lawyers contacted ESPN to sue me. Now he wants to say that wasn't, you know, that wasn't him. That was his lawyers. I'm like, they work for you. Yes. That's what he said, because he tried to say I said something off the record that I didn't say. So I don't you know, but I've never I've never listened doing what I do. I would never violate the trust because you don't have any credibility. You do that. You know, one of the things you have to do is know how to keep secrets. You can't open your mouth publicly when you gave your word that you know something's told to you in confidence.

So when you threatened to expose something about him, when you retweeted him, that's what it was? No, what I was saying, no, that wasn't what it was. What I was what I was trying to say to him is that I wasn't even trying to threaten to expose anything. I'm trying to say we all know all the troubles you've been through we can talk about it but you know that's neither here nor there but that's all i was saying and then when he when he he you know he called me and talked about i didn't tweet i retweeted well that's tweeting i mean you know i don't i don't know what to say you know so but i was only pissed off about that. And, you know, but that's over and done with.

We spoke on it. We had our words. And that's that. And, you know, we move on. But that pissed me off more. The Marcellus thing to answer your question made me sad. Steven, got to go. I got one last question. Sure, man.

This is as a father. Yeah. Charlemagne has four kids. I have six. I have two. You have two. Yeah. Where do you find the time, right?

Because I think I work a lot, right? I'm traveling everywhere, but I'm like, sports never ends. Right. And you're always doing sports. When do you find time for your family and your kids? Well, first of all, it's never enough time. My daughters will be the first to tell you that. They are not happy with me sometimes because even when I'm with them,

I'm a bit distracted because there's some sport event going on and there's something percolating or whatever. I treat them like the queens that they are. I do the best that I can. But the one thing I am unapologetic about, for better or worse, is that I grew up poor. I grew up starving. And I watched my mother's slave as I stated in my book because, you know, my father didn't handle his business. And that's why the title of my book, Straight Shooter, is dedicated in my book because you know my father didn't handle his business and that's why the title of my book straight shooter was is dedicated to my mother because my mother was always a straight shooter and I was always of the mindset provide and protect do everything that you can

to elevate the quality of life of your children make sure they know what you're doing and why. So my daughters know when I'm on television. They know where I'm on television from. I call, you know, I'm with them every day. I call them several times a day. They know what I'm doing, where I'm doing it from. They know where to find me, et cetera, because with children especially, it's important that they know. They may not like it, but when they're able to turn on the TV

or click on the radio and they hear you or they see you, daddy's working, daddy's working. And so when that's the case and then they reap the benefits of your labor, they may not like it sometimes, but they also know that everything they have is because of you. And so that goes a long way. And then outside of that, you find the time. It ain't about finding it, it's about making it.

You know, the bottom line is I don't have time because I am busy. I make time. I mean, I could be having to work. I get off at 12 noon and I might have to work at three. Well, I'll go see him until two. And then I leave and I come back. And then I get off at seven. I go see him at eight. You know? And I mean, I've flown, I've had to take a flight from L.A. to Dallas, and I flew on the red eye to New York just to take them to school. And it flew right out to Dallas.

Something like that. It's little stuff like that that's big things to them when it really, really counts because they know that you're sacrificing for them. And when they know that, they appreciate it. And more importantly, it's something that they'll hold others accountable to down the line. They'll be like, this is how my dad treated me. How you going to treat me?

Got you. Ladies and gentlemen, that's Stephen A. Smith. And Scray Shooter has been recently reprinted with a new afterword. Yep. Any other changes to the book? No, not at all. And congrats on New York Times bestsellers. That's right.

Thank you so much, man. Oh, and they told me to tell you Erica Ford has the best pitch now in Queens. Because you went 50. Way better than Steven. I choked. That's a choke job, bro. That's a choke job. We're not going to.

Listen, bro. Embarrassing. I was embarrassing. It was a shame. It was a shame in New York. I was in front of the Yankee dugout. And 60 feet, 6 inches. I'm throwing strikes.

Throwing strikes. About 30 pitches. Throwing strikes. And then they said it's time to go to the mound. And I walked up there. And the mound's 10 inches off. And I turned around. And I saw home plate.

I said, oh, shit. What have I done? What have I done? Right? And then, my dumb ass, I had on Christian Louboutin sneakers. and I saw home play I said oh shit what have I done what have I done right and then my dumb ass I had on Christian Louboutin sneakers like the red bottoms so I stepped on the dirt so I stepped on the dirt

and instantly I'm slipping but this was before the pitch I'm slipping so now I gotta make a business decision I'm about to bust my ass on national television I can't do that. I said, the priority is to stay upright no matter what. I said, I'll work on a pitch later.

The priority is to stay upright. I should have wore cleats, and I was wearing the Gita jersey. Gita called me afterwards. It was embarrassing. He said, look, man, here's our excuse. You were playing crickets. And he said, you know you got to come back out there next year and make up for it. I said, I will.

Okay. Well, the Stephen A. Smith, ladies and gentlemen, it's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up. In the morning. The Breakfast Club. Had enough of this country?

Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory.

Oh my God. What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan. On the iHeartRadio app, radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts hey guys i'm kate max you might know me from my popular online series the running interview show where i run with celebrities athletes entrepreneurs and more after those

runs the conversations keep going that's's what my podcast Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people.

We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other, so join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. Nimany here. I'm the host of a brand-new history podcast

for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different, inspiring figure from history.

Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was Claudette Colvin. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records.

Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.