The Breakfast Club - WEEKLY REWIND: Stephen A Smith Stops By and More!

Episode Date: October 29, 2022

Check out this weekly rewind! Stephen A Smith stops by and we dive into some of our favorite topics!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 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. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy

Elian Gonzalez was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami? Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney. And we're Mess.

Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called Mess, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is, not everything is a mess sometimes it's just living yeah things like j-lo on her third divorce living girls trip to miami mess breaking up with your girlfriend while on instagram live living it's kind of mess yeah well you get it got it live love mess listen to mess with sydney Sidney Washington and Marie Faustin on 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 podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, y'all. Niminy 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. 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 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. Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ, Envy,

Angela Yee, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building. Yes, indeed. Friend to the room, Stephen A. Smith. What's up? What's up, y'all? How y'all doing? Good to see y'all again.

How are you? I'm good, bro. I'm good. It's been crazy. I've been busy as hell, and the NBA season's about to jump off, too, so it's been crazy. But I'm here. I wasn't missing this. Your book is available for pre-order.

It's a great shooter. Yeah, man. It's going well. And thank you, because you was one of the people that inspired me as well. A lot be both for y'all. I mean, I'm proud of y'all with your books and what y'all have done. But I tell you, it was a long time coming. I really didn't want to do it. People have been asking me since ESPN let me go in 2009 to write a book.

And I didn't want to. I didn't want to because I always said if I wrote a book, you know, I got to be straight up about, you know, just my life. And kind of the things, the kind of things I had to go through on a personal level and then my mother God rest her soul before she passed away in 2017 she had always made me promise don't ever write a book until I pass away because she knew that I was going to talk about you know some of the relationships that I had growing up with pops and others in my family and stuff like that she knew I was going to do that and she did not want me to do that while she was alive. She said, go ahead and do it. I'm just asking you for one favor. Don't do it until I pass away. So I waited all of those years. And then even after I wasn't going to do it.

And then my sisters reminded me, hey, go ahead and do it. I got four of the sisters. They said, it's time. Why now? Because you've always been like a private person personally. Yeah, I still am. Believe it or not, I got four. They said, it's time. Why now? Because you've always been like a private person personally. Yeah, I still am. Believe it or not, I still am. But there's a lot to tell in terms of the path that I had to travel to get to where I am. And so you tell some of those stories and you try to be

inspirational, as y'all have done with y'all book and what have you. You know, you tell people, you don't tell them every single little nugget about your life, but you tell a lot. And you tell a lot with the goal in mind of being constructive and being inspirational and just trying to let people know, look, you ain't the only person to been through stuff. There's a whole bunch of us that been through stuff. And we walk through that terrain and we carried ourselves on through and we do the grace of God and a lot of help from a lot of people. We were able to pull it off.

So you can, too. And that's basically what you're doing. You're trying to be as motivational and inspirational as you possibly can But in the same breath in order to do that you got to be real and so I just said hey I'm just gonna do it. Did you know what you wanted to do as a kid? You know what? I always I grew up idolizing Howard Cosell and be primarily because of Muhammad Ali and his relationship with Muhammad Ali and then Brian Gumbel because I saw him doing everything Mm-hmm, you know it was like it was the Today Show it was he used to do NFL on NBC Muhammad Ali and his relationship with Muhammad Ali and then Brian Gumbel, because I saw him doing everything.

You know, it was like it was the Today Show. It was he used to do NFL on NBC. I mean, the Olympics, he did everything. And so I grew up idolizing them and I had fantasized about that. But I also I always fantasized about being a criminal lawyer. And this is before Johnny. Oh, I mean, I literally did. But, you know, I'm in I'm in I'm in I'm in the fourth grade and I'm getting left back because I got undiagnosed, undiagnosed dyslexia, dyslexia. And I'm saying, hey, you know what? Ain't no way I'm going to law school. I'm thinking like, hell no, I ain't doing that. But I mean, I grew up watching Perry Mason and Madlock and this forlorn order. All of those crime shows, anything that had a courtroom in it, I fantasized

about. So I always said, you put me in a courtroom, ain't no way in hell you gonna convince me I'm gonna lose out on convincing 12 jurors to see my way. And I always believed that. But then the journalism came and all of a sudden it just blew up unexpectedly because even though later, earlier on in my life

I didn't have that confidence later on. I did. And when I had that confidence, I was ready to do it. But then this journalism took off and I was like, well, you know, I'm doing quite well.

Let me stick with this. How'd you overcome the dyslexia though? Cause you wanted the most articulate people speaking on television today. My oldest sister, Linda. Um, she was a teacher back at the day. My sister,

Carmen is a teacher. Now my sister, Abby gills in the education. My sister Carmen is a teacher now. My sister Abby Gill is in the education system as a superintendent. But Linda was a teacher and Linda literally taught me how to read and write. And one of my best friends growing up, his name was Ronnie, his big brother Tiver was also brilliant. So whenever I was over his house, Tiver was a brilliant dude and he would teach me how to read. And then I'd come home to Linda and Linda would sit me down four or five days a week.

She said, we're going to overcome this. And you know, she would teach me how to read and write. Then the seventh grade, I had a teacher that told my mother during the parent teachers night, he said, he ain't stupid.

Not at all. She said, he's not focused. He drifts. He doesn't focus and concentrate on things that bore him but when he's when he's interested in something he's locked in and he don't miss anything when he's like that find what he's interested in and watch what you have how many times do you argue with your sisters like how was your house growing up because you like to argue here's the deal

here's the reason why because i wasn't allowed to growing up. I got four older sisters, bro. Shut the hell up. That's on the regular. So, you know, you got four women. And it's like, I remember the scariest moment in my adult life, because this is related to your question. I had to go on The View right after the Tiger stuff came out. Oh, man.

And I was like, cool, no problem. ESPN had let me go. I had gotten to Fox Sports Radio. They asked me to come on The View. I said, fine. And I walked in the studio, and it's Barbara Walters there. It's Barbara Walters. It's Joy Behar.

They had Elizabeth Hasselbeck. All this was back in those days, okay? And I walked in. You got these four women on the set. That's cool. But the audience was like stadium seating. And it looked like they right on top of you, right? And I was the only man in the entire studio.

There wasn't a male in sight. I was the only speck of testosterone. It was like I said, oh, shit. How'd you handle it and then they was asking me about tiger and i was like well you know i'm trying to i'm trying to explain what are you saying i was like oh the hell i got myself into you know that to me and it was like but then i remembered i grew up around this i grew up around this i knew how to handle it and if it wasn't for my upbringing what my four older sisters and my mother,

there's five women telling me what to do. Shut the hell up. When we tell you to shut the hell up. It's about a very sensitive subject. I love when women are in that position, too, because I feel like a lot of times as women, especially in sports, you see a lot of women who might be the only woman in the room. And so I love the reverse when that happens.

We don't. We don't. It's scary. It's scary as hell. I mean, to this day, that is the scariest moment of my career. Because you got to remember, Ty got in some stuff now. And I'm like, I'm walking in the studio. I'm like, there's nothing I can say.

I mean, I got to figure out a way. And they were just looking at me like, you even uttered the wrong syllable. We're going to be on you. And I was like, okay. That's interesting, especially with like the Ema Yadoka stuff happening now and seeing Shaq say, I don't want to weigh in and criticize this because I've been through the things that I've been through. So you don't want to be a hypocrite. Well, you don't want to be a hypocrite.

But in the same breath, if you're sitting in that chair and all of y'all can relate to this with the great show y'all been doing for years, you got to call it like you see it. And what we got to do is we got to be careful. You can talk about an incident without talking about the person. That's right. This is what, listen, you know how many people disagree with me every day? I have no issue

with you attacking what I say or what situation I've addressed. That's entirely different than attacking me. I can compartmentalize. And if you're sitting in that chair, you know, I told Shaq about that. Yo, bro, you can avoid it all you want to. TNT coming up, bro.

Season get ready to start. You're going to have to avoid it. You're going to have to talk about it at some point. I definitely told him that. And so for me, you're damn right I touched on it. But I touched on it from a different angle. There's no excuse for him to find himself in that position that he was in. But my position religiously was it's none of our business.

There's no reason on earth that you can justify to me why the Boston Celtics had that press conference while we're having this discussion. That was an H.R. matter. I've been covering sports for almost 30 years. I'm telling you every year there's stories like this. Every year. You don't see it being discussed. You hear about the cat getting fired and you hear rumors as to why, but you don't know. It's not validated by the organization.

And then, you know, I took it a step further and I mentioned this blackness only from this perspective. You kept him. You retained him. You didn't fire him. That means no one has the right to come and get him. You suspended him. But it was indefinite. You said, I'm going to suspend you for a year, but then

after the year, we're going to look into it. I mean, that's BS. You probably docked half his pay because that's what my sources told me. You docked half his pay. And I'm like, so, he doesn't so he can't work. He can't go elsewhere. You docked half his pay.

His future's up in arms. And you publicized his personal business because the press release, I mean, I'm sorry, the report said consensual relationship. Now, you might have violated organizational policy and all that, but it said consensual relationship. Now, you might have violated organizational policy and all that, but it said consensual. So, essentially, all of this has happened because of a consensual relationship. Now, we don't know her status, and even if we did,

we can't say because, you know, they haven't revealed that information. You know, you can get sued for stuff like that. But here's what I know about him. He ain't married. And it was a consensual relationship, according to y'all. Do you think we'll ever get the full story? Hell yeah. You can't do what you did with this man,

and there's not going to be an uproar at some point. And I said it, and people was getting on me about that. I said, I know plenty of white dudes that's screwing around in the office, in sports. This stuff wasn't publicized. I know at least three dudes personally that got fired because of it. It was never publicized. We heard about it, but it was never publicized.

And guess why? Because they working for another team now. Not in the capacity that they were. It might have been on a lower level, but they still are employed in the same with the same brand because why?

It wasn't publicized or put out on front street like that But you did say something that he's not married Allegedly one of the women are Why are they attacking him so much for the relationship If it's an organizational policy why the woman's name is not there?

Why hasn't she been suspended? Listen, we totally agree. I'm not going to sit up here in front and act like we disagree. What I'm saying is in the interest of making sure that all our I's are dotted and T's are crossed and we don't have folks coming at us talking about why are we trying to make somebody else the victim? All I'm saying is it's always private. We've never heard the details. You heard they got fired.

You could speculate as to why, but because it's not known, another team has no problem bringing you on board and employing you because that's never been confirmed. By having the press conference, you confirmed the stuff that was put out there about him. You said nothing about her. And I'm not saying to put her on front street. I'm saying he shouldn't have been talked about. Let him go or

keep him. But keep the matter in house. They didn't do that because they wanted to suspend him and make an example of him. And it could have been enforced by somebody else. But the bottom line is it was wrong. Do you think because he was black? Well, I think that part to me, I'm not going to go that far, but

I will say this. I haven't seen it happen to any white boys. I'm going to tell it like that. I haven't seen it. And I said it. I said it on national television. I ain't seen anybody. And everybody backed up because they know I've covered this league and I've covered professional sports for a quarter century. And I went on national television and I've covered professional sports for a quarter century.

I went on national television and I said, I know plenty of white boys that's been doing their thing in the office. Nobody said anything we didn't know. And everybody backed up because they know I'm telling the truth. It's just the truth. It's jacked up to that. Listen, he ain't perfect

and whatever he had coming to him, if the organization, they had cause to fire him now because I heard that he obviously violated organizational policy and then plus he lied initially when approached. So now you got cause. You got him dead to rights. Okay, you can't defend him. If they wanted to let him go, they could let him go.

But then let him go. Don't hold him and keep him from working and keep him from going someplace else to work. You have ruined this man's career because of a consensual relationship. Ain't nothing right about that, man. And to me, that's the point that everybody's missing.

That's a great point. Clearly, they're protecting one person in this situation, which is the woman. Absolutely. Him, it's just like, go vilify him. That's right. Throw him out to pasture. And black men, we know about that all too well. people are gonna sit up there and say steven a's trying to make it a race issue actually no you made it a race issue by how you elected to handle this all i said was i said fire him or keep him but you don't do this because you've never done

it to anybody else so why is the first example of black man i got a problem with that what do you think about uh Barnes' comments? Because I wonder from an OG journalism perspective, looking at the new media, as they call it, what do you think of his comments? That he said he'll never work again, he thinks, if the full story comes out. Listen, he might be right.

He might be right about that. He's not wrong. And I think that in Matt Barnes' case, who's a good brother, by the way, he's a real good brother. I think with him, here's the issue I think he felt uncomfortable with the ledge he went out on it wasn't so much the story itself but the things he said initially and sometimes you find yourself in that situation where you might know all the facts but you went too far out and saying what you said and you got

to backtrack and people are thinking that you're backtracking totally because you went out too far i didn't go out too far i said exactly what i meant i said it a week and a half ago damn it i'm saying the same thing now because i know that the story is going to is going to percolate it's going to develop even more we're going to hear more details coming out of it and i'll be front and i mean listen i'm not gonna front with you and act like we ain't hear what's going on and we don't know I mean there's a lot of details that I know that I cannot say because for legal issues

and what have you you just can't do that but trust me when I tell you it comes from a place of knowledge I know what the hell I'm talking about and I know how screwed over he's gotten and all this he ain't innocent and if he got fired he would have deserved it period but you didn't have. And if he got fired, he would have deserved it. Period. But you didn't have to do that.

Him getting fired is one thing. You publicizing his business like that is an entirely different matter altogether. He'd have lost his job with the Boston Celtics if you handled it correctly. In this instance, you might have ended his career as a head coach and as a

rookie head coach, he did what the president of basketball operations couldn't do in seven years. He took these brothers to the NBA finals in year one. Year one. And this is the other part that y'all got to know about it. He's making about $3.5 million.

Had he had another successful season, and I'm not talking finals he could have got them to the conference finals whatever he's in a position next summer to negotiate a contract that's paying him at least triple at least nine million today's nba economy at least nine to ten million dollars that's to go on rate for a lot of these brothers all right so now you've squashed that because what leveraging position does he have? He can't come to you and negotiate a deal that's going to get him a raise next year. You stripped him of everything because of a consensual relationship.

So you think this was personal? I don't know if it was personal. I know that it was handled in a way that I don't think enough people are bringing attention to. It's an HR matter, y'all. It's an HR matter. If it happened with one of y'all, if it happened with me, if it happened to anybody, it's none of our business, man. It's an internal matter. Now, if it's not

consensual and you're talking about something else, sexual assault, rape, that's a different matter. You're breaking the laws. But if it's legal and consensual, it's none of our business. That's why we ought to have another conversation about the power of self-control. Brothers got to learn

discipline. There's certain situations you just shouldn't put yourself into, and that's one of them. That's right. Which is why I say if they fired him, I wouldn't have said a word. You put yourself in that position, what are you doing? What are you doing? You're a rookie head coach. You just got there. Okay? And you find yourself

in this position. There's no excuse. Now, listen, from the beginning of time, men have had a problem resisting women. I mean, from Adam and Eve, for crying out loud, it's very, very predictable. Is this what you said on The View? This is why they got mad at you. I said that, too. It's very, very predictable. Is this what you said on The View? This is why they got mad at you. I said that too!

I said that too! You know what I'm saying? And Elizabeth Hagenbeck was like, what? What? She's like, I mean, I would hope that Stevens people get exercise. They can, they can. At the back there, they'll be straight. But, I mean, listen, there's no question

about it, and especially as black men, we gotta understand this. Yeah, times are what they are. And we believe progress has been made. But we also recognize that there's a long way to go. That's right. And so the rules are still different for us than it is for white men. Let's just call it what it is. You got to know that.

And your responsibility to yourself and your community and folks on the come up that idolize you because of the position that you're in. You know, you got to be careful, though. You got to be careful. Look at the position I'm in. Come on, man. Come on, man. You think that if I haven't had opportunities to get with folks in the industry

and whatever, I ain't playing that game. You know, they ain't worth my game. They ain't worth my check. They're not worth what I built to try and accomplish for myself. I'm not going that route. That's just me. They'll send people at somebody like you. Hell yes. And they have to listen.

You can't put it past anybody because you got people. Listen, they're going to come at you in a variety of ways. I've been in situations where I've been propositioned covering the NBA playoffs, NBA finals. And I'm not saying this is exactly what happened, but I wondered who said them. Because the women were a little bit too aggressive. I'm like, I don't think I look like Godzilla, but I ain't that damn attractive. Now, they're a little bit too aggressive here. I mean, why are they acting like they got to get with me?

Something's fishy about this. I didn't know, but you have that suspicion and that success, that intuition. You got to get in self-protective mode. You got to be like, you know, this is a little too good to be true. You know what I'm saying? Something ain't

right about this. Me and my girlfriends. Me meeting a honey or whatever. All right, fine. All right. That, you know, that happens with all of us. But, you know, three women coming up to me at the same time. I say, you know, thank you, but no thank you.

And they still come in. They don't want to take no for an answer. They trying to find out what hotel I'm in, what hotel room I'm in rather, because we were in the lobby of the hotel. This happened in Dallas years ago during the finals between Dallas and the Miami Heat. And I'm sitting there like, this is

too good to be true. Ain't no way in hell. These women want me like this. It's a real fishy. Hell no. I'm a confident brother, but damn. Nah. I'm not going for that. I mean, I'm a confident brother,

but damn, nah. I'm not falling for that. No. Stephen A. Smith, you also have your podcast now. Yeah. No Mercy. Yes. So this is more in the field of politics. Yes. Well, it's not limited to just politics. It's politics, it's news, it's pop culture and entertainment. Listen, each and every single one

of you, I expect, I hope and expect to have y'all on as a guest. I mean, listen, there's a lot of issues that I like to talk about. And what's beautiful about a show like this is the freedom that y'all have to tackle a multitude of issues. Understand that I've been in sports my entire career. I never had that latitude.

Now, it seems that way at times because we tackle issues on first take that you wouldn't anticipate on sports television. But the reason for that is that some way, somehow it found its way into the sports landscape. So it gave us a license to talk about issues. You could talk about Colin Kaepernick. And also you found yourself getting into politics because then President Trump and how he politicized and hijacked the narrative and all of this other stuff. So you find yourself sifting into that area. But for the most part, it's been sports, and I've been confined to that. This is different.

It's my podcast. I own it. I'm in 100% control of the content for it. It's not associated with Disney and ESPN in any way. And so for me, it's just about talking about the issues that are percolating, the people who matter, the difference makers, the kind of impact they intend to have and personalizing those conversations. I'm still going to get my monologues. I'm still going to get my closing remarks. You always hear from me in terms of how I feel on an issue on a case by case basis. But in the same breath, it's going to is really about talking to the people that are influencers and difference makers.

And more importantly, letting the audience know who to listen to. Like, I'm not one of those people when it comes to politics. I got my own thoughts and opinions. But I will be the first to say, I don't know. This is what I see. And based on the evidence, this is what I deduce from it. But you should talk to this person and this person. You should listen to this show and that show.

I'm not somebody that's going to look at it and say, listen to me and don't listen to anybody else. No, I want you to listen to those other people because I listen to them. I want to hear what y'all have to say, what your thoughts are, what your opinions are, et cetera, et cetera. And if we disagree, we disagree. And if we agree, that's even better. But it's all good. They may have got to leave soon, about five, six months.

I'm good. I saw you the other day and you said you weren't going to be so hard on Kyrie this season. Yes, yes, yes. But I did wonder. I'm trying to move forward. I'm not trying to go to the past. But when I saw Kareem's comments, where he called him a comical buffoon,

I did wonder what you thought about that. I wouldn't call Kyrie a buffoon at all. I'm not going to question the intelligence of the brother, although he has said some bizarre things in the past. The world is flat and stuff like that. He said his uncle was going to have a conversation with you. Not his uncle. Well, yeah, he did, actually.

Well, here's the deal. Kyrie's father is from the Bronx. And so there's a couple of cats in the Bronx that know me well. He grew up with them. I've known them throughout my adult life. They've been mentors and friends and all of that other stuff. And so I laughed about it

because they're my boys. Hell, I'll give you some of their names. Rod Strickland, Gary Howard. Gary Howard is a former executive sports editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. At a time with 1,600 papers throughout the daily newspapers throughout this country, where you only had about two black sports editors, he was one of them. He's the former deputy sports editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer,

and he was the one that got me hired at the Philadelphia Inquirer before I got into television and all of that. So that's one of his boys, his dad's boys. You got Ross Strickland, who's his godfather. You got Gary Howard. You got his brother, Gary Howard's brother, Reggie Howard. I know these brothers. And so, and of course Kenny Smith from TNT because he knows

them like family. And so, you know, they all reached out to me at one point in time or another Steve and Amen, you know, lay off, whatever. And I said, yo, fellas, I said y'all caught up in how I deliver and how I talk. You're not listening to my content. The only thing I said about the brothers, y'all caught up in how I deliver and how I talk you're not listening to my content the only thing I said about the brothers you gotta show up to work you don't show up to work you don't get paid you can talk all that stuff you want all the time

I had a problem taking the vaccine I don't have any problem with anybody who was quite you know apprehensive about taking the vaccine I was talking about a different discussion the different discussion is they all there in Brooklyn because of you. You wanted them there. And they all signed on. They said, yo, we got to go for the chip. And shit, we can't do it unless we vaccinate it because they

going to get in our way. And everybody said we down but you. Oh, you know what? Jalen Brown didn't take the vaccine. Well, Massachusetts didn't have it. Boston didn't have that policy in place. New York does. It ain't fair. Andrew Wiggins, Golden State, hell.

City of San Francisco had that policy. Andrew Wiggins didn't want to take the vaccine. They were like, yo, man, we trying to win the chip. And that's what he did. I said, that's what I was addressing. So you could talk about putting something in your body and all that stuff. And I get it. And that's real.

No question about it. But at the end of the day, you trying to win the chip or not. And then it didn't happen. I said, look, that ain't the only time you missed work. You've been missing games for years. It's 11 years. You've never played more than 60 games in the season before times in 11 years. So I pointed out that stuff and I said, you ain't going to get paid. You can book it. And so when people saw me on the air, they were like, oh, you're trying not to get the brother paid. Once again, you don't pay attention to my career. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you.

I didn't tell him not to pay him. I'm saying, this is what they're telling me. You ain't going to get this money now. And I had owners like, he ain't getting that money. And what happened this summer? He didn't get that money. He had to opt in and play the final year of his deal because as he admitted,

there were not but so many options. What have I been telling y'all all year? And so now we fast forward to this season. Bradley Beal got $200-plus million. Zach Levine in Chicago got $200-plus million. I want Kyrie to get his money, but you are a spectacular box office caliber talent that we deserve to see. His problem, in my opinion, is that we're beneath him.

It's like he's so brilliant and he's such a savant that he sees things that none of us see. Well, damn it. What we really want to see is you ball. What we really want to see is you playing 41 nights a year at Barclays Center, at least. At least. How about 30?

Okay? Get on the roll. Put in more than 60 games in a season. And be the showstopper that you are. So I'm not going to disrespect him like Kareem did. I think that's unnecessary, but you've got to remember, Kareem is a civil rights activist. His brother's deep as hell.

He's been around a long time. He's one of the greatest who's ever lived. He's qualified to say what he said. I wouldn't go that far, but I do think the frustration seeps in because you're looking at him and you're saying, come on, bro. Some of the things that you say and some of the positions that you're taking, you retweet and stuff about conspiracy theories and all of this.

I mean, it's the kind of stuff that damages you. It damages the brand, and it makes you look bad, and somebody needs to tell you. That's all I would have said if I was Kareem as opposed to calling him names, but that's just me. Should Tua retire? I think so. I'm not sure because we don't

know all the details. I will tell you, if I were him, I'm suing somebody. And I'm not usually that dude, but I'm suing somebody. For him to take the hit Sunday in Buffalo, you get up, you stumble, you fall back down, and for them to say it was a back issue,

it was not a head issue. Understand what concussion protocols. You usually take six to seven days. He had another game in four, four days. Okay? You put his life in danger. Because he's back out there. In fairness to the Miami Dolphins, they

swear, we followed all the necessary protocols, we did everything right, we stand by that. Well, why the hell the independent doctor that you had, why did you release him? Why did he get dismissed? Because you didn't do everything right. And anybody with two eyes can see that brother was in a world of trouble. You put him back in the same game Sunday.

Then you turned around, you played him Thursday. And everybody tells you the second concussion is what's the most dangerous. The first concussion does damage. But the second one is where your life can really, really be in danger. And in my opinion, he shouldn't be allowed to play for the rest of the season at the very least. At the very least. And considering concussions

and how big these brothers are compared to him, the next hit, you'll know what kind of damage that could do. I want to ask you this question. I asked you this question a couple of years ago, and I wonder if your thoughts have changed. Because I asked you when it's all said and done, when we talk about just basketball, who will this era be remembered by, Curry or LeBron James?

Who will go down as the guy for this era? Just basketball, nothing else, nothing outside the court, nothing, just on the court. For me, I can't separate that. I have to say LeBron. But it's exactly because of what you don't want me to touch on. See, when they talk about LeBron, you can't avoid talking about everything. When you talk about

Curry, you can't help but talk about only basketball. There's nothing else that he gives you. LeBron gives you more because of the issues he's willing to tackle, his willingness to speak out, how he's been a target by some people and what have you. Well, just basketball, Stephen A.

Just on the court. I think, listen, Curry's a bad, bad brother. He's the greatest shooter who ever lived. No doubt about it. But the onslaught has come lately. LeBron has been, I'm going with LeBron because LeBron came into the league with that kind of fan

fear. Delivered ultimately with four championships and ten NBA Finals appearances. He got four too? Yeah. And beat LeBron? I don't know. Three times. He's been beat LeBron. No question. And I heard you say something on the show. You said that you were talking about Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. You said

that you can't give it to Wilt over Bill because Bill beat him. 11 titles. It's a good point. It's a good point. I can't even front. It's a good point, Charlemagne. I can't deny it because to me, Curry's my favorite player. But I can just tell you as a guy that goes to the

arenas, man, when LeBron walks in, it's just a different feel. It's a different... As much as you love Curry and as much as you love watching Golden State and as entertaining as they are, I think he's the greatest shoe to ever live. Greatest shoe that God ever created. It's just that dude. Right? When LeBron walks into

a building, bro, it's a different animal. So when Curry repeats this year and gets his fifth ring. I believe he will, by the way. You know, I picked him. I picked him to repeat. What do you think then? He repeats fifth ring? Yeah. Got him. Okay. Got him. Probably. Especially if he doesn't beat him.

Especially if he smokes. I don't think the Lakers gonna beat him. I think they're gonna play us though. I think they're gonna play us. Alright, well Stephen A. Smith, straight shooter. Pre-order it now. We appreciate you for joining us. Appreciate you, man. You gotta come up a little early next time so we got more conversation. Man, I'm happy to. Can I mention something before I go back? Absolutely. HBCU Week at Disney

World. I'll be there this Thursday and Friday. We're just celebrating that Disney's involved with HBCU Week. The last two and a half years, we generated over $12 million in scholarships for over 2,000 students. So they're going to be down at Disney World on Friday and First Take is airing.

We're televising the show live from Disney World on Friday for HBCU week. So check it out. Well, there you have it. Stephen A. Smith. Go pre-order that book, Scray Shooter. I appreciate you, bro. It's The Breakfast Club.

Good morning. 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 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. Hi, I'm Marie.

And I'm Sydney. And we're Mess. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called Mess, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is, not everything is a mess. Sometimes it's just living. Yeah, things like J-Lo on her third divorce. Living.

Girls trip to Miami. Mess. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. It's kind of a mess. Yeah. Well, you get it. Got it?

Live, love, mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami? Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story 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. 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 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.