The Ringer NBA Show - Stephen A. Smith on Covering Allen Iverson, Why He Pursued a Career In Broadcast Media, His Deep Bond With Kobe Bryant, and His Past Partnership With Skip Bayless | Real Ones

Episode Date: January 12, 2023

Logan and Raja are joined by ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith to discuss what it was like to cover Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers during his time as a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer (4:52). Along the way, Raja and Stephen briefly reminisce on the eccentric nature of head coach Larry Brown (20:19). Next, the ‘First Take’ host explains how his bond with Kobe Bryant evolved over the course of their careers (26:46). Later, they talk about Smith’s new book, ‘Straight Shooter,’ and his past partnership with Skip Bayless (30:05). Finally, the guys close out with their Real Ones of the Week (34:53). Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guest: Stephen A. Smith Associate Producer: Jonathan Kermah Production Assistant: Kai Grady Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up everybody? It's Austin Rivers from the Minnesota Timberwolves. It's a new year and I have a new podcast here at the Ringer, Offguard, hosted by me and my guide, Pasha Higigi. Austin and I go way back and talk so much hoop already that we figure those time to fire up the mics and let you in on all of these conversations. Every week, Pasha and I will hit on the biggest stories happening in the league.

And get Austin's perspective of someone currently hooping in the NBA. Tap into OffGuard every Friday on the Ringer NBA show feed on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. What's popping? Real ones. Logan Murdoch here, Roger Bell there. Roger, got a big guest in the building, dog. Somebody we've been waiting on for a few years now, big dog.

Yeah. Wait, wait, let me, let me, let me, let's get up the voice. Before I get to the name, let's get to the bio, man. Let's go. You know him from first take. You know him from quite frankly when you was a little, when you was a little whippersnapper. You know him from NBA countdown.

You know him as a beat writer for the Philadelphia 76ers. for the Philadelphia Inquirer where he covered a young guard by the name of Raja Bell as a youth. And you know, and you go and know him next week for his new book, Straight Shooter, which is expected to drop on January 17th. We got the pride of Hollis Queens in the motherfucking building. We got Stephen A. Smith. What's popping Stephen A? How you doing, Bigg? What's up, fellas?

How y'all doing, man? Ross, been a long time, baby. It's been a long time, my brother. How you been, man? Good to see you, bro. I think the last time, Logan, the last time I saw Stephen A, I think, person. We were, it was a preseason game. Stephen A. probably doesn't remember this. I was sidelined with the cabs in whatever capacity I was working that night. And he asked me about David

Blatt and specifically about how guys were kind of going to relate to David Black. And I said, hey man, I think he's going to be okay. I said he's got this weird matchup zone that I think could give people a problem. I was getting all into my bag. Because I, David, Black is a very, full disclosure. He's a very, very smart dude and knows his basketball. But Stephen A was looking at me side-eyed the whole time and I'm like he knew

better than me at the time because boys was not buying into that shit. Yeah, yeah, man. I mean, it's like you know, I mean, Raj knows that slogan because a lot of times you know, you're a reporter, you're a pundit and all and the stuff. People forget they seem your first take

that I've been a reporter for over 25 years. I started off as a high school report. to work my way up through college and the pro ranks and all of that stuff. And so what happens is that you get to know cats and when you're in the vicinity, that's the hazard. That's the one hazard of being successful

at what I do now. I'm stuck in studio a lot. I want to go to games. Y'all know me. I'm not one of those cats where, well, you know what? I got my television show. So I never want to be in the locker room.

I never want to go. No, I like going to the game. I like being in the locker room. I like cats to catch me before after a game and want to hollering. at me over something I said or something they want me to say or whatever the case may be. And so I say all of that to say that when I went up to Raj, it's like, I'm asking you this question. You know, I know the damn answer. You know what I'm being told. I mean, you're telling

me this bullshit. That ain't going to work. I'm not. I was like looking at Raj's like, I'm your man. I'm your boy. We go back years. How are you telling me this bullshit? I'm not going for that. That's not what I'm hearing right now. It wasn't really about David Blatt's knowledge about basketball. I specifically asked, how was he going to relate to the players? Because he had never coached in the NBA. He was coaching in Europe.

And now you know, here you are in the NBA. I said, this is a different beat. And Raj tried. He really, really did because he's a loyal cap, man. I did. It wasn't working. Hey, Stephen A, you know when you're talking to somebody, right? When you're talking to, Stephen A knows this as a reporter.

You know when you sniff out bullshit. And when you're like, you're not, you're not locked in right now. You're telling you're speaking. Because all of a sudden they get slow. They start talking around the subject. And you like, bro, why are you BSing me right now? Why are you doing that? Just answer the question.

But I don't blame folks for answers like that if you're talking to somebody you don't know. My look with Raj is, this is me. Like, you know me, bro. You know me. You know me. I was all the way down to the rabbit hole of talking matchup's own principles and shit and how they would relate to the NBA. before I realized them, bro, where are you going with this shit? No, I didn't know.

But in fairness, in fairness, I was the eternal optimist. I was hoping. Yes. I was really hoping, you know. You are. And that is you. Stephen, I want to go from the beginning or at least the beginning of where we know you collectively, right? Me and Rajah always talk about your time with the Philadelphia Inquirer, especially during his time when he was an 0-1 during that postseason run.

You had Roger Bell. You also had a guy by the name of Alan Iverson on that team. what was that run like and what was it like for you as a reporter when you were going through that time where you were kind of you were really cutting your teeth as a beat writer and a columnist but what was that specific

time like covering Alan Iverson and those 76ers? It was one of the greatest experiences of my career without question if not my life because you know it was crystallized you know you talk about culminating points years later when AI

retired, AI insisted that I'd be at his retirement. And I was hesitant, but I said, I'd go, you know, because that's his day in the whole bid. And Aaron McKee had come up to me. And I was like, I just wanted to be with his family and joy this moment. And Aaron McKee and George and Lynch and him came up to me. They're like, you are family. And, you know, to cover the team to watch just that previous summer where they talked about

trade in Alan Arverson and to see the kind of mission he was on to see that look in his eye. It was something different. Raj should speak to that. It was just something different, man. He wasn't playing. He wasn't playing at all.

And you knew it because it was like, how dare you think about this? And he had a team, and this is what was so special about the 76thus. Everybody had this back. Everybody knew their roles. And, I mean,

I'm telling you right now, Yeah, Alan Iverson and his offensive prowess stood alone. But he would have just been, he would have been just another score if it wasn't for that team. I mean, from Larry Brown on down to the players, Eric Snow and Aaron McKee. And, you know what, I didn't like the fact that they traded Theo Rattler. Because Theo Rattler was blocking three and a half shots in game. I mean, this brother was, I mean, he was an eraser. Nothing was coming inside on Theo Rattler, you know.

but obviously the Kembe Matumbo was a bigger body that you felt would give you a slightly better chance against the dominant Shaquille O'Neal in this prime. It's just one of them things, man, where it's one of the rare occasions that I saw and there was not a single player that I disliked. Not when everybody, you literally looked at everybody with admiration

because all of them were rough riders. all of them. They weren't back and down to anybody. And you knew you were going to be in a fight. If on the rare occasions that they were, that their scoring prowess was up there and they'd getting a shootout fine. But by and large, it was going to be a dog fight. We were going to scratch me. We were going to scrap me. We were going to claw. And it got to a point where I've never seen anything like this. It sort of sifted down to the media because the media became combative with people who tried to bring in the question the character of the team. Because you looked at the team and it was like, you're these brothers rough riders.

This is what it is. They ain't backing up to anybody. The only time I backed off was when you were going up against Shackley, Kobe. I said it ends now. The ride has been nice. You're going home to five. You're going home five. And that's what happened.

But prior to that, I'd picked them to beat Toronto. I'd pick them to beat Milwaukee. and I just sort of character of the team, man, and to me, looking at the game the day, if you ran across team collectively with that kind of character,

you'd see similar success. Yeah, I'm going to second a lot of what he said. Now, Stephen, you know I got there so late in that process. He would need it. Well, it worked out for me, certainly, and I did lend something to the cause. But what I felt when I got there was what he's talking about. Every single person on that team,

not only were they tough as hell. Like it was true, as you would say, Logan. Like that was a Tim's and hard hat team, bro. Like cats were out there really getting after it in the paint, literally, and out on that perimeter. It was a grimy, beat you up, earn every scrap you get type of team. But behind closed doors, these were professional grown men who welcomed like a young, first time pro into not only like their team,

but into their families in some regards. Like I was going, you know, to holiday dinners at every. Eric Snows and Aaron McKee was having me over to hang out and show me the ropes and DeKembe was taking me to dinners on the road. I tell these stories. So it was really interesting to me to see the kind of the guy on the court and the team that we had to be to be successful, but get to know these people as really engaging human, caring people off the court.

And I want to ask you, Stephen A, because Alan often, for people who don't know him, get this stigma about, you know, who he was and kind of, you know, He hit the NBA at a time and was changing the culture. And we all know on this pod, not everybody was for that. And so he gets a bad rap at times. But I found him to be one of the best teammates I ever played with and played for. He took care of us in a way and made us feel a part of his family in a way that not every star can do. And I would just say the evidence of that is exactly what you just said.

Everybody on that court would have fought, scrapped and laid down for Alan Iverson. You don't get that kind of loyalty by being an asshole. Yeah. Well, he was never that with his teammates. You know, I can tell you that I've known Alan Iverson now for over 25 years. Alan Iverson has never spoken negatively about a teammate. Ever. Ever. Right.

He has an uttered a negative syllable about a teammate. Those his boys. Those are the cast that he goes to war with. That's how he treats him. and that's the way that he always was. And the bad rap that he gets, obviously because of some of his decision making, which he's openly admitted. But where I ultimately come to his defense is where his heart lies.

That brother don't have a bad bone, man. He don't wish no home or nobody. You know, he's been through a lot, and he has to stomach a lot, and it's very, very difficult for him to trust. All of those things are true and rightfully so. But it ain't just because he went to jail. And the system tried to screw him over and end his life before he had one. It's also because once he became an NBA superstar, you had people in his inner circle who betrayed him.

Stole money from him. Did a lot of took advantage of him, took him for granted. And so he and I are incredibly tight. I just spoke to him yesterday, Raj. We don't speak again tomorrow. But that's my man. That's like the little brother I never had. And I got a lot of love for him because I know who he is.

I know what he's about. And more importantly, even with the mistakes he's made, I know why. And I'd never repeat him, but I know why. And I understand that. Oh, please say, what's up to Chuck from me? It's been a long time. I spoke to him. I have a question for both of you all.

Because I think both of you have a unique ability to separate, to Stephen A's point, the soul of a said athlete from, the ultimate portrayal of the athlete or whoever they are, you know, when they've got to get up in front of the media and stuff like that. And you can call one out and still acknowledge that the other one is a good human being. Why is that so hard for some journalists? Like, I'm not a true journalist. Why is that so difficult?

Because jealousy and the, and this belief that they have a right to define what you should be, as opposed to embracing who you are. And then hypocrisy lasts but not loose. Because if you communicated with them more, they would feel better about it. Because you don't communicate with them as much as they would like.

That's a license to castigate you or to label you in some kind of way. There's a few cats, not a lot, because I get along with most. There's a few cats that haven't spoken to me. I don't give a damn. It doesn't impact how I'm going to cover them. if it is, I'm going to call it like I see it.

If I know you, that's different. It's going to heighten my level of sensitivity, but not communicating with you is not going to make me go after you. I'm going to look at what you do, and I'm going to judge it accordingly. I'm going to do everything I cannot to judge you because I don't believe in character assassinating somebody. If you make a mistake, I'm going to call it like I see it.

You might heighten your levels of sensitivity towards me because you don't like the fact that I called you out for what you did, But I know the difference between that and trying to label who you are. And I know that I'm the same dude that's going to go up and defend you to the masses, even if it brings heat in my direction because it's the right thing to do. I'm not looking for your friendship. I'm looking to do what's right. If we're friends and we boys because of that, because we're like-minded,

then we appreciate that thinking, cool. If we don't, we don't. And that's just the way that it is. But a lot of people don't feel that way. And that's on them. That's their cross to bear. I think also, like, to echo what Stephen A says, I think a lot of these players in general, there's a couple of things, but more than anything, it won't consistency.

Stephen A is out here going to call you out. It's the same shit that he tells you in a locker room, right? Or if it's the same thing that he believes to be true, because I believe he's going to stand on everything that he writes. Rod knows that. And there's also, wait. Hey, hey, hold up, though. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Stephen A, you be talking, listen, bro.

Hey, listen, I see you sometimes. I'm gonna keep it a buck because I know you a long time. Sometimes I see you, I'd be like, oh shit, bro. You're talking, you're talking, you popping big shit up there, bro. You will really step up in there. And Logan said, because I haven't seen you in a while.

Logan says, no, no, he's standing right there. Just like he said he was going to be. He's standing right there. I said, okay. I see. I told, I told Roy, Steve a day. I was like, because I saw you, I mean, I've seen you a few times. I mean, we work in the same circles.

But, like, a specific event is I saw you in Memphis. It was Memphis, Brooklyn, I think of March. I saw you then. And when I tell you, Rob, this dude has the fucking face like he's about to play in a game, his damn self. Like, I'll be one of the dead. Stephen A, I'll fuck with Stephen A. We're cool. So I'd dapp him up when I see him.

But there be, there's a time in a fucking place because there be sometimes where he is just staring through and he's locked in and he's getting ready for his hit. He's like that all the time, bro. Like, I see him. I see him. And I also see the other side of it, right? Like I see, I've seen him also talk to James Harden days after he's criticized him or something like that in Houston. You get what I'm saying? Like, I've also seen him stand on that.

I do want to get back to the, to something that I wanted to ask about Alan Iverson, Stephen. And it'll start with a story. And I've told this story to Roger before where, you know, I'm from Oakland. I'm from the Bay. And I remember there was one night my pops. He went out one night and he saw this crowd in downtown Oakland. and the crowd was surrounding Allen Iverson about to go into a club. And actually, Alan got him in the club and pulled him in.

Roger says he might have been there at this club. I say all that to say, Alan Iverson was a full-time beat where you had to know. And you say references in your book about how you have to not only cover his on-court exploits, but his off-court exploits. How did you prepare as a beat writer to cover those two beats simultaneously? And also make sure that, you know, you are getting, you are covering a team as a whole. How did you do that as a beat writer? What was your mindset in covering and covering those two things simultaneously?

Alan Iverson was a beat in and of himself. He was my walking nightmare. I used to complain. There was a half the time I was angry about, I was angry at him. It's because he got into some shit when I was on vacation. It almost never. It almost never felt. I mean, when I'm there every day, he's, you know,

He's doing the same, oh shit. Yeah, it might be late to practice a lot or whatever the case may be, but that's about it. He's just doing what he's doing. The dramatic stuff always happened when I was on vacation. And I was like, damn it. Ooh, you know what I'm saying? A lot of times. And one of the reasons that sometimes he didn't get mad at me when I wrote some of the things that I wrote is because he knew that I wrote it with attitude because he got me on vacation.

He said, I fucked up your vacation. I said, yeah, you did. Yeah, you did. You know what I'm saying? It was just to give him. But you can't help himself. But I would tell you that the beat itself, you know, it was Alan Overson, but it wasn't just Alan Arsson because Larry Brown was there.

And he was his own eccentric personality. And he had, you know, issues with players. It's Raj one day is George Lynch the next. It's Eric Snow to next. It's AI all the time. It's approachy. And it's like when you're a reporter, you don't just know players,

you know coaches, you know executives, you know, players, you know personnel, people, you know scouts, you know administrators. You connected to everything. So it was like I always knew stuff. Now, did I know everything? No one knows everything. But I knew more than most.

And so for me it was like, you know what? Really? you know, went one time when, you know, the former president's brother stole stuff from Ivers. I knew the story. You know, I knew he went into the dudes locker and stole the jury.

I knew what he did. You know? Damn. I knew all of this stuff, you know. And you got to go through it. But Alan Iverson definitely heightened the microscope or intensified the microscope

on the team, not just because of him, but because of what he represented. And every time it was something else, it was still an Alan Iverson story. Because when something else happened, they'd be like, see, see, he ain't the only problem, but y'all ain't writing about them. You only talking about them.

How come you ain't doing that? All of that other stuff, you know, because you had people who hated him and you had people who loved them. But he was always the centerpiece. Because no matter what story you wrote about, it came back to him in some capacity. Wait, Stephen A, real quick,

Tell me a vacation story where you was like, fuck, man. When he got into that stuff with the whole wife and the family member and supposedly kicking out the house, all of the stories that was being written, man, I was in Barbados. I had to come back. What a daquery. Like, come on, man. Yeah, man, I'm like, what?

Maybe you got to get back. I had to cut my vacation short by about three or four days. Oh, I was pissed. I was good. Stephen A brought up Larry Brown. Logan, I don't know if you've crossed paths with Larry Brown at all. I have not. Phenomenal coach.

I'm talking about the type of recall that very few people have. Like most basketball players, like LeBron did something a few years ago where he detailed a couple plays. But most people can kind of do that if you've seen enough basketball. Larry Brown do it for a whole, a whole quarter. Different level. Larry Brown came to me one time and he said, Stephen, come here. he said you wrote about Raj and how he played this game well but you know what step in a at the 535 mark he made this mistake and then five minutes later he made this mistake and then i sit up down

and i bring him in about 12 minutes later so he can understand what i was saying and he made the same damn mistake but you didn't talk you didn't call that out he said why you're getting sore you get sore steven you don't want to call him out yeah well he hey listen he ain't lying because that moufo hey i still will wake up occasionally and like a oh like a a a threat, like a cold sweat. And you know what I'm hearing in my sleep? That goddamn Larry Brown, bro. Yeah.

He was a character. Nonstop, bro. Nonstop. Some of him in Allen's exchanges are legendary. Relentless. But Stephen A, I wanted to ask you, though, on the real, because obviously knowing you, like, you know, you were covering bigger fish than me. Like, you might.

And so I didn't get to know you super well back in those Philly days. But, you know, as I grew as a player, you know, I got to know you better. And then, you know, you were on your way to becoming this media star that you are. Now, what was the genesis of that? Like, what was the inception of you saying, like, man, like maybe I want to be, maybe I want to get into that medium. Do you know what I mean? How'd that work?

I'm just curious. I never asked you. 2001, y'all go to the NBA Finals. I'm working on the beat. God rest of the soul of Phil Jasner, who was my competitor at the Philadelphia Daily News at that time. Good dude. A good man. Good man.

A good dude. And I really miss him. but he was my competitor, along with various others. And it just got to a point where I was so connected and I did things my own way that I got a lot of stories. And I was winning a lot of stories. So I was creating a lot of headlines, stuff like that. And I was clearly the star of the Philadelphia media.

What happened was is that Philadelphia gets to the playoffs and they clearly making a run to the finals. They were 56 games that year. They go 56 to 26.26. They're top seed. You know, they knock off in the end in first round. They sit up there. they go up against the rods from Milwaukee.

And as those things continue to materialize, the Philadelphia Inquirer pushed me to the backburn. And the reason they did that wasn't personal. What happens is the investigative reporting features, profiles, all of this stuff because you're trying to build subscribers and you're trying to get advertisers to invest in your product. So all of that stuff, it was a revenue play. And when they did that, I was confined.

to my 800-word article and nothing more. And when I saw that, and then I turned on talk radio, well, in two minutes, you could say the same amount of stuff you said in the 800-word article. And I said, this ain't the play. Plus, I'm sitting there from a newspaper salary perspective. By that time, I'm making about $85,000.

Well, radio, you're making half a million, 600,000, 700,000 you go to the TV route Well, they're bringing in seven figures And I'm looking at I'm listening to folks in radio I'm watching folks on television I'm like shit I can do a better job than them

I could do this And that's when I committed myself To making that transition Because the collaborative The reality of that Combine with what you could make In television and radio Combine with the fact that I recognize

That the print industry not literal print from the standpoint of writing digitally, but the newspaper industry was a dying industry to some degree. If you weren't working for the L.A. Times, New York Times, New York Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, one of those big newspapers, your days were, I mean, the numbers were limited. And I just saw it as an opportunity for me to be a bit more expansive and to push myself to another level, and that's what I did. Tip off the NBA season with Fanduel,

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Hope NY, 467-369, New York, 1,800 522-2-470-0, Wyoming, or visit www. Waiw, Waiw, or visit www.1-800 gambler.net, West Virginia. One of my favorite shows and why I referenced it at the top was, quite frankly, one of your best interviews on there with Kobe Bryant. And any time, like, Alan Iverson is obviously someone you are tied to. But I feel like in every big moment of Kobe's career, one of them, like in the 2000s you were there. I remember, like, looking the first hand he shakes after, you know,

in Phoenix after Raj's sons beat him is yours, right? like in 07, and he goes to, you know, he demands a trade on your radio show. Where did that start and why do you think that you guys had such a bond in that way? Kobe Bryant and I, we had a falling out. He looked at my work. He liked me. But then we had a falling out because I had interviewed Shaq. In one of the years they were playing.

And it was the year they lost in the final. San Antonio, if I remember correctly. And so he had been obviously charged with sexual assault, even County, Colorado, and all of that stuff. And I was there to do an interview on Shaq. And Shaq, I asked Shaq, because Shaq was sounding very, very supportive of Kobe in the interview. So I asked Shaq, you know, what do you think should happen? She said, who? And shocked the hell out of me and said, I don't know.

and sort of gave the impression that, you know what, he didn't particularly care what happened to Kobe, right? Because that was at the height of their friction with each other. I didn't know he was going to do that because he was sounding so receptive and supportive of Kobe until I asked him that question. He shift gears, so me.

Well, Kobe blamed me for that. And Kobe and I didn't speak for nearly two years. Wow. And then out of the blue one day, Kobe Bryant calls me while I'm on the road and he called me to apologize. And he called me to say that he was wrong to come at me that way.

He was just upset because of what happened with Shaq. And I said, but that wasn't me. That was Shaq. And so we had a long talk about that and ever since he made a pledge to me that night when we were on the phone, I shouldn't have spoke to you. He said because you're the kind of cat

that if you talk to you, and you show you that you're wrong, you'll say you're wrong, and you'll admit it. He said, and if you don't feel you wrong, you ain't budgeted. He said, I can respect that. And from that day forward, I would tell you that Kobe and I never won a month without speaking each other privately for the rest of the career.

Every month we spoke. But Logan, I know you got one more question for it, but I just want to chime in on that because it's very, it's not the same, but it's similar to my experience with Kobe. And he was just fascinated in this regard. Like, he had to,

you had to earn his respect. It came in different forms for different people and they could do it in different ways, but you had to earn his respect. He didn't just, you had to earn it. Once you earned it, you were good, but you had to earn it. That's right. Absolutely. Totally true. We're pressed

for time, but I wanted to ask you this question. You were really, I really loved your book, Straight Shooter, coming out January 17. One of the big things, you have a few chapters dedicated to Skip Bayliss. And you talk about your partnership and what you guys have gone through and things like that. And I'm honestly just asking you from, you know, a co-host perspective, like me and Rajah are pretty tight. And I'm seeing what's going on with Shannon and Skip at this very moment. And I'm wondering what the advice, not only for them would you have as just a as just a co-host, you know, dynamic with them too, but also just in general, like, how did, how do you manage, how did you were able to manage that time with Skip? And, you know, what advice would you have just in terms of just keeping a relationship with him for that long as a co-host? Because there are ups and downs as you reference in the book. And a roundabout way, not directly, fellas. But I would tell you that Skip Bayless is certain, in this one,

respect only reminds me of Larry Brown, the former coach in 76ers. Larry Brown is the kind of guy. He has to know you love him first. After that, we can springboard from that, but he has to know you love him. Because if he doesn't believe you love him, anything you say to him is an affront because he'll believe you're against him. Kit Bayliss is one of those dudes that he, he, He's an introvert. He's a loner. He does things his way in ways that nobody else does.

I'm one of the few people on the planet he's ever trusted. We don't agree on much. I didn't agree with his tweet when DeMarne Hammond went down. I didn't agree with him years ago with what he said about Troy Aitman. I didn't agree with him. I've never agreed with the incessant criticism of LeBron James. I've never agreed with him with a lot of things. He does not care.

what he cares is that I'm going to disagree with his perspective but not try to character assassinate him. And I'm not even saying that other people, he hasn't brought it upon down upon himself for them to come at him that way. Because if you Russell Westbrook, you should have a problem with him calling you Westbrook. If you Chris Bosch, you should have a problem with him calling you Bosch spice, you know, or something like that. Calling folks, you know, you should have a problem with that. disrespect the fact that I can't do that because I wouldn't be on first take if it wasn't for Skid Bayl's. Skid Baylis bought me on the show.

And I owe him that. I can disagree with him. I can tell you I disagree with him. I can tell you why. I can argue a butt heads back and forth with him. But what I would never do is betray his trust because I know him in ways other people don't. and as a result,

I wouldn't get into character assassinating him. I would never do that to him. Having said all of that, I would tell you that Shannon is in a difficult spot. These are, first take's been number one for 11 years, and we've been number one all six years

that Skip has been gone, and we continue to shine in the whole bit. But that doesn't mean I root against Skip, and Shannon, Skip is my man. And I got a lot of love for Shannon. Shannon's a good brother, man. You know, and a lot of people try to get at him and they try to attack him and all of this other stuff. Wrong dude.

Don't come to me with that. That brother's a three-time Super Bowl champion. He is an NFL Hall of Famer. Shannon Sharp is a special dude. And I would tell you, the only thing that I would say is that he came across as someone who felt disrespected. Shannon Sharp is not deserved. disrespect from any of us, any of us. He deserves our respect. Whether it's me, a skip, is you, guys, or anybody else, he deserves our respect. We can differ with the opinion.

We don't have to, you know, we don't have to be disrespectful in any way. And so what I would say, my advice is just to make sure that you have that respect for one another. Because without it, you can't be a team and you can't succeed if you're not going to be teammates. Hello, this is your Real Ones podcast, and I am Jade. Did you know Roger Bell's career high in points per game was 14.7 points with the 76ers? That's 14.7 more than Logan, Kerm, and Kai's stats combined because them boys do not get buckets. Right before we got here, we do a segment on our Thursday show called Real One of the Week. We name a person, entity organization that just won the week. So I'm go first to go to Ron and we're going to do it with our guest of honor here, Stephen A.

I'm going to go with DeMar Hamlin, who just got out of the Buffalo Hospital. We're with you, man. That ain't even fair. That ain't even fair. Who the hell can disagree with that? No, it ain't no disagreement. I can't. I got to give it to Hamlin as well.

There ain't nobody who can disagree with that. There ain't no disagreement. It's your personal. If you want to shout out somebody, you got your own. That's your own. No, not after that. You should have let us go first. You should have, but that's his game.

That's his game, Stephen. That's my bad. He hops in there real quick, but I will. I will, allow me because I'm going to, I can give a co real one of the week. So this is what I'm going to do, right? Like, it's not a co. Let's say real one of the week B. It's going to be the Georgia Bulldogs for what they accomplished, like going back to back, right?

It's not a DeMarre handling situation, sure. Wrong dude. Wrong dude to talk to. I don't think they should. They deserve this. I don't think they should have won last year with Georgia. If METCHI didn't get hurt in the SEC championship game and Williams didn't get hurt in the national championship game, they wouldn't be champion.

They wouldn't have been champions until now. If it was the fifth, we'd all be drunk, brother. So that happened. Well, you hold on that. All right. Real one, Georgia Bulldogs. I'm going to go with Ham. All right.

I like Ham. No, I like Hamlin. I like Hamlin. That's your rule of the week, Stephen A? Yeah. You'll come on my show with that bullshit. You ain't, you know, just come on here and try to bully me. But I know you.

I know you too. I know you too. Oh, man. Thanks so much for coming on, man. Like I said, this was years in the making. coming on, Stephen A. I appreciate y'all, man. Take care yourself.

That's been another additional real ones. We catch us Mondays and Thursdays. Talk to you soon. Howler.