Stephen A. Smith is the unofficial king of the sports mediascape these days. After rising to global prominence on ESPN’s industry-leading show “First Take” with Skip Bayless, Smith now headlines the show across from Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.
Smith and Bayless had what appeared to be a fractured relationship at the end of their tenure together, as did Sharpe and Bayless, who worked together for Fox Sports after Bayless left ESPN.
Now, a clip is making the rounds online that may show that the ice is cracking under Smith and Sharpe.
Shannon Sharpe vs. Stephen A. Smith starting to sound like Shannon Sharpe vs. Skip Bayless pic.twitter.com/SLqUBbstD4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 25, 2024
Fans reacted to the viral segment on social media.
“It’s like when Stephen a told max I let you talk boxing Shannon said Stephen a you don’t know football,” one fan said on Twitter, referencing a moment between Smith and one his former colleagues, Max Kellerman.
“Soooo… you’re saying Unc is the problem and Skip wasn’t?” one fan wondered.
“Maybe Skip is just skip and Shannon has an ego problem like he did as a player. Which is why he’s single,” one fan added.
“Good cause SAS be trolling too much. This show used to actually be good w actual sports takes. Now everything is for clicks. I believe Shannon really be wanting to talk sports fr at times but the non athletes just want views for money,” one fan added.
“That’s the first time Shannon got fed up with Stephen A since he’s been there. But I get it dude clearly has a soft spot for Jerry Jones, meanwhile both of them are tryna educate him and he’s still tryna argue his bad point,” one fan added.
It’ll be interesting to see if this is the beginning of the end of Sharpe and Smith’s partnership.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.