Stephen A Smh on gay kiss: Players shouldn’t be fed for beg shocked by somethg they disagree wh – The Right Sop

is stephen a smith gay

23 Dec 2024

Explore Stephen A. Smh's bgraphy, wiki, worth & salary 2023. Learn about his age, height, weight, datg, wife, girliend, kids and more. Is he gay?

STEPHEN A. SMH APOLOGIZ FOR G THE TERM ‘HOMOSEXUAL’ STEAD OF ‘GAY’ ON FIRST TAKE
WHAT’S TOTALLY NOT GAY IN THIS YEAR’S BIGGT CRIME CASE?
BTER MURDGH SAYS HE WASN'T INVOLVED GAY STUNT'S DEATH
WATCH VIRAL FOOTAGE OF KG VON ADMTG TO BEG GAY TO THE POLICE
MURDGH MURR MYSTERY: DEATH OF STEPHEN SMH, GAY MAN FOUND NEAR FAY'S PROPERTY, RULED A HOMICI
STEPHEN A SMH ON GAY KISS: PLAYERS SHOULDN’T BE FED FOR BEG SHOCKED BY SOMETHG THEY DISAGREE WH
STEPHEN C. SMH, GAY RIGHTS LOBBYIST, 37

STEPHEN A. SMH APOLOGIZ FOR G THE TERM ‘HOMOSEXUAL’ STEAD OF ‘GAY’ ON FIRST TAKE

Stephen A. Smh bgraphy wh personal life (affair, girliend , Gay), married . A llectn of facts wh age, height. * is stephen a smith gay *

Smh Gay? Monday morng, First Take dited a segment to Jackson’s Sunday performance agast the Jacksonville Jaguars and his leted tweet, which some have terpreted as ntag an anti-gay phrase. Upon briefly discsg whether the tweet was discrimatory toward the gay muny, Smh ed the term “homosexual, ” which he apologized for later the show.

“I jt wanted to addrs, at the start of the show when we were talkg about Lamar Jackson, I should have uttered the word gay, ” Smh said durg the fal segment of First Take. I should have ed the word gay.

“I’m not a homosexual so I’m not gog to fe what’s offensive to them or not, I’ll let them do that, ” Smh said the first hour of First Take.

WHAT’S TOTALLY NOT GAY IN THIS YEAR’S BIGGT CRIME CASE?

* is stephen a smith gay *

But aga, I’m, not a homosexual, so the homosexual muny, the gay muny gets to fe that better than me. “I appreciate the tn, ” he add after learng he should have said “gay. The term “homosexual” has been emed offensive, part, bee herently stigmatiz the gay muny by focg on sexual acts.

Is Stephen A Smh Gay? Stephen A Smh is not gay.

BTER MURDGH SAYS HE WASN'T INVOLVED GAY STUNT'S DEATH

The son of nvicted killer Alex Murdgh has ma his first public statement about mors lkg him to gay acquatance Stephen Smh's ath. * is stephen a smith gay *

Although he never talks about his relatnship, his two kids and broken engagement is enough to prove he is not gay. Although he is known to be married wh certaty his wife’s inty seems to be top secret and some people assume that he is eher gay or not married at all.

Even more so when beme clear at an early age that this blond haired, sensive boy was gay, his life beme even more plited. He had always had a huge heart, which is difficult for even the most homophobic person to impugn, and his goal life was to eventually bee a doctor, maybe helpg kids foreign lands who were even worse off than he had been.

WATCH VIRAL FOOTAGE OF KG VON ADMTG TO BEG GAY TO THE POLICE

But prr to the double homoci of the Murdghs, there was a boatg ath 2019 which implited the now ceased Pl Murdgh; and prr to the boatg cint was the myster ath of the Murdgh’s hoekeeper Gloria Satterfield 2018; and before that was the still unsolved killg of Stephen Smh 2015. Like many gay young adults, Stephen undoubtedly had a “msy” life. ’ He never had to say, ‘Hey mom, I’m gay.

Both Sandy Smh and fay attorneys have raised the possibily Stephen was targeted bee he was gay.

“I believe that he was killed for beg gay. “It wasn’t easy to be gay Bamberg, South Carola, not easy at all.

MURDGH MURR MYSTERY: DEATH OF STEPHEN SMH, GAY MAN FOUND NEAR FAY'S PROPERTY, RULED A HOMICI

“He was proud of beg gay. Bter Murdgh, the son of nvicted killer Alex Murdgh, has ma his first public statement on the ath of gay classmate Stephen Smh, sayg he was not a relatnship wh Smh and had nothg to do wh his ath.

The late rapper’s rerd label released one of his albums dubbed “Grandsos” last week, and this week there’s a viral vio of Kg Von admtg to the police officers that he was gay, and social media is gog nuts. The vio first posted by DJ Akamiks saw Kg Von requtg that police officers put him protective ctody bee he was gay and hence uld be attacked a regular jail cell.

STEPHEN A SMH ON GAY KISS: PLAYERS SHOULDN’T BE FED FOR BEG SHOCKED BY SOMETHG THEY DISAGREE WH

The late 26-year-old never admted publicly that he was homosexual or gave any sign that fans would notice, hence the vio shockg fans. However, on Tuday, footage went viral of the “Took Her to the O” rapper claimg to be gay so that he uld be moved to PC, durg a stt behd bars. Nah Jalen Green… that’s a gay sex tape, bh.

"We have to hire a properly crentialed crimal forensic expert who n exhume a body and terme a e of ath based on somebody beg a ff for a long perd of time, " the Smh fay's attorney, Eric Bland, tells Insi was openly gay, and acrdg to a Netflix documentary on the Murdgh murrs, he was mored to have had a relatnship wh body was found on a lonely untry road near the Murdgh tate, wh his r three away and apparently out of gas. Stephen A Smh mak clear that he is socially liberal and had no problem seeg the gay kiss between Michael Sam and his boyiend.

Smh’s remarks are below but **be forewarned** that ESPN plays the ‘gay kiss’ twice durg Smh’s ments, once small screen and once full screen. Smh issued an on-air apology for — of all thgs — g the word “homosexual. They wonred whether Jackson’s tweet uld be viewed as discrimatory toward the gay muny, and over the urse of that discsn Smh said “homosexual.

STEPHEN C. SMH, GAY RIGHTS LOBBYIST, 37

“I jt wanted to addrs, at the start of the show when we were talkg about Lamar Jackson, I should have uttered the word gay, ” Smh groveled. Smh apologized for g the word “homosexual, ” a word that most of had no ia was even a “problem. However, isn’t “homosexual” like the official verbiage?

ApologyESPNFirst TakeGayStephen A. There was basketball analyst Chris Brosard exprsg his fah-based disapproval of homosexualy relatn to Jason Colls beg the NBA’s first openly gay player.

BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM IS STEPHEN A SMITH GAY

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class="ContentHearContaer-cGKRbE knDxNq"><div class="ContentHearHedAccredatnWrapper-GFiQf cDNVlV"><div data-ttid="ContentHearTleBlockWrapper" class="ContentHearTleBlockWrapper-cjmSKp cCntXd"><div data-ttid="ContentHearRubric" class="ContentHearRubricBlock-LmpbT eRFpQc"><div data-ttid="ContentHearRubricDateBlock" class="ContentHearRubricDateBlock-kAQcZP fTFWxD"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kpuNXj bric ContentHearRubricContaer-eTudtt iRsSlw"><a class="RubricLk-gRWSOU fTtYjx bric__lk" href="/culture"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Culture</span></a></div></div></div><h1 data-ttid="ContentHearHed" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContentHearHed-NCyCC iUEiRd jPOabC BjYFU">Stephen A. Smh Is Never Satisfied</h1></div><div class="ContentHearAccredatn-lfctVB etVsnJ ntent-hear__accredatn" data-ttid="ContentHearAccredatn"><div class="ContentHearDek-bIqFFZ eASNBN">He's a giant of sports media. A self-ma man who's overe tremendo odds to bee the biggt star at ESPN. But now that he's reached the top, where do Stephen A. Smh go om here? To fd out, <strong>Drew Magary</strong> attempts to keep up wh the take-master himself.</div><div class="ContentHearByle-kmPyCa emiglw"><div class="ContentHearByleContent-dpPmNn DRFq"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl ContentHearByl-cZqgyJ bHLeKI"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH gtxxjM byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd dlWgVJ gnILss byle__preamble">By </span><a class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM ByleLk-gEnFiw iUEiRd fhQbnq dzFUnH eErqIx byle__name-lk button" href="/ntributor/drew-magary">Drew Magary</a></span></span></p><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH gtxxjM byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd dlWgVJ gnILss byle__preamble">Photography by </span><a class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM ByleLk-gEnFiw iUEiRd fhQbnq dzFUnH eErqIx byle__name-lk button" href="/ntributor/evan-angelastro">Evan Angelastro</a></span></span></p></div><time data-ttid="ContentHearPublishDate" dateTime="2019-12-11T08:00:00-05:00" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContentHearPublishDate-eIBicG iUEiRd ivrQAn cZpOSL">December 11, 2019</time></div></div><div class="SocialInsWrapper-hKMEXV ffgPVr social-ins social-ins--standard ContentHearAccredatnSocialIns-jorO fPzfaa ntent-hear__social-share"><ul data-ttid="socialInslist" class="SocialInsList-cHVTIA ivmblD social-ins__list"></ul></div></div></div><div class="ContentHearLeadAsset-hGbumP diZztE lead-asset ContentHearLeadAssetWrapper-hfXHEc Grck lead-asset--width-fullbleed" data-ttid="ContentHearLeadAsset"><figure class="ContentHearLeadAssetContent-kOfYSG dRGWbI"><div class="ContentHearLeadAssetContentMedia-bLEIpi jjhWdS lead-asset__ntent__photo"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset ContentHearRponsiveAsset-bREgIb hONbnm"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz geEhAT"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa ContentHearRponsiveAsset-bREgIb hONbnm rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w, 1920w, 2240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Image may nta Stephen A. Smh Tie Accsori Accsory Human Person Furnure Table Coat and Clothg" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></div></div></span></div></figure></div></div><asi class="PersistentAsiWrapper-VGrR oEIBz persistent-asi persistent-asi--align-left" style="posn:absolute;top:to;height:to" data-ttid="PersistentAsiWrapper"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jNgrSF sticky-box ContentHearPersistentAsi-fsnAmQ dFzKzm"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="SocialInsWrapper-hKMEXV ffgPVr social-ins social-ins--has-background ContentHearSocialIns-jzJiyg ctaZl social-ins--share"><ul data-ttid="socialInslist" class="SocialInsList-cHVTIA ivmblD social-ins__list"></ul></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></asi></hear></div><div data-attribute-verso-pattern="article-body" class="ArticlePageContentBackGround-cNiFNN kJkLmH article-body__ntent"><div class="ArticlePageChunksContent-etcMtP eRxRjL"><div data-ttid="ArticlePageChunks" class="ArticlePageChunks-fLyCVG eSsnKa"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p><strong>Stephen A. Smh shouldn’t be talkg right now.</strong> It’s 6 A.M. the morng of Game 3 of the NBA Fals, and the biggt name at ESPN has e down wh a sore throat that ambhed him the middle of the prev night. As a rult, Stephen A. isn’t gonna do his ual rad show today. He’s not gonna even cut a promotnal teaser for <em>First Take</em>, the sports bate show that he pris over that is now the crown jewel of ESPN’s daytime TV programmg. We’re at the Lake Chalet rtrant Oakland for a remote tapg of that show today, and when a productn worker asks Stephen A. if she n borrow him ten mut to do a promo, he blanch.</p><p>“So they got me teasg, knowg my voice?” he asks her, betrayg no ht his firm words that said voice is anythg ls than 100 percent. “Why would they do that? I need to save my voice. Don't ask me to speak until I have to. Don't that make sense?”</p><p>There’s a le wrapped around the outsi of the rtrant: people who have been wag here sce as early as 4 A.M., eher wakg up before dawn or fog sleep altogether. There are Warrrs fans this le, naturally—all of them cky and blissfully unaware of the disastro Fals endgame that awas them. There are also Lakers fans, a lone Bulls fan, a Sharks fan, a <em>Browns</em> fan (who told me he lik the Cavs AND the Warrrs), parents wh small kids, and a Kansas Cy Royals fan for some reason. They each have their own particular team loyalti, but they’re here bee they are ALL fans of Stephen Anthony Smh, and they have ltle punctn about explag why:</p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p><em>I love his reactns to stuff. He’s not aaid to look stupid on mera.</em></p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><p><em>He mak okay to be yourself, to speak your md.</em></p><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad---ntent"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot---ntent" data-no-id="97j4nf"></div></div><p><em>I like how Stephen A. is very vol as a black man. He do more than a lot of other analysis on a lot of other platforms like Fox News and stuff like that and don't even be pensated for . He do for the love of the culture, and he's one of the few people that actually do for you.</em></p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>One guy le didn’t like Stephen A.’s hardle stance agast smokg weed. “You're the Bay Area. I'm sorry, bro. You should be smokg weed, bro.” But of urse, such objectns didn’t stop this guy om g. He’s still a fan of <em>First Take</em>. Also, he’s fely high.</p><p>Stephen A. (and I’m gonna refer to him as Stephen A. the rt of the way here, bee would feel eply wrong not to) mt refully prerve his voice for the people. <em>His</em> people. He has a lot of them now. It took a long-ass time for the general public to embrace the man; particularly whe Amerins who were perhaps not ed to a black guy on TV beg so unapologetilly assertive and brash. Tough sh for them. <em>First Take</em> is the No. 1 ble show s time slot wh young men: a total dience of nearly half a ln people and growg. Over half that dience is black, but ntas no shortage of whe folks, eher. In fact, Stephen A. is so popular across the board that when he went to Toronto for the first two gam of the Fals, he got a police rt to the arena.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="s1jzew"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>Even the people who love to hate Stephen A. love him, and he lov them right back. ESPN’s VP of productn, David Roberts, told me so: “When we go to Dallas for the NFL kickoff, I'm sure there'll be 2,500 people wantg to get his tograph and boo him at the same time.” Fellow ESPNer Dan Le Batard told me Stephen A. is “the clost thg we have to Howard Cosell 2019.” And many of his ntemporari agree. He is not merely the biggt name at ESPN; he is often the biggt—and perhaps hight-paid—star when he walks to any given NBA arena. (Acrdg to Andrew Marchand of the <em>New York Post</em>, ESPN has ma Stephen A. <a href=">their hight-paid talent ever</a> wh his newt ntract extensn: nearly $8 ln a year.) He’s such a big draw now that he n no longer watch gam person om a seat, optg stead to watch om the tunnel, often flanked by arena secury guards who happily let him to the jot whout a crential. His name and his ARE his crentials.</p><p>And Stephen A. won’t apologize for beg afford such privileg. He never has. Former <em>SportsCenter</em> -anchor and current <em>Atlantic</em> staff wrer Jemele Hill, who says Stephen A. was stmental gettg her natnally known on televisn, remembered seeg him for the first time at a prs bure Athens durg the 2004 Olympics. There he was, plag loudly about his acmodatns and the “abundance of stairs,” his words, that he had been forced to navigate along the way to his quarters. He was not shy about volizg his belief that he served better.</p><p>“I was jt like, <em>Who is this du? And why is he so loud?</em> I was hontly imprsed bee I really wasn't ed to seeg black reporters behave as if they were entled to thgs,” Hill remembers. “I thought that was ol bee showed me the kd of self-nfince I hope to have at some pot. In a lot of [black people’s] jobs and posns, people are nstantly askg qutns or puttg unr a particular scty. Almost as if to say, <em>How did</em> you <em>get here?</em>”</p><p>Stephen A. gets better hotel rooms now. There are no more abundant stairs to climb. He’s <em>here</em>. The qutn is: Now that Stephen A. Smh has reached the that nothg and no one is his way any that he has <em>bee</em> ’s he gonna do wh himself?</p><hr/><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Human Person Advertisement Poster Brochure Paper and Flyer" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div></figure></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="tg3nro"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p><strong>Garry Howard knew</strong> right away that Stephen A. would be a star. Howard was a puty sports edor at <em>The Philalphia Inquirer</em> back 1994 and sperate need of someone to go ver a Drexel basketball home game. Wh a snowstorm ragg outsi. A iend New York gave Howard the number of a then unknown 26-year-old guy om Queens named Stephen A. Smh. At the time, Stephen A. had started off his reer journalism as a llege newspaper lumnist who once mand, prt, that his <em>own</em> basketball ach retire. After graduatg, he worked the homici beat New York. One day he was sent to terview the fay of a victim of notor Long Island serial killer Joel Rifk. After knockg on their door and enunterg a mother who was cryg her sis out, Stephen A. cid, “I never wanted to do aga.”</p><p>He then moved to the sports beat. Once there, Stephen A. accepted Howard’s assignment, and s somewhat onero travel mands, stantly. When Howard got the rultg py, he says, “I was fuckg blown away.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-2 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>I ask, <em>Could you ever envisn him beg what he is now?</em></p><p>“Y. Do you see I'm not hatg? I thought he uld be the bt ever.”</p><p>Shortly thereafter, Stephen A. moved to Philly to jo the <em>Inquirer</em> full-time. From there, his profile grew like an unmonored weed, eventually landg him at ESPN, where he beme a fixture on the air while still filg lumns to the <em>Inquirer</em> that he had reportedly posed on his BlackBerry—a seemgly sloppy way of wrg that, if you ask many of his ntemporari, be astoundg when you realize he wrote on the go bee he was ftg work to all the empty spac when he wasn’t dog <em>other work</em>. (A reprentative for ESPN says he only did this when no other vice was available.)</p><asi aria-hidn="te" class="PullQuoteEmbedWrapper-sc-EoVjf fQbAzo"><div class="PullQuoteDerativeBorr-sc-iUyOLj fAzNVP"></div><div class="PullQuoteEmbedContent-sc-kTcfhx eltaVW"><p>"My mother," says Stephen A., "said I me out of the womb talkg."</p></div></asi><p>That relentlsns, bed wh an nate sire to please, is why Stephen A. Smh has been everywhere on ESPN this . This is often to his haters’ chagr, but ’s worth appreciatg the ludicro amount of energy the man has had to summon—often whout ffee—to <em>be</em> everywhere. As NBA sir Brian Wdhorst told me, the culture at ESPN “is to be a workaholic.” Stephen A. has e to f right wh that culture.</p><p>Ask anyone who knows Stephen A. if he’s like that real life—and they get that qutn endlsly—and they’ll tell you ’s not an act. That’s really him. He is not ached to have opns he don’t believe . He is not gticulatg like a Vegas magician on mera jt bee he’s a creature of televisn. Camera or no mera, he is <em>on</em>. A natural ham. “My mother,” says Stephen A., “said I me out of the womb talkg.”</p><p>Hence, our man is ready to talk this morng Oakland. A pky sore throat nnot keep him check. It will not keep him om his appoted take rounds, nor even an early wake-up ll that he tts wh a primal fervor. Stephen A. rarely sleeps more than three to five hours a night, and he hat gettg up the morng, tellg me that “everythg bad happens” that time of day. To keep his voice f here at the Lake Chalet, he’s sippg honeyed green tea wh a splash of nut k. Sometim he treats himself to a vanilla latte, but general he is powered by tea and ltle else (“My fay is om the Wt Indi. I've always drank tea”).</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="jurt18"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>In the green room, he is wag for the exact right moment to unleash that voice, his most prized stment, upon the boistero Lake Chalet crowd awag him. He eagerly awas them as well, eager to please—or, some s, joyfully rankle—the hungry mass. For Stephen A. Smh posss a antic, never-endg ambn that has ma him who he is but that is also poised, at tim, to vour him whole.</p><p>To stay sharp, he remas discipled both mental and physil fns. He works out nstantly, cludg s-ups and ph-ups and “a ltle boxg” (MMA is next on his radar). He lims himself to two drks a week and never more than that. It’s not hard to verify his moratn wh his -workers; many of them are unaware that he drks at all. He stays off the weed, though maybe he shouldn’t, bro. He’s never touched harr dgs, termed to avoid them after growg up Hollis and seeg the aftershocks of the crack epimic land right on his doorstep. “Dg alers were right down the block. Hell, crack addicts were <em>on</em> my block. You see how dgs ravage human begs. And I was always mted and dited to the fact that was not gog to be me. No way hell. I would never allow that to happen.” As such, Stephen A. will not dabble “anythg that I thk n rail my progrs.” But there is one notable exceptn to that self-imposed edict: junk food. Stephen A. is tryg to cut back on , but he won’t ever qu ld. “I work out six days a week, I'm gettg me some Whe Castle on the seventh day. Or a bowl of Cnch Berri. I'm cheatg one way or another. It's gog to be my Cheez Doodl, 's gog to be the Cnch Berri, or 's gog to be Whe Castle.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-3 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>If you happen to be the kd of person who hat Stephen A. bee he has the temery to be loud, his <em>First Take</em> fellow featured mentator Max Kellerman has an effortls rebuttal: “That's how you argue about sports! Have you ever argued sports wh your iends? Do you do hhed ton?” (I do not.) <em>First Take</em> is an argument show that, spe s off-the-cuffns, requir a lot of preparatn and re to pull off. It was origally hatched by then ESPN exec Jamie Horowz 2007 wh yippy Oklahoman Skip Bayls as the ma draw. Stephen A. was selected to be his daily sparrg partner after other ndidat were nsired (Hill says she was among those clud the search) and eventually led out. Acrdg to fellow ESPN star Bomani Jon, for a long time Stephen A. was “the guy on <em>First Take</em> who wasn't Skip Bayls.” And to this day, Bayls remas revered by everyone on the show, Stephen A. clud; this spe the fact that Bayls has utterly ranged opns, almost all of them about Tim Tebow and LeBron Jam.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="b2s92"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>But Bayls’s tractable bullishns ma him a reliable enemy for anyone facg him. Kellerman, by ntrast, is more nuanced. You uld argue that mak for a much better dynamic for the show. It’s not certa that Stephen A. feels likewise. “I'm not satisfied wh where we are,” he tells me. “I am the kd of person who bat you, and I don't give a damn about how you feel. If you don't agree wh Max, he tri to nvce you as if you don't prehend what he's sayg. Sometim that works for the show. Sometim don't. There are days that I feel that we are absolutely phenomenal at batg each other. There are other days where I don't feel that way. And the days that I don't feel that way, I'm not happy.”</p><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Human Person Stg Clothg and Apparel" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div></figure><p>I ask Kellerman what he thks about Stephen A.’s asssment of their dynamic. His answer is both blunt and diplomatic. “Stephen A. is <em>never</em> gog to be happy. That's why he's succsful. When you're on the top, the reason you are there is bee you are a chronilly dissatisfied person.”</p><p>“I n sense tensn on the show sometim,” fellow ESPN star Pablo S. Torre tells me. “Sometim there have been moments that are tense and antagonistic and you're like, <em>Wow, this is amazg TV. But also I don't know if I'd want to be eher of those people if was me on there right now.</em>”</p><asi aria-hidn="te" class="PullQuoteEmbedWrapper-sc-EoVjf fQbAzo"><div class="PullQuoteDerativeBorr-sc-iUyOLj fAzNVP"></div><div class="PullQuoteEmbedContent-sc-kTcfhx eltaVW"><p>“He's an credible ployer of negative space,” observ Torre. “It is really hard to have the nfince to be quiet on TV. What he n do is fall silent and then re-emerge wh a thunrbolt.”</p></div></asi><p>Whout Skip suckg the air out of the stud anymore, Stephen A. has grown to a far more versatile performer, particularly when he rants about the Knicks, which he do wh near-schled regulary the days. He n be self-aware. He n be theatrilly appalled. He n be ser. He n be pissed a way where you know he’s <em>happy</em> to be pissed. Like the most gifted televisn performers, Stephen A. knows exactly what his face looks like when he’s makg one. When I ask him if he has a favore face, he giv me the stiff-arm.</p><p>“No. You're not gettg that om me,” he says. “Stay tuned. Watch. I have several of them. I e them all.”</p><p>At the rtrant, members of the <em>First Take</em> st assume their rpective posns ont of the mera, fans wavg <em>First Take</em>–brand towels and giant cutout heads of Stephen A., Kellerman, and host Molly Qerim Rose given to them by the productn crew. One Warrrs bro the dience is janglg three miature Larry O’Brien trophi giddy anticipatn. Kellerman is wearg mirrored shas. Stephen A. is wearg his tramark hangdog swl. Blue su. Brown sho. A tie knot wir than a Ree’s Peanut Butter Cup. Qerim Rose ss between the two men, there to serve as anchor, judge, and referee. Stephen A. is ready. His jacket has been -wrkled. His hair has been lovgly sprzed. His <em>First Take</em>–brand mug is turned at an atomilly precisely angle so that the mera n see the logo full. The ma event is set to beg.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="4p3zv"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>Watch <em>First Take</em> wire-to-wire, and you quickly unrstand that Stephen A. is a master of silence. At one pot, he whips out his phone when other people are talkg on the air, and don’t e across as or lazy. It sns like he’s gatherg ccial tel to hurl back at Kellerman to flatten him. At another pot, Stephen A. lerally rts his ch on his fist, Thker-style. He n do this whout irony and get away wh . He really <em>is</em> thkg. Plottg. “He's an credible ployer of negative space,” observ Torre. “It is really hard to have the nfince to be quiet on TV. What he n do is fall silent and then re-emerge wh a thunrbolt.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-4 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>Durg any given telest, Stephen A. acts as both orator and stage manager, lettg the words breathe while offerg up an assortment of nonverbal exprsns and cu, directg traffic while lettg everyone the dience know that he’s barely toleratg what Kellerman has to say. The are, by his tellg, natural televisn stcts of his. Oh, he’s gonna let you fish. But you better believe he’s got somethg to say when you’re done. Even when he’s quiet, he remas ntrol, gatherg up his thunrbolts.</p><p>Kellerman trolls the crowd by (rrectly) predictg the Raptors will w Game 3. Mi-O’Brien guy is <em>not</em> happy. The crowd se Stephen A. makg his bt Quietly Fumg Face, sens his aga, and feeds off .</p><p>“First of all,” Stephen A. says to Kellerman, “I don’t wanna hear that opn om you.” He then throws the Oakland crowd some red meat and (rrectly) picks the Warrrs, to r approval. Kellerman, aga on a n of prcience, says Kev Durant should sign wh Brooklyn after the Fals are over and sists, more than once, that “Brooklyn rgs bells around the world.” Max asks the crowd if KD would have “the No. 1 brand the world” if he jos the Nets, expectg vehement agreement. I’m too prsed by the qutn to react one way or the other. Stephen A. is clearly different to Max’s arguments and wears that difference wh bravado. It’s his biggt f of the day.</p><p>Later on the show, Stephen A. unveils his list of top five players the NBA to his horts:</p><p><strong>5.</strong> Steph Curry (“Not an ele fenr.”)<br/><strong>4.</strong> Anthony Davis (“His game is ele.”)<br/><strong>3.</strong> Kawhi Leonard (“He is ele.”)<br/><strong>2.</strong> LeBron Jam (“That don’t give a license to exercise amnia.”)<br/><strong>1.</strong> Kev Durant</p><p>MC Hammer, who appears for a segment bee this is that kd of show, mov Steph up to No. 2 on the board and the crowd rejoic. You’re ee to ntt Stephen A.’s list (where’s Giannis?!), but jt know you will hardly be the first stranger to make the attempt. Stephen A. says armchair punds step to him all the time. In airports. In rtrants. On the subway, which he n no longer ri. Everywhere. One time, Stephen A. was out to dner wh his mother, Ja, when a Knicks fan me up to the table to ly chew him out for somethg he said on TV. Stephen A. was about to h the guy, but his mom talked him out of .</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="kd922s"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p><em>Were you glad you didn't h him?</em></p><p>“Not really. Fans want pictur and stuff wh <em>other</em> people. Me? They want to bate. And I'm jt not subjectg myself to all of that. I'm not tryg to do that for ee.”</p><hr/><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Tie Accsori Accsory Stephen A. Smh Clothg Apparel Human Person Coat Overat and Su" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div></figure><p><strong>After the show ends</strong>, Stephen A. and I go off to chat privately as he dulg an early lunch of chicken, mashed potato, green beans, a burger topped wh ramelized onns, i, and a slice of cheeke. Tak require fuel, after all. Stephen A.’s voice has not once wavered this morng. That sore throat uldn’t knock him down. Never had a chance.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-5 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>Co-workers praise Stephen A. as passnate and rg (when ordatg producer Antoe Lewis experienced sudn heart failure last year, one of the first people he saw when he opened his ey the hospal was Stephen A.). But will not shock you to learn that Stephen A. Smh is not an easygog fella. His armor stays on at all tim, particularly when he’s got a reporter like myself throwg a hodgepodge of tsive qutns at him. He knows how this works, so he is very forthright about what he will and will not be forthright about. And he is far too shrewd to be ught off guard. He is wickedly evasive.</p><p>Life hasn’t given him much choice this regard. It has subjected him to great loss, and he has had to engeer amb methods to distract himself om those loss. Last June marked the two-year anniversary of Ja Smh’s ath om lon ncer. She worked multiple jobs to support Stephen A. and his siblgs when they were growg up Hollis, cludg workg for over two s as a registered nurse at what was then known as Queens General Hospal, which may expla why Stephen A. is a huge fan of ABC’s <em>General Hospal</em>. He has appeared on the show several tim as a surveillance expert for mobster Sonny Corthos named Brick. Acrdg to Torre, he once asked if Brick uld rry a gun on the show, but they wouldn’t let him. (A reprentative for ESPN ni this.)</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="prnsb"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>Stephen A.’s reverence for his mother borrs on the holy. He is not over her passg. He never will be. No sudn ld or bate opponent uld ever hope to silence Stephen A. Smh fully. But grief and prsn are very much up to the task. “The cryg every day stopped after about a year,” he tells me. “Now 's once every few days. The misery that hs you before ventured towards paralysis, where the memori h you and you s down and hours pass before you do anythg. You sudnly don't move. You don't want to talk to anybody. I've been gog through that for two years.</p><p>“My mama,” he adds, “was everythg to me.”</p><p>Stephen A. says that his olr sisters watch him on <em>First Take</em> and n tell when the grief has surfaced. He don’t say or do anythg on the air to give himself away, but Ja’s dghters n see . He’s gotten profsnal unselg for the heartache, but still viss when his guard is down. He n hear Ja’s voice his own. He n hear her voice his md. He drove by a store the other day that sold Jamain beef patti and ma him spair, knowg he uld never taste his mother’s aga. He uld hear her voice when he had to do Mother’s Day promos for ESPN Rad nearly a year after her ath, and...</p><p>“It was excciatg,” he says. “You turn on <em>SportsCenter</em> and 's Mother's Day, and you see people givg thanks to their mom and my mom's gone. I'm relieved that she's not sufferg anymore. But don't take away om the fact that I miss the woman that I've loved more than anybody my life.”</p><p>Stephen A.’s relatnship wh his father, who died a year later om Parkson’s, was more ght. When Stephen A. was a child, he says, his dad would s down wh a Budweiser to watch his baseball game and was not to be disturbed. Stephen A. was only to speak when spoken to, and sometim even not speakg uld have nsequenc. One time, his father spanked him good and hard for givg his fifth-gra teacher a dirty look tentn.</p><p><em>Did you thk you earned that spankg?</em></p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-6 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>“Whether I earned or not is irrelevant. In today's generatn, you got too many people negotiatg wh kids. Ltle kids—wet behd the ears, breath smellg like Siac—don't know anythg. You don't get to go to somebody else's hoe, have your hand out for what they provi, while at the same time makg l.”</p><p><em>What was your relatnship wh your father like when he passed?</em></p><p>“Better.”</p><p><em>Why?</em></p><p>“Time. The fact that I'm a grown man. The fact that was important to my mother that that happened. When you see somebody starg at their own mortaly… Well, gus what? One day ’s gog to be you. How would you want to be treated at that time? And that helps you heal. If you n't fd fivens your soul at that time, you never will.”</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="v3ixlm"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p><em>How did you feel when he passed?</em></p><p>“He was still my dad. I loved him. But nobody's my mother. I nsir my mother to be the greatt human beg I've ever known. She loved my daddy. And that says a lot about him, to be worthy of [her love].”</p><p><em>Did he reciprote that love?</em></p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-7 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>“I'm not qualified to answer that qutn. That's between them. I thk he did. I uld tell you for a fact my mother would not have answered your qutn.”</p><p>The day after his mother’s funeral, Stephen A. went right back to work verg the Fals bee, he adms, work is a good distractn, and bee his sisters told him to “fish the job.”</p><hr/><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Furnure Chair Human Person Table Electronics Lcd Screen Monor Screen Display and Dk" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div></figure><p><strong>The first two tim</strong> Bomani Jon met Stephen A., Stephen A. didn’t even bother to ask Jon what his name was. He’s not gog to be distracted om his missn. Ever. “I don't know if you know this about me,” Stephen A. tells me, “but I have an unnny abily to tune people out. It's actually very easy for me to do. I've been arenas wh neteen, twenty thoand people, I never heard a word when I didn't want to. When I want to lock , I don't hear anythg.”</p><p>I’m gonna need Stephen A. to hear me right now, bee I have a lot of sh I want to ask him, and not all of pleasant. Very quickly, be clear that our nversatn is gog to go where he wants to go, and on his terms. You nnot fight agast his current. There is no qutn I n ask Stephen A. that he is not prepared to answer wh impregnable nfince.</p><p>“I jt don't know of anybody who's important enough to lie to,” he tells me.</p><p>As on TV, Stephen A. is always prevalidatg what he’s tellg you, garnishg his monologu wh a “make no mistake” or an “’s jt that simple” or an “I have always said.” His tth is <em>the</em> tth, and your tth is perhaps irrelevant. Those nonverbal cu Stephen A. on the air? He’ll e them on you, too. He’ll stage-manage you. Talkg to him is <em>work</em>. He is equal parts irristible force and immovable object.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="6ep9oh"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>So now I’m the one who mt procs while time my qutns and rpons so that they have the sired effect. I do not always succeed. He’s way better at this sh than I am. I start by gatherg the basics. Stephen A. liv North Jersey now. He liv there to get away om the noise, the irony of which is hopefully not lost on you. He is not married. He was engaged once. When I ask him why went sour, he tells me ’s none of my damn bs.</p><p>“It didn't work out. Matter of fact, I jt told my sister that the other day: none of your bs.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-8 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p><em>What was the qutn she asked you?</em></p><p>“Somethg about my job and my money. I said this is not a discsn. You'll get an answer if I <em>want</em> to give you an answer.”</p><p>Surprisgly, then, he <em>do</em> want to answer if I ask him if he’s a father. He has two dghters, ag 11 and 10 at the time we speak. They have, his words, given him a “new lease of life” sce Ja died.</p><p>“It's a blsg,” he says, “but that love is also a curse, bee you're never, ever, ever at peace.”</p><p>Neher girl is obligated to root for the Knicks, which Stephen A. and I both agree is a healthy le. No bate required. Neher girl is allowed to watch <em>First Take</em> whout askg their dad first.</p><p><em>Why?</em></p><p>“Bee I might wanna go off.”</p><p>Though Stephen A. Smh normally do <em>First Take</em> out of ESPN’s South Street Seaport stud Manhattan—eeg him om the obligatn to tdge up to work headquarters the hterlands of Bristol, Connecticut—he is still like other proment ESPN nam that he willgly subjects himself to an unreasonably long mute. In his se, ’s an hour and 45 mut each way. “I n't tell you how many tim I walk and people look at me and had an attu,” he tells me. “I was pissed off bee of traffic! It was the damn Lln Tunnel.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-9 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>You might thk traffic is of ltle ncern to Stephen A., that maybe he has a personal driver. You would be wrong. Stephen A. Smh driv. Always. Twenty-seven years ago, Stephen A.’s olr brother died a r accint. Basil Smh was 33 years old at the time. “He was a travelg salman and fifteen people were the passenger van wh him. He was the <em>only one</em> that died, bee he was asleep.”</p><p>He ntu: “Everyone else was awake. They were able to brace themselv. He got thrown om the van and he was killed. And so I prefer to drive myself. Perd.”</p><p><em>Can you sleep a r if you’re not the one drivg?</em></p><p>“I'd have to be knocked out, practilly dgged wh sleep. I'm jt on high alert at all tim.”</p><p><em>Do you remember where you were when you got the news?</em></p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="i1c78"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>“I was my apartment [ Archdale, North Carola]. It was October 11, 1992. It was a Sunday. Every Sunday morng myself, my brother, and my olst sister, Lda, would get on the phone together for our NFL picks. I picked up the ll and I said, ‘<em>Let's go</em>.’ And she said, ‘<em>No</em>. Basil was a r accint. He's not breathg on his own. It's not good.’ ”</p><p>Stephen A. hung up, prayed for his brother, and did some bywork around his place jt to keep himself distracted. Forty-five mut later, the phone rang aga.</p><p>“I heard screamg the background and Lda said, ‘He's gone. He passed away.’ Then my mother grabbed the phone om her and she said, ‘He's a better place.’ And I jt hung up on them. I started cryg, and that was that. I didn't want to hear that my brother's a better place.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-10 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p><em>Can you hear now? That he's a better place?</em></p><p>“Not wh her. But wh him, yeah.”</p><p>After that, Stephen A. was his mother’s only livg son. And while Ja Smh suffered no fools, she still doted on her boy. When Ja ma her signature Jamain beef patti om scratch for the fay, she knew they were Stephen A.’s favore food and would make him extra.</p><p>“My sisters would get so mad bee my mother would set asi ten for me, bee she knew I wanted them. As a matter of fact, she wouldn't ok them unls she knew <em>I</em> was g over. That's why my sisters would jt look at me: <em>You're so spoiled. It's ridiculo</em>. I'm like, <em>Hey, wh perks</em>. That's what happens beg the youngt.”</p><p><em>Was fair that you got so many?</em></p><p>“Who r? I don't re. My sisters got plenty of stuff om my mother. So what if they didn't get the beef patti? I always get more lasagna than everybody else. I always get more biscus than everybody else. Absolutely. I'm gonna take the perks. When to food, 's a wrap. I'm not gonna have any sympathy. As long as y'all a't starvg, we good.”</p><p><em>What is your favore food, apart om the beef patti?</em></p><p>“Carmen's lasagna. Now that momma's gone, the beef patti are no longer the favore. The favore is the lasagna.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-11 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p><em>Do you travel to get your lasagna fix?</em></p><p>“Y, I do. I have driven 45 mut to Unn jt to get her lasagna, and left.”</p><hr/><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Human Person Clothg Apparel Electronics Monor Display Screen Shelf Furnure and Lcd Screen" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div></figure></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="zwig94"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p><strong>Stephen A. now fds himself a favore son of ESPN as well</strong>, but wasn’t always this way. His reer there has been, the words of former work stalwart Bob Ley, a “multi-act play.” In 2005, he was given his own program at the work, dubbed <em>Que Frankly wh Stephen A. Smh</em>. He did not waste time attemptg to revolutnize the format, tellg his old mentor, Garry Howard, “I'm gog to put four guys on the show, and they're all gonna be black!”</p><p>Howard was ved to be one of those panelists. “So I go to the makp room,” Howard tells me. “My stomach is startg to turn, ’e I'm not built for this sh. Stevie , looks at me right before we walked out, and says, ‘<em>I'm gog to kick your ass when I get you out there</em>.’ ”</p><p>Dpe s groundbreakg stat, or perhaps bee of , <em>Que Frankly</em> lasted ls than two years before gettg formally axed by then ESPN EVP of Content John Skipper. Two years after <em>that</em>, Stephen A. left the work (he says ESPN lacked a clear visn for his future) and disappeared to a kd of purgatory until 2012, when he me back to ESPN, joed <em>First Take</em>, and rumed his steady ascent. Sce then, he has ntually bet on himself, and bet that ESPN is the right place for him to do . That self-vtment has paid off for both parti, and they are now extribly loyal to each other.</p><asi aria-hidn="te" class="PullQuoteEmbedWrapper-sc-EoVjf fQbAzo"><div class="PullQuoteDerativeBorr-sc-iUyOLj fAzNVP"></div><div class="PullQuoteEmbedContent-sc-kTcfhx eltaVW"><p>"Stephen A. is never gog to be happy," says Max Kellerman. "That's why he's succsful. When you're on the top, the reason you are there is bee you are a chronilly dissatisfied person."</p></div></asi><p>At a certa pot, acrdg to Hill, there was talk that ESPN wanted Stephen A. to -anchor the same 6 o’clock <em>SportsCenter</em> show that Hill herself end up -anchorg. He never took that chair. But wh his new ntract place, he’s gotten his own NBA pregame edn of <em>SportsCenter</em> that airs every Wednday night. His show, his way. He has more than earned , and those around him agree. Ley says that, at least the profsnal sense, “some people are worth a hell of a lot more than other people.” ESPN feels the same way. They prize Stephen A.’s voice and his willgns to do everythg, all the time. He priz their platform, as ESPN mands all their on-air talent do. Bomani Jon says, “ESPN fely believ that what they give you along wh the paycheck is the abily to work at ESPN. I've been through enough negotiatns to know this.”</p><p>For Stephen A., his fah thory has paid off multus. That fah has put him at the top of ESPN and given him tremendo clout, the kd that allows him to bsh off difficult qutns and to wield signifint power ternally. He’s a member of the boys’ club now. “I'm not somebody that you want to get on your bad si by lyg to my face,” he says to me. “I'm the Mack tck that they see g.”</p><p>One of those people who didn’t see the tck g was one of his own -workers. Back May, ESPN wrer Baxter Holm (who rpectfully passed on mentg for this story) published a ep dive on <a href=">Magic Johnson’s</a> time as then print of basketball operatns for the Los Angel Lakers. He found that Johnson was a thls dilettante who went out of his way to nstantly remd subordat that they were expendable. That story dropped the same day Magic was due to appear wh Stephen A. on a <em>SportsCenter</em> NBA Fals special. Stephen A. was not at all happy about the <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">timg</a> of Holm’s story, and said so publicly. He wanted a heads-up that the story was firg, and when that heads-up never me, he “was ticked off,” says Stephen A. “I'm not gog to s around and feel disrpected.”</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="17rn2"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>In fact, Stephen A. tells me that Magic was, by all acunts, <em>right</em> to be a cel overlord, and that anyone plag about is too soft to handle livg an unfair world. “<em>Okay, you were a mean boss. People didn't want to work for you. Some people had anxiety attacks bee they felt you were a b harsh on them.</em> You know what I'm thkg?” Stephen A. says to me, settg me up for his uppercut. “[The Lakers] missed the playoffs six straight years. What did you expect? If you're tellg me he didn't se, he didn't talk to you, he assured you that if you don't get the job done, others will? Those are the ndns unr which I've worked all my life. You get the job done or somebody else will.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-12 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p><em>Have you issued such edicts to your own subordat?</em></p><p>“Well, no, bee I'm not a posn of thory to make that ll, but make no mistake about , if I was a posn of thory and you were failg, you would know immediately your days are numbered unls you turn this thg around. I'm tryg to w.”</p><p>Durg the Magic affair, Stephen A. was lettg his Cnch Berri hang out for all to see. Henry Abbott wnsed . Abbott, whose TeHoop blog was purchased by ESPN 2007, and then more recently relnched as an pennt newsletter, told me, “I feel like Stephen has moved to this other place where he's like, <em>I'm iends wh Magic Johnson. It's personally nvenient for me for Baxter's story to e out. So let's jt pretend don't exist.</em> I'm like, <em>Where's the guy who was workg the back hallways tryg to reach Aaron McKie 2000?</em> That guy worked his ass off.”</p><p>He adds, “The enemy of tth is power, right? He has a lot of power.”</p><p>Abbott has felt the stg of that power himself. “He was always mad at me, like when I wrote sh about Kobe.” When I ask Abbott if he felt like Stephen A. was bullyg him by openly exprsg displeasure wh his work, he repli, “I felt he did, yeah.”</p><p>Not that Stephen A. will apologize. He will not apologize for his pal Magic. He will not apologize for his money or his fame or his fer hotel acmodatns. He will not apologize for hoggg all the lasagna like Garfield. He will not apologize for the system that he now prospers , and he has no tert upsettg .</p><hr/><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Stg Human Person Clothg Shirt Apparel Tie Accsori Accsory Furnure and Table" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div></figure></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="l8owxc"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p><strong>If you are feelg genero</strong>, you n say that some of Stephen A.’s opns, the on that have gotten him to trouble at ESPN the past, uld be characterized as old-fashned. But if you <em>aren't</em> feelg genero, you uld say that many of them are retrogra, ok boomer-type horsh: the kd of tirome stock tak that the anti-PC crowd often pri themselv havg. I ask Bomani Jon if Stephen A. is “nservative,” at least the philosophil sense. “Stephen A. is fely more of a morate than I am,” says Jon. “You a't gonna see me go on <em>Hanny</em>.”</p><p>Jon ntu: “I take you to any barbershop Ameri, and there's gog to be somebody that leans a b nservative. That's not to say that Stephen A. is a full-on right-wger or anythg like that, but he fely has some views on thgs more le wh the nservative platform.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-13 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>“Stephen A. is a centrist, and I don’t mean that as an sult,” says Jemele Hill. “Behd the bombastic prentatn is someone who is more nservative than people realize. He’s been this bs a long time and had to fight to get what he served, and I’m sure those experienc ntributed to shapg his perspective. Bis, he’s not alone. A lot of sports fans feel the same way. I jt don’t see that way, and I never have.”</p><p>In keepg wh the tone of that platform, Stephen A. will happily nce he’s wrong on ocsn, but that don’t mean he lik . He’s not necsarily grateful to be wrong, nor grateful to see thgs a new light. When Stephen A. tells you somethg you don’t wanna hear, as he pris himself on dog, there’s a marked difference between beg a tth you’d rather not acknowledge and jt beg generally unpleasant and wrong. On certa matters, Stephen A. believ he’s spewg the former when ’s often the latter. I ask him…</p><p><em>Do you do your bt to not make the people at</em> First Take <em>feel expendable?</em></p><p>“I'm tryg to w, why the hell shouldn't you have to?”</p><p><em>So you're all right wh that beg how is?</em></p><p>“It's realy at <em>GQ</em>. Go ahead and wre a shty article. Show up late. Have people say you're not thorough, you're not mted to measurg up to what the <em>GQ</em> brand is supposed to be about, and watch what they do to you.”</p><p><em>What if I'm ma to feel disposable even though I have not slacked off or been disrpectful?</em></p><p>“The boss is who term whether your work is good enough! It has nothg to do wh right! If you own a bs or you're charge of a bs, you get to make the l. You do not get to have your hand out for somebody else's money and fe what the standards of succs are. If anybody uld go out there and fe their own succs, what kd of world we livg ? You'll have a whole bunch of people who are medcre that have jobs, and spendg [the pany’s] money. That's not how the real world works.”</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="wuaae"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>I would argue that the “real world” uld e some tweaks, but Stephen A. has ltle tert hearg . The man’s absolutism not only mak difficult to have a relaxed, easy chat. But, more important, ’s also ed as ver for when he fucks up. And <em>make no mistake</em>, he has. Take, for example, the time he had <a href=">this to say</a> about then NFL nng back Ray Rice knockg his then fiancée out ld a vio that beme public:</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-14 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>“I’ve tried to employ the female members of my fay, some of who you all met and talked to and what have you, is that aga, and this what, I’ve done this all my life, let’s make sure we don’t do anythg to provoke wrong actns.”</p><p>That whole statement got Stephen A. spend by Skipper for a week, a spensn Stephen A. still feels was unjt.</p><p>“Let me be very, very clear,” he says to me—a warng sign that he might not necsarily be clear. “I apologized bee of <em>how thgs were terpreted</em>. I have never felt that I served to be spend; that was the wrong damn cisn. My words were very, very simple, and people tried to terpret beg different than what is, bee that's the world we're livg . I have never h a woman my life. I never would.”</p><p>He’s not fished.</p><p>“My pot is this, and I would appreciate , if I'm gog to be quoted, to be quoted accurately: If you fd yourself a posn where you're alg wh some no-good bastard, who’s a punk, who would put his hands on a woman. And he’s crazy enough to be dog somethg like that, the objective is to <em>get out</em> of that suatn that moment, so you n survive. Bee somebody like that, you don't know what they would do to you. And then after that, al wh him.”</p><p>This verg on some <em>Rambo</em> sh. Read anythg about <a href=">the plexi of domtic vlence</a>—ttimoni om both the abed and those close to them—and you quickly learn that there are myriad psychologil and enomic factors that pel victims to rema wh their abers, even when the danger is at s hight. When I ask John Skipper about Stephen A. feelg he was wronged about his spensn, he says, “I don't have any particular problem wh him havg that pot of view. Nobody wants to be spend. But I believe was the right cisn. I hope he will ntue to be thoughtful about issu like that.”</p><p>Que ankly, I am not nvced that he has been thoughtful about . I ask Bomani Jon about the Ray Rice ments, and Jon tells me Stephen A. “sound very much like an old man who did not realize that that's not what we're dog anymore.” I ask him if he thks Stephen A.’s opns have evolved sce his spensn, and Jon repli: “I bet he wouldn't say that stuff on televisn aga.”</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="qs597l"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>Next, I ask Stephen A. about Floyd Mayweather.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-15 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p><em>You once tweeted, "I'm hard prsed to believe Floyd Mayweather Jr. Put his hands on a woman.</em> <em>Let's no disunt</em> [sic] <em>the women out there who want someone like Mayweather strictly for the sh. Men a't wrong ALWAYS.” Do you still believe that?</em></p><p>“I don't rell <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">tweetg</a> , but I'll take your word for . I didn’t believe that somebody would be his posn, at the time, would have been that stupid and st themselv what he ultimately st himself. And then e to fd out, once you saw the <a href=">evince</a>, or you heard about the evince urt, you're like, ‘Well, damn. He <em>was</em> that stupid.’ ”</p><div class="GenericCalloutWrapper-tojWn ZFLB llout--has-top-borr" data-ttid="GenericCallout"><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Clothg Apparel Furnure Chair Human Person Footwear Shoe Electronics Pc Computer and Laptop" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div></figure></div><p>Later on, I ask one female ESPN employee about Stephen A. and she says, “I have nothg posive to say. Hahahahahaha.” Jemele Hill, who herself was spend after suggtg fans uld boytt the Dallas Cowboys’ advertisers after Cowboys owner Jerry Jon threatened to bench players who would not stand for the natnal anthem, tells me, “I do thk there are some genr dynamics that he don't get.” Stephen A. may have built his brand on raw honty, but sce his spensn, ’s clear that he’s been strategilly buryg some of that honty, lt all the snowflak out there take the wrong way. Ask him about any of , and he reacts as if you’re forcg him to religate matters he ems long ago settled, and his favor.</p><p><em>Do you thk society has gotten too soft?</em></p><p>“I thk our society has overrrected a lot of ways,” Stephen A. clar. “And I know that's not popular to say, but I don't give a damn. It's the absolute tth. Everybody is tryg to get their way all the time. The secret to our succs, as far as I'm ncerned, as Amerins, is not that we get our way all the time, 's our tolerance for not gettg our way.”</p><p><em>What is your relatnship wh Jamie Horowz like now?</em></p><p>“Jamie Horowz and I have a very good relatnship.”</p><p><em>What did you thk when Fox Sports fired him for reported <a href=">sexual harassment</a>? Did you thk that was fair?</em></p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-16 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>“I don't have any posn on that. Usually suatns like that, pani know more tails.”</p><p><em>Have you spoken to him about his oter om Fox?</em></p><p>“Y.”</p><p><em>What did you guys talk about?</em></p><p>“None of your bs. That is a tst that I will not vlate.”</p><p><em>This is om you: "I am a proponent of most of the the gay muny has fought for, and I thk that 's wrong how they've been prejudiced agast. But havg said all of that, I thk 's important to regnize that that don't mean [you] have a right to [people beg] fortable wh you." Do you still feel that way?</em></p><p>“I don't re what you are, you're gay, you're transgenr, you're whatever. I pletely support you, terms of the rights that you want to have. BUT the flip si to is that, if you are a heterosexual and you don't want to hang out a gay bar, you should not feel like you're dog somethg wrong bee that's not what you choose to do. That's all I meant by that.”</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="cfgtg"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>I don’t challenge Stephen A. on this explanatn and I end up eply regrettg , bee I don’t believe that’s anywhere close to what he meant. But as you n see, Stephen A. often tri to flect om full acuntabily for his words by tellg people that they were eher too stupid or too mean to tu the supposedly noble tentns of them, and that he has been unfairly victimized as a rult. He’ll adm a small b of culpabily for his transgrsns, but not enough to fully accept the nsequenc of them.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-17 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>This is a shame bee, oftentim, when Stephen A. really <em>do</em> own what he says, he n be sgularly brilliant. And eply, eply funny.</p><p><em>Did Carmelo Anthony ntact you after you said, a now-legendary clip, he was <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">bad</a>?</em></p><p>“I don't rell sayg he was bad. I said he's playg bad.”</p><p><em>I was gog to show you the vio. Not to be a dick, but bee you say, "Carmelo Anthony…[long pse] is bad."</em></p><p>“But he was lookg bad at the moment. I'm surely not gog to ny some of the bad moments he's had.”</p><p><em>Fair enough. Did you ever talk to Lamar Odom after your joke about him beg on <a href=">crack</a>?</em></p><p>“I have not. I'm sure if I saw him, we'd have a nversatn. He knows where to fd me. Lamar Odom has had my number for years.”</p><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Stg Human Person Tie Accsori Accsory Coat Clothg Overat Apparel and Su" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div></figure><p>I reached out to Lamar Odom’s people for this story but did not get a rponse. I also ask Bomani Jon if the joke—which was fely funny—was fair to Odom. “I uld make the argument that if I were Lamar Odom, is not somethg that I would want to hear,” says Jon. “But is not unfair to Lamar Odom as appears that he was, fact, on crack.”</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="c2ot5i"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>Torre mostly agre. “It's fuckg hilar,” says Torre. “I do have some element of guilt about that. However, when to what ma that funny, was the fact that Stephen A. was somehow [the] one person to pot out what was obv, which was this guy had an addictn to the most nventnally il substance. Stephen A.'s <em>livery</em> of ma me fet that I was an empathetic person. That's his power.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-18 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>That power worked on me as well. The joke still kills. On to other prsg issu.</p><p><em>A while ago, sound like someone farted on</em> First Take. <em>Who was the farter?</em></p><p>“I said nobody passed gas on the set, which was te. Now if happened a day that I wasn't there, I'm not aware of that. I neher heard nor smelled .”</p><p><em>And if you did not smell , no one uld have alt .</em></p><p>“Well, what do you want me to say? I suppose 's humanly possible for somebody to pass gas whout there beg a sound, okay? But I didn't hear and I didn't smell .”</p><p><em>What was the myster image lk that you tweeted a while back? I n't believe I'm gog to ask you this, but you sent a tweet that said, "<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">TAke a look, y'all</a>!" wh a lk that was ad.</em></p><p>“I thk if I remember rrectly, was om a few weeks ago. And was basilly givg an ditn that none of knew what the hell was gog on. So other words, ‘Take a look, and what are we lookg at? Nothg. Bee nobody knows.’ So was somethg along those l, if I remember rrectly. But I haven't looked at a few weeks.”</p><p>I double-check my phone for the timtamp.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-19 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p><em>Actually, was om May of 2015.</em></p><p>“Well then, I don't know what you're talkg about. <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">I'm shocked that you expect me to remember some of the thgs.</a>”</p><p><em>You told me you feel sorry for NFL missner Roger Gooll. Why?</em></p><p>“You've got eighteen-hundred-pl players the NFL. It's a far tougher task for Gooll to manage the relatnship between the owners and the players than is for an NBA missner to do .”</p><p><em>I'm not sure Gooll feels all that obligated to please the players.</em></p><p>“I thk he lik the check that the owners give him. He's the bad guy bee the owners e him to be the bad guy, so <em>they</em> don't have to be the bad guys.”</p><p><em>I don't thk he mds that role.</em></p><p>“I don't get the imprsn that he wants the headach that he's ved.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-20 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p><em>Do you thk there is a pot where orr to make X amount of money or to amass X amount of power, you have to piss off people that you'd rather not piss off?</em></p><p>“If you're a bsman and you have a bottom-le agenda, you're not gog to re too much about pissg people off.”</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="4wcpp"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p><em>Is good that the system is set up that way, though?</em></p><p>“I would like to see NFL players pensated a b more fairly. But I also unrstand and appreciate the fact that you know what you signed up for g . Every workplace—that clus ESPN—has l and regulatns, and you have to pulate to them if you want to work. And if you don't want to pulate to those l, then go fd another job.”</p><p>Funny he says that, bee months after we speak, myself and the rt of the staff of Deadsp will walk away om our jobs bee we have no tert pulatg to l and regulatns imposed by our management: new edorial nstrats that we fd to be both immoral and idtic. I’m certa that Stephen A. shook his head disapproval at our actns. Back to the bate...</p><p><em>What if there is no job that has cent l?</em></p><p>“Well, that's the problem that <em>you</em> have. You don't own a bs. We got to work and be big boys and big girls about this kd of stuff. Those who make the goln l are those who have the gold. I wake up every day unrstandg that I don't reprent jt myself. I reprent my mom. I reprent my fay. I reprent ESPN. I walk out the door every day unrstandg that realy and operatg acrdgly.”</p><p><em>Is that good, though? To be thrall to ESPN like that?</em></p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-21 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>“Don't bother me.”</p><p><em>But n’t that make you feel like a replaceable g a mache at all tim?</em></p><p>And this is where Stephen A. lands one square on my jaw.</p><p>“I'm sorry if mak you unfortable, but I'm a <em>black man</em>. I always feel replaceable. One of the many fns of stupidy is a black man who feels he is not expendable. There's not a black man alive that I know that feels he's untouchable, and that life don't go on whout him. I've never met that man, ever. It's jt the world we live . No matter what I've done, no matter how much I've produced, there has always, always, always been folks who are wag for me to make a mistake, so they n jtify not marryg me. And I'm fe wh that.”</p><p>He go on: “You grow up, and then you watch profsnal sports, and you see some of the greatt athlet that we've ever seen our lifetime treated as expendable modi. And if they're exploed, or if they're treated as if they're expendable, who the hell am I or anybody else that thk that that's not applible to ? Do you know why <em>First Take</em> is held to a different standard? Bee we've been wng. We're no longer the basement. One uld argue we're the penthoe.”</p><p>Now, I’m a whe guy. I <em>always</em> feel important and irreplaceable. I have not had to build my reer burned by his profsnal fears, nor those of other mori. So ’s hard for me to argue agast his broar view that employe should jt do as they’re told.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="g18t7c"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>His words n stick your craw for a good long time. It’s why he’s <em>good</em> at what he do. Now I’m startg to doubt myself. And my life. <em>Am I gettg the most out of MY abily? Am I too soft on MY kids?</em></p><p>Alas, I mt swallow that self-doubt and ntue to embrace bate. Stephen A. has ma an exceptn this once to bate me for ee, and I’d bt not waste .</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-22 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p><em>Do you feel now, or have you felt the recent past, that you have not been treated as tellectually as you mer?</em></p><p>“I wouldn’t say that. That’s not the overwhelmg feelg. When you're a black man, you're gog to enunter people qutng your qualifitns all the time. I uld re two cents about that. Actually, that spir me. That mak me se. I don't worry about that at all.”</p><p><em>There was a mor that you liked <a href=">prtg hate mail and tackg up your cubicle</a> at the</em> Inquirer.</p><p>“That is a lie.”</p><p><em>Did you ever read hate mail?</em></p><p>“Y.”</p><p><em>Did you like ?</em></p><p>“No. Not amg. I wanted to see what people were sayg and whether or not they had a pot. If they had a pot, I learned om . If they didn't have a pot, I dismissed . I'll tell you what really rak my nerv: how people try to fet my résumé. That's where we have eper nversatns as to what your motivatn is behd that.”</p><asi aria-hidn="te" class="PullQuoteEmbedWrapper-sc-EoVjf fQbAzo"><div class="PullQuoteDerativeBorr-sc-iUyOLj fAzNVP"></div><div class="PullQuoteEmbedContent-sc-kTcfhx eltaVW"><p>"I'm sorry if mak you unfortable, but I'm a <em>black man</em>," says Smh. "I always feel replaceable."</p></div></asi><p><em>And what do you thk those motivatns are?</em></p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-23 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>“I thk some stanc 's jealoy, and I thk some other stanc 's racist. There is no doubt what I have done. Why are you tryg to act like I didn't? And then you talk about parg me to bloggers. Bloggers don't have anybody to answer to. I did. Throughout my reer.”</p><p><em>Hey,</em> I'm <em>a blogger.</em></p><p>“Whatever.”</p><p><em>You said of Adam “Pacman” Jon after he got <a href=">arrted</a>, “Whe players are not fdg themselv the suatns. We've got to start takg a look at ourselv." Is that a fair generalizatn?</em></p><p>“First of all, what are you talkg about? And when did I say that? See, you're askg qutns, Drew, but you're not, wh all due rpect, you're not givg me ntext. I haven't thought about Pacman Jon about three or four years.”</p><p>I double-check my phone aga. <em>This was January 2017.</em></p><p>“What I was sayg was simple. When you're black and you're a posn of promence, unrstand that you're an anomaly. You're an aberratn. And when those kds of thgs happen, unfortunately an abundance of young black men out here get stereotyped. And I get very upset about that, bee I see a lot of Ain-Amerin men out here nductg themselv a very upstandg fashn. But don't stop om gettg stereotyped and stigmatized bee of the actns of a few.”</p><p><em>But then is really the actns of the few that are to blame, or is a greater societal problem?</em></p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-24 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>“It's a batn of both, but society as a whole is only gog to accept what wants to.”</p><p>In turn, Stephen A. Smh has accepted the lims of what that society n offer him. After all, he now has eight ln reasons to do so. He’s the one who has the gold. He abis by the edicts of his superrs and speaks of them rapturo ton. He will challenge those sus, but he will still do what they ask of him so long as they are not threateng to, his words, promise his tegry. For example:</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="m0iqas"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>“No boss is gog to e and tell me to put on a drs and I'm gog to do . A't gog to happen. I don't do anythg that I thk will impugn my tegry as a man. But as a subordate, I'm very, very, very big on thory.”</p><div class="GenericCalloutWrapper-tojWn dxKJjl llout--has-top-borr" data-ttid="GenericCallout"><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Cell Phone Electronics Mobile Phone Phone Pc Computer Human Person and Computer Keyboard" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div></figure></div><p>In my time wh Stephen A., he offers unprompted praise upon boss new, old, and spirual: Norby Williamson, David Roberts, Connor Schell, Horowz, Walt Disney (he refers to Walt Disney by his first and last name more than a few tim our nversatns), Skipper, Mark Shapiro, and Bob Iger, whom he gleefully ved onto his rad show. All men, you might notice. Sometim he drops so many boss nam, sounds like he’s acceptg an Osr. I’m sure Stephen A. lik all the guys, but fawng over them also acts as a shrewd way of downplayg the power that he himself has both amassed and wield. He still sists he will never be more important than the four letters ESPN, nor will he be bigger than a mandatory pany-wi para to <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">shill Disney+</a> on s lnch day. He’s a ont-of-the-jersey guy like that. Shapiro is now Stephen A.’s agent, and when I jokgly note that Shapiro now works for <em>him</em>, Stephen A. is legimately offend by the ia.</p><p>“Mark Shapiro do not work for me. We work together. I do not employ Mark Shapiro, Mark Shapiro is big-time. You unrstand? I'm happy and honored to have him, and I shouldn't even <em>say</em> he's an agent.”</p><p>Stephen A. offers siar praise for new ESPN head <a href=">Jimmy Paro</a>, who banned on-air talent om exprsg purely polil viewpots at ESPN or on any other platform. Paro’s policy was a clear aftereffect of the work banishg Hill for her viewpots, and Stephen A. seemgly had ltle problem wh them <a href=">spendg Hill</a> (the two still get along, but Hill do note, “Even if he thought the pany was rrect spendg me, I really hontly wouldn't give a sh”), or wh Paro stutg his ltle mandate. Maybe ’s bee that policy helps protect Stephen A. om <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">his own worst opns</a>. Or maybe ’s bee the closer you get to power, the more you beg to sympathize and align wh .</p><p>Eher way, he certaly seems to have a distaste for sports media personali steppg out of what he perceiv to be their proper lane. To him, they are failg to produce. To me, that’s what mak his story, while spirg many ways, somewhat tragic. His former mentor, Howard, says that Stephen A. “has reached back and helped hundreds of people of lor who had issu tryg to get to this dtry,” but he has neher the sire nor the will to alter the amework of that dtry. He has as big a platform as anyone on televisn right now, but he has ltle tert g that platform to advance that might displease eher himself or the c-sue.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="v3utg4"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>“I don't thk n be nied that at a particular pot time, as a pany, we got away om what the expectatn of was om people who patronized our brand,” Stephen A. explas to me. “I'm paid to talk sports.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-25 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>This is disappotg to hear, given that Stephen A. was one of the first people <em>at</em> ESPN to e sports as a way to talkg about larger social issu. But lately he exists mostly as a solemn fenr of thory and of the pal that both they and he himself now posss. Check out <a href=">his reactn to the NBA’s Cha fias</a> if you don’t believe me, when he said of Rockets general manager and Hong Kong prott supporter Daryl Morey, “You have an obligatn to adopt and embrace the tert of those you llect a paycheck om.” Or read him light to safety <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Eric Reid</a> and NFL outst Col Kaepernick, meang the latter for darg to have his “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">hand out</a>” (there’s that phrase aga) for the NFL’s money and not beg 100 percent ferential to them the procs. This is a pattern where Stephen A. liv now to rpect moneyed terts and to <em>be</em> one.</p><p>As wh many other powerful men, Stephen A. n pot to his own reer succs to validate his own worldview. He is baffled that others lack his work ethic and believ they shouldn’t be surprised when they fd themselv a t bee they failed to work eighteen hours a day. If he tak a day off, he tells me, “’s almost like a tastrophe.” He has said many tim that he feels as if he’s never arrived. I ask him why he feels that way.</p><p>“If I'm asleep, somebody else is awake. If I'm off, somebody else is workg,” he says. “And if those thgs are happeng, they thk they n take me, which means that at some pot time they're gog to nont me to tt and see if I'm ready. And at that pot I will annihilate them to show them that they were never ready at all.”</p><asi aria-hidn="te" class="PullQuoteEmbedWrapper-sc-EoVjf fQbAzo"><div class="PullQuoteDerativeBorr-sc-iUyOLj fAzNVP"></div><div class="PullQuoteEmbedContent-sc-kTcfhx eltaVW"><p>"I'm very, very big on havg domn and ntrol over me," Stephen A. tells me. "How I want to live, my schle. Thgs of that nature."</p></div></asi><p>And so Stephen A. Smh nnot have outsi ncerns get the way of that potential annihilatn. The Mack tck is always revvg, and is always fully load. He is not at the top of his profsn yet, bee there is no top for him to reach; there is only the relentls work of ntug his ascent. He is a work executive’s dream this regard. TV people have been searchg for the New Cosell for s now, when a more-than-worthy succsor has been on your TV all this time.</p><p>Stephen A. is better than Cosell, fact. Stephen A. was never a boozehound like Cosell, nor do he hold the system which he operat open ntempt, nor do he lament the “jockocracy” of sports media that Cosell so thoroughly spised. Stephen A. is a perfected Cosell—an appealgly verbose man for whom every exchange is a transactn of some kd. He’s all bs, all workg, all “wng,” all the time. I n take his relentls need to see thgs exclively through a dog-eat-dog lens as the product of hard-fought wisdom—and he has most certaly earned his fair share of that—but I n also ascribe to him beg an evangelist for an unfair world that has now turned his favor. When Stephen A. tells you that’s jt how thgs ed to be, n e across as him sayg that’s better than how thgs <em>are</em>, or how they n be. People who do not accept the stat quo are children, and he don’t really re if you feel otherwise. That’s his secret sce. Not rg what other people thk mak for great televisn. In real life, maybe <a href=" target="_blank">not so much</a>.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="1k7lsg"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>There’s the real heart of this bate. Stephen A. is <em>sui generis</em>: a sgularly talented man who has achieved what he has achieved thanks to an iron will. But this is the danger of self-ma men who embody the Amerin Dream: After a while, they e to believe that if others nnot make their own succs, then they don’t serve any. They don’t stop to ntemplate what achievg the dream, though seemgly a wonrful personal velopment, actually <em>do</em> to you.</p><p>Given his reer path, and given how our prent world operat, you n exce Stephen A. for diligently rvg out a luxe space for himself wh , and then g his pulp to elevate worthy people and worthy , which he has done wh <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">admirable zeal</a>. He has had ltle choice but to bee a team player at ESPN orr to do what he wants to do. But when you bee a powerful apparatchik of that pany, you risk lookg an awful lot like the old boss.</p><p>“I'm very, very big on havg domn and ntrol over me,” Stephen A. tells me. “How I want to live, my schle. <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Thgs of that nature</a>.”</p><hr/><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Image may nta Stephen A. Smh Coat Clothg Su Overat Apparel Human and Person" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div></figure><p><strong>It’s fally time for Game 3</strong>. When Stephen A. walks around the arena, he is met wh endls fist bumps om strangers, cludg one overly tan guy a velvet blazer and Hh Puppi. The Raps dispatch the Warrrs wh sual ease, and Stephen A. watch all om a back media room—replete wh Warrrs-lored M&M’s as part of the spread— furtive silence. If he’s still ailg, there’s ltle sign of .</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-26 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p>Meanwhile, after one day of this, I’m fuckg exhsted. I n’t even keep up wh the man when he’s not 100 percent. If you n’t tch his htle, that’s your loss. I spend the entire send half of the game prs row, jt happy to no longer be on my feet. After the game, Stephen A. is still workg, tapg a <em>SportsCenter</em> segment while a dre of assorted fans remas the stands, chantg “Stephen A.!” over and over aga.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="a8kp2e"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bDFJoo"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa edvONh body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p>It’s time for me to go home. I walk out of Oracle Arena toward an Uber pickup zone that looks like the startg le of the Daytona 500. Through the loudspeakers outsi, the last voice I hear g om the Oracle is, naturally, that of Stephen A. dog his <em>SportsCenter</em> h. We n hear him, but he n’t hear . Jt how he lik . His job is not yet done, nor will ever be. How would he be happy if was ever fished? He is his tak, for better and worse, and so are we. This is the 2019 sports media in Ameri serv.</p><p>I get my Uber, longg for a warm hotel bed, and I n still hear the man’s voice my head. He might be able to tune everyone else out easily, but the oppose dynamic n be a challenge. I keep hearg him tell me somethg he told me earlier the day, wh the same bravado he to both enterta people and to protect himself:</p><p>“Let me tell you the number one reason why folks should hate me,” he said.</p><p>“Bee I am <em>loved</em>.”</p><p><em><strong>Drew Magary</strong> is a lumnist for @GENmag and the thor of four books.</em></p><hr/><div class="ExternalLkEmbedWrapper-hNDkqw eHbBlq" data-ttid="external-lk-embed--le"><div class="ExternalLkEmbedText-glBTSy kAxHEA"><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ExternalLkEmbedRubric-hYBGeO dQqwqj iQVNop">Read More</div><a attribut="[object Object]" class="external-lk-embed__hed-lk button" href="/story/bomani-jon-new-pn-show-profile"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ExternalLkEmbedHed-dSIMOS iUEiRd dvcrqF gsZLZF">Bomani Jon Has a Funny Joke for You</span></a><p class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ExternalLkEmbedDek-btrWcN iUEiRd cASNqQ jwHNCY">How an enomics major beme an ESPN star.</p><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl ExternalLkEmbedByl-fFFaGd eNAzyl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH goEeDF byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd dlWgVJ gnILss byle__preamble">By </span><a class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM ByleLk-gEnFiw iUEiRd fhQbnq dzFUnH eErqIx byle__name-lk button" href="/ntributor/eve-l-ewg">Eve L. 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Stephen A Smh on gay kiss: Players shouldn’t be fed for beg shocked by somethg they disagree wh – The Right Sop

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STEPHEN A. SMH APOLOGIZ FOR G THE TERM ‘HOMOSEXUAL’ STEAD OF ‘GAY’ ON FIRST TAKE

WHAT’S TOTALLY NOT GAY IN THIS YEAR’S BIGGT CRIME CASE?

BTER MURDGH SAYS HE WASN'T INVOLVED GAY STUNT'S DEATH

WATCH VIRAL FOOTAGE OF KG VON ADMTG TO BEG GAY TO THE POLICE

MURDGH MURR MYSTERY: DEATH OF STEPHEN SMH, GAY MAN FOUND NEAR FAY'S PROPERTY, RULED A HOMICI

STEPHEN A SMH ON GAY KISS: PLAYERS SHOULDN’T BE FED FOR BEG SHOCKED BY SOMETHG THEY DISAGREE WH

STEPHEN C. SMH, GAY RIGHTS LOBBYIST, 37

BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM IS STEPHEN A SMITH GAY

Stephen A Smh on gay kiss: Players shouldn’t be fed for beg shocked by somethg they disagree wh – The Right Sop

Recent Posts

Tags

Contents:

STEPHEN A. SMH APOLOGIZ FOR G THE TERM ‘HOMOSEXUAL’ STEAD OF ‘GAY’ ON FIRST TAKE

WHAT’S TOTALLY NOT GAY IN THIS YEAR’S BIGGT CRIME CASE?

BTER MURDGH SAYS HE WASN'T INVOLVED GAY STUNT'S DEATH

WATCH VIRAL FOOTAGE OF KG VON ADMTG TO BEG GAY TO THE POLICE

MURDGH MURR MYSTERY: DEATH OF STEPHEN SMH, GAY MAN FOUND NEAR FAY'S PROPERTY, RULED A HOMICI

STEPHEN A SMH ON GAY KISS: PLAYERS SHOULDN’T BE FED FOR BEG SHOCKED BY SOMETHG THEY DISAGREE WH

STEPHEN C. SMH, GAY RIGHTS LOBBYIST, 37

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* IS STEPHEN A SMITH GAY

BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM IS STEPHEN A SMITH GAY