The sports broadcaster and journalist discusses his new book, his Philly sports predictions, and differences between Rihanna and Beyonce
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00:00please welcome mr. Stephen a Smith everybody good morning how y'all doing
00:05doing well you it's good to be here congratulations on having a book out
00:09man thank you so much it's been a long time coming I'm glad it's over with the
00:14title I'm sorry straight shooter is the name of the book by the way go ahead
00:18see concerning the book you signed 25,000 copies yes I did 20 and let me be
00:24very very I signed him yes some stamp or whatever my damn right arm still has
00:31recovered trying to get it back yeah Bob Dylan got caught there's a whole big
00:37kerfuffle but not you you signed 25,000 copies make no mistake about it and that
00:44doesn't count the bookstores Wow it was a long time coming I read that you had to
00:50wait or you wanted to wait until your mother passed I had to that was the
00:53promise she made me vow in 2011 think it was early 2011 she did not want me to
00:58write about the book as long as she was alive because it was because she knew
01:02that I would celebrate her but inevitably and celebrating her I would have to
01:06detail some of the issues that I had with my father and she did not want to be
01:11alive when that happened my mother was an incredibly incredibly private person
01:14she's always been that way never had anything to hide she just didn't feel
01:19like her business was anybody's business and so she made me promise and I kept
01:24that promise and you you basically say that while you're assumed to be the
01:28straight shooter it was actually your mom that was the straight shooter correct oh
01:31without question right in fact no nonsense you chronicle um I had a similar
01:36thing I think we all do at some point where we start to say hey this is I'm
01:40kicking ass here you get hired by ESPN and everything's going great and then
01:45there's a negotiation that doesn't go quite well and and now you find yourself
01:49in a what am I gonna do situation it's your mom who comes in and it involved a
01:55mirror yes what what explain what happened well she was you know in May of 2000 and
02:00and actually in April of 2009 my last day was May but a month earlier they had
02:05then informed me that I would be let go that it was not a unilateral decision
02:11essentially the honchos wanted me gone um and they didn't like my attitude or
02:16whatever they ain't going any details they just said we're not bringing you
02:18back and so I really was devastated uh by hearing that news um it wasn't
02:24entirely unexpected but it didn't uh you know minimize the sting and instead of
02:29going home I went to my mother's house back to my mother's house where I grew up
02:33in the same bunk bed I grew up sleeping in and I just laid there for two days and
02:38didn't return calls didn't talk to anybody or whatever um and then
02:42afterwards after those two days came went by my mother always making me breakfast
02:47my toasted bagels you know with extra butter and my hot tea and she brought a
02:52tray in the room with breakfast and she put a handheld mirror on it and I was like
02:57what is this for she said I'm just wondering when you're gonna start looking at
03:00yourself wow um she said you know um I'm not saying that you deserve to be fired
03:05but you've been in this house on many occasions complaining about the job
03:09complaining about bosses complaining about assignments complaining about
03:13you know their you know uh no willingness to marginalize or minimize you you
03:19complained a lot and you talked about them and at times you talk to them you
03:24weren't disrespectful or insubordinate but that didn't mean you have the
03:27greatest attitude you're not a boss and you wouldn't want to be around
03:31somebody like that so why should those bosses want to be around you that's so
03:36clear right yeah she said you just need to look at yourself and and you need to
03:40grow up you need to become a bit more mature and and understand that this had a
03:45lot to do with you could that message have had an impact on you if it was
03:50somebody else that said that possibly because I believe it or not one of my
03:55gifts that people don't realize as much as I talk I don't get enough credit for
03:58listening I actually do listen you don't get to where I am without listening and
04:03so I would have listened but it would not have hit me the same I might have been a
04:08bit more resistant to it I might have been slow to reflect on the kind of things
04:13that was said but it definitely would have hit me significantly less harder if it
04:18were not coming from my mother your guys behind you raising his hand yeah I'll get
04:22to him in a second the natural reaction is is for most people to be defensive when
04:26they hear something like that yeah but you and I I'm listen if if you most of
04:32us love our mamas yeah you know yeah I don't I don't know too many people on this
04:37planet who don't love their mama and so no matter how defensive you may get there's
04:42a limit upon which you can go in being defensive when it's your mama yeah you can
04:48try but at the end of the day you gotta monitor your tone you gotta monitor your
04:53language you gotta monitor all those things when it comes to your mama you
04:57know because that's mom yeah so you know I'm a grown man and my mother passed away
05:01when I was 49 going on 50 you know and and my mother's mentality to the day she died I
05:09mean if I said something she'd be like who do you think you're talking to yeah yeah yeah
05:14you know like oh yeah do you know who you're talking to and I had to be like yes mom
05:20I um yeah I'm 47 years old my mom is 75 years old she's about 4 foot 11 she lives with us
05:28right she yeah she lives in my in my house and and you're absolutely right doesn't matter like
05:34how old and and how small she might be like she's still you know I still still kick my ass my
05:41mother my mother was she and I were very very close um I think the only person that could get
05:47away with more than me from my mama is my little nephew he's right there yeah she loved she loved
05:54her grandson you know they're both her grandchildren but he was living away he was he was under her roof
06:00for a little while and my mother loved the ground he walked on he's about the only person that came
06:04close to me yeah uh so I want to ask you about what you do for a living and because I have a I have a
06:09great deal of respect for for anybody who does what you do for a living we've been here for coming
06:14up on 18 years and down the hall from us is thank you uh is uh the fanatic and so I've become friendly
06:20and friends with a lot of uh sports talk people yeah uh it is a you you never have it's always like
06:27you're in an argument with people right this is it's almost like there's never a debate but also
06:32because of what you do no matter where you go people want to debate you and so whatever you say
06:37you really have to you have to stick to your guns right and and also like you know admit if you've
06:43been wrong or whatever but like people want to debate you everywhere you go first of all you don't
06:47have to you don't have to engage to debates and debates you don't have to admit when you're wrong
06:52um if you are that's a great quality to have that's one of the things that I pride myself in doing
06:57particularly with the athletes and the professionals that I cover if I say something publicly and I'm wrong
07:02I'll apologize publicly I won't apologize privately for something that I did publicly that's number
07:08one okay number two people don't realize that about sports they don't get it so many people in
07:14the world of sports really really don't get it I can't tell you how many of my colleagues I've had
07:18to have this discussion with I will pull guys to the side because I'm a veteran in the business now
07:22and I kind of know how it works and I pull them to the side and I said I don't care who you are
07:29what you do the sports fan unless you're an insider that's breaking trades or what's going
07:35unless you're an insider like that you the sports fan never thinks you know more than them they always
07:41think they're the expert so what they want in return is simply your perspective to know whether
07:47they agree or disagree with you and why yeah that is it so when people roll up on me to debate me
07:52I stop them in their tracks I say I get paid to debate I don't do that for free
07:57you ask me a question I'll answer you but answering a question is different than debating
08:03you're not getting in a debate with me because I don't get paid to do that with you
08:07but what if somebody wants to debate say Rihanna versus Beyonce
08:11you know for those who don't know Steven is here on a day and we'll explain he made a comment it was
08:18on Sherry Shepard show that uh you guys were talking about uh Rihanna playing the uh uh the Super Bowl
08:24and you said Rihanna and Beyonce I know Beyonce um and I it's funny that seems pretty harmless
08:30to me it's an innocuous comment of all things a statement someone might make yeah it it's amazing
08:36what takes and what can take off virally because it made a bit of a it's trending right now
08:41yeah it is and I and you know what I'm gonna address some of these people with my own podcast
08:47I got my podcast no mercy K-N-O-W I come out with that three days three at least three days a week I'm
08:53gonna do a podcast on that tomorrow but I let me say this a couple of things it's good people getting
08:57on my damn nose so I'm definitely gonna say something about it they done ticked me off
09:01okay first of all Rihanna's fantastic I know that she's Rihanna for crying out loud yeah all I was
09:07trying to say is I'm a Beyonce dude right yeah right yes I think there's only one there's only one
09:14that she's phenomenal that doesn't mean that Rihanna isn't phenomenal in her own right but when you
09:20consider what Beyonce did at the Super Bowl by herself when you consider what she did with Bruno Mars
09:26and Coldplay separate Super Bowl performance I might add okay that's a lot to live up to
09:33and so you know what really ticked me off and the reason I felt compelled to apologize because I saw
09:38people twisting it and turning it into oh you're comparing two black women and I'm like what
09:44I'm like I'm a fan yeah you know of both of them but especially Beyonce because Rihanna's a good
09:54is a is a great singer damn good performer but you know what I I used to like MC Hammer I used to
10:02like uh you know a whole bunch of people that could get that new edition I loved them you know I loved
10:07them but but but Michael Jackson was a little different Prince was a little different I did not
10:15know that it was a crime yeah to say such a thing this is new to me even to me okay who lives in the
10:22media I did not know that it was a crime to say well damn there is Michael Jackson we are talking
10:29Michael Jackson you know what I'm saying and so so people twist it the way that they do and that's
10:35fine but I just wanted Rihanna who's getting ready to perform at the Super Bowl and I thought the NFL
10:41made a phenomenal selection and picking her yeah I just wanted to let her know there is a standard that
10:48has been set yes okay because it's big she is Beyonce is spectacular and that's a lot to live
10:55up to that's all I was trying to say I wasn't trying to say like yo I don't love Rihanna I love
10:59Rihanna I listen to her music all the time you understand I'm saying all the time I love her yeah
11:05but I'm like you know Beyonce that was doing it up here yeah all right and then last year Dr. Dre Snoop
11:13Mary J Blige Eminem 50 they turned it out I'm like you got to show off yeah
11:20I mean I I did not know I did not know that it was a crime that the cops need to come and cuff me
11:31and take me away for committing such a heinous act I had no idea and Stephen I believe if Rihanna shows
11:38up and does the greatest Super Bowl performance ever you'll be delighted absolutely well first of
11:44all I will be there let's get that out the way I will be there number one number two you damn right
11:48I'll be excited number three I'm rooting for her I'm rooting for and by the way I'm rooting for
11:54anybody who comes on halftime for the Super Bowl finale because the precedents have been set yeah
12:00yeah and when you see what you have seen and you're accustomed to it you know what I'm saying
12:05I mean if you're watching Michael Jackson God rest his soul or Prince do their thing and then
12:11somebody some some person comes on halftime for the Super Bowl and they just stand in there leading
12:17against the wall we gonna have a problem because you know we're accustomed to certainly not implying
12:22that that's what Rihanna would do because I know better than that I'm just saying my goodness I did
12:27not know that it was a crime to say yo y'all there's only one Beyonce yeah I'm with you all
12:36right speaking of rooting for people and for being a fan uh it's a great time to be a fan in
12:41Philadelphia the Eagles obviously are doing really well Sixers are playing well Flyers have turned
12:45around a little bit the Phils did what they did the Union were fantastic but I want to ask you
12:49specifically about the Eagles this weekend and and where the Sixers are playing because it seems like
12:54at this point over the last few weeks the Sixers are really starting to gel uh in a really tough
12:59uh conference so uh what are your thoughts about the Eagles on Saturday and what are your thoughts
13:02about where the Sixers are Eagles first they better win this damn game
13:07I would tell you that they've been by and large the best team in football for the first 12 weeks of
13:17the season I think over the last five we've seen the San Francisco 49ers elevate to another level
13:22the acquisition of Christian McCaffrey has really elevated them and I think that they're the team
13:27that can go anywhere any place anytime and beat anybody and even with a third string quarterback in
13:33Brock Purdy uh they can pull it off because their defense is that lethal they've got athleticism they've
13:39got quickness they got headhunters they've got they've got body snatchers they got rough riders San
13:45Francisco is no joke but neither are the Eagles when Jalen Hurts is healthy the Eagles success all
13:53comes down to this man um I like you know Gardner wins Minshew he's nice you know we've seen him
14:01we've seen him drop 34 on the Dallas Cowboys we saw him be a starting quarterback in Jacksonville
14:07he belongs in the NFL but he ain't Jalen Hurts and Jalen Hurts is uh I can't say enough about him I
14:16never dreamed in my wildest dreams he would be this good um he is a quarterback in this league and the
14:22Eagles top priority should be making sure they can they you know sign him and lock him in long term
14:30he deserves the money and I'm talking guys I don't want to hear no 120 million or whatever if you got
14:37these guys signing 200 million contracts Kyler Murray's got 189 million guaranteed Russell Wilson's
14:43got 165 million guaranteed my brother Jalen Hurts deserves north of that yeah because well let me
14:51tell you why he's big okay he's bigger he's stronger and it's not just his ability his dual threat
14:59because he can run with the football as well as throw it but you get paid because they're projecting
15:05what you'll do based off of what you've done you saw him go into the offseason and work on his game
15:10look at how much better he's come back chances are he's not going to get worse and here's where the
15:16key thing comes in tell me one thing he's done wrong as a leader one yeah yeah hasn't done anything see
15:21see that's very important from a quarterback position because you're the you're the guy and when you're the
15:27guy that leads men that galvanizes folks and you see that you're gone and there's a drop off without
15:34you that's the final nugget of evidence to say we got to take care of this brother most important
15:41position in all the sports yeah you can make that argument but I would tell you when it comes to the
15:47Philadelphia Eagles you're damn straight you saw how you did the two weeks without him yeah I definitely
15:51think that listen he's there you win if he's compromised in any way Giants got a chance because
15:57they're playing with house money Daniel Jones is being exceptionally well coached by Dable
16:02Saquon Barkley is a star and a bunch of no names come out there recognize the fact that there are no
16:07names in a lot of people's households and they've played like they've got a chip on their shoulders
16:11and that's what we got to pay attention to so I expect the Eagles to win this game but I would tell
16:17you they better win this game they better win this game not as good as this defense and this offense
16:22has been throughout the year I don't give a damn if Jalen Hurts is hurt you should be able to beat the
16:27Giants you will not beat San Francisco because they will win they will beat Dallas you will not
16:32win beat San Francisco without Jalen Hurts it will not happen as for the Sixers here's the deal
16:39they're very good I've known Doc Rivers a quarter century he's a friend of mine I love him dearly
16:47Joel Embiid is a superstar Tyrese Maxey is the second best player on this team when completely healthy
16:53James Harden is no joke he can still ball the key for the Sixers is that Harden has to embrace his
17:03role as the third guy who's a facilitator for the other two you still got to be a threat you can't
17:10go Ben Simmons on us and don't shoot okay which we know Harden is going to shoot the ball but you've
17:16got to be that playmaker you've got to be perfectly okay and you got to be somebody who knows there's
17:22two primary scorers ahead of you but you're the guy that's the glue because you're the one that
17:28brings it all together you have to accept that role in order for you to be able to beat Boston
17:34Milwaukee and Brooklyn that is what I believe if you don't have guys locked down mentally into those
17:43roles those three teams that I mentioned especially Milwaukee and Boston will exploit it and you will go
17:51home do you think he's embracing it I think so I think so let me tell you the other part too
17:56outside first of all Cleveland is no joke with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland and they've got
18:03a front line and know their roles exceptionally well they defend they rebound they they they rim
18:07protect so all they're formidable too specifically when it comes to my um the Sixers Miami is a threat
18:15for this one reason that people keep they keep failing to pick up Jimmy Butler knows Joe Ellenby
18:23and he knows Tobias Harris and he knows how to tweak things and pinch nerves in such a way that could
18:34affect their games detrimentally I'm talking about and I don't mean it in a literal sense but I'll give
18:40you I'll give a perfect example Jimmy remember how Lawrence Taylor once told he used to send
18:45prostitutes to people's hotel rooms yeah before games and stuff like that you see Jimmy Butler the
18:50kind of dude that might decide to have a party inside bitch you know the night before a game because
18:55you know yeah James will show up to this James James Carter show up to this you know or do something
19:00that that that'll get that'll get Joel and B compromised or whatever I don't know what that may be
19:05I'm just throwing stuff out there because Jimmy Butler knows stuff like that not to say that he
19:10would but he's smart and he knows the Sixers savvy it's funny to think of it that way and and when
19:16you because it is you think of the moment of game time and the duration of the game itself right but
19:22there is so much and I've heard you talk about this before that extends well beyond those parameters
19:27that that is in play all the time like you're saying the the subtle sabotaging yes uh and and it's it's
19:34an amazing thing what was the most outlandish act of sabotage you ever saw uh well it wasn't outlandish
19:42but I will tell you something um it's a couple of stars that had the same technique and of course I
19:49will never talk I will never say who it is because they're married now they weren't married then but
19:53they were married they're married now and one of the things they used to do they was they were they
19:58were stars in the league and people knew exactly who they were and they had certain proclivities per
20:06se uh they liked the ladies you know and what they would do is they knew they could go from city to
20:15city and have anybody they wanted not literally but figuratively speaking they could have a pick of
20:20litter and what happened every time they had a big game they would get into the city a day before
20:30and whoever was a female of the opponent they would take that female whoa they would take that female
20:41they would they would get that she she they would they knew that she would like them wow more than
20:47she liked the person they were with wow and they would literally target target her be seen with her
20:56and ultimately on many occasions would leave wow with that person just to roll yeah the person up
21:07that they had to play against the next night and and I will tell you it never failed
21:15it worked every time every single time the the person who lost their girl played with emotion
21:23they foul out they'd get in foul trouble their shooting percentage would drop dramatically all of
21:30those kind of things happen because they were mentally rattled I love it terrible guys Stephen's
21:34got a heart out he's got to get out here he's going to be at the uh free library today at one o'clock
21:39promoting his book straight shooter uh a memoir of second chances and first takes I do have one last
21:44question though Stephen people who pick up the book what are you hoping that they will take from
21:49this that they'll get out of it I want them to be inspired and and motivated I want them to understand
21:54that you know what no matter what trials and tribulations come your way no matter how daunting
21:59the task is for you you can make it you can make it happen um there's going to be a lot of people
22:04standing in your way there's going to be a lot of obstacles standing in your way but
22:08you'll be surprised if you're focused and locked in and you want it bad enough you'd be surprised how
22:14many women how many people are willing to step up to help you this is America there's a lot of great
22:19people that care enough about you to want to help you excel but the first order of business is to show
22:25your willingness to do for yourself in that regard and no matter what the obstacles are no matter what
22:30the trials and tribulations no matter what race color creed you're from we all have problems
22:35we all have our troubles but we all have the ability to overcome it and I think that my book
22:40you know exemplifies that it's a great message straight shooter welcome back to Philadelphia
22:44thank you man I appreciate it Stephen A. Smith everybody thank you for being here