Stephen A. Smith explains why he steps back on technical basketball analysis during interviews, letting former players like JJ Redick and Patrick Beverley speak from their expertise. He sees his role as drawing out truth through dialogue, not challenging the person, and wants First Take to be a place where athletes feel welcome to share their full perspective.
Chapters
Over the course of the years, you've been one to welcome the banter. You've been, you know, the candor. That's something that you've always welcomed. Where do you think that come from? Does that come from growing up in New York or does that just come from, you know, your makeup and your build in media?
Well, it's a combination of both. I'm from the streets of New York City, bro. You know, on my best day, I can never ball like you. You know, Steph is an idol. You know, LeBron is somebody I idolize. I'm an MJ dude all day, every day. You know, I mean, the list goes on and on. But you know, you talk in sports and you gotta remember, and I often tell people this, when it comes to the world, when it comes to the world of sports, everybody thinks they're the expert. That's what people don't realize. See, with news and politics and stuff like that, we are deferential to people because you might know things about policy that I might not know.
You know?
Absolutely. Laws, legislation, all this stuff. We don't know. That's the fear that people have in getting involved because you don't wanna open your mouth and be completely ignorant 'cause you know you don't know what's going on in Capitol Hill, right? But in sports, nobody could tell you anything. If you saw a dude playing, he shot 2 for 20, then he shot 2 for 20.
And so— Absolutely.
So to me, my aspiration was always to be a commentator/columnist. The reason why is because I knew that the news was the news. Okay, here it is. And then if you had enough, if you cultivated enough sources, all right, fine, you could put that out to everybody. But people want to know how you feel in the world of sports because they want one or two things. They want to know that you agree with them. And if you don't agree with them, they want to know why. So they can argue with you. You play, you're a 4-time champion, and you have people that will come to you and literally try to tell you what's going on with the Golden State Warriors, even though you the one in the locker room and you the one upstairs and all of this other stuff. They're like that. They're not asking about you. They're not asking. They're literally telling you, "Nah, that's BS. This is what's going on." And they have no clue. And so for me, I've often— I knew that I was never that way. I always prided myself in being a guy that was an instigator and a provocateur of dialogue. I'm the guy that got you talking about what needed to be talked about, as opposed to people who wanted to create narratives to escape what really needed to be talked about. That's what I've always prided myself in doing. And I've been that way since I was young.
I think that's incredible because I think over the years, one thing that I've watched with you on TV is when you've brought other athletes like myself on and a Kendrick Perkins, Matt Barnes, Patrick Beverley as of recent, JJ Redick. You don't go on and claim to know more about the game of basketball than JJ Redick, or sit there and try to discuss an X and O with Patrick Beverley. You don't do that. I've almost watched you take a back seat on television to those guys when it come to basketball. Now, never shying away from the dialogue and the debate and your point of view, but yet not quite arguing the X's and O's of it.
Totally correct.
And I've seen that on TV with quite a few guys and it doesn't make sense to me. Why has that been your approach and going about it in your career?
'Cause it's the right thing to do. The fact of the matter is on far too many occasions athletes are not appreciated for the greatness that exists within y'all. I'm talking about mentally. The hard work, dedication, and the knowledge that comes with doing what y'all do. It's stupid to want to refrain y'all from doing, from expressing that. That's number one. Number two is respect. You know, JJ Redick comes on the air and there's a lot of athletes that have come on the air and they expected a confrontation. And I'm like, the confrontation is real, but not volatile. I want you to know I'm challenging a specific point you're making, but that doesn't mean I'm challenging you. I know that you know more than I do. I'm just challenging this point that we're debating about because that's what it's about. Number 3, I'm coming from a place of journalistic integrity because that's my foundation, right?
Absolutely.
So I'll tell an athlete, You know, the difference between me and I'm just, you know, is what I know just based on what I see. Not that I've ever had this conversation with my contemporaries, so I'm not throwing anybody under the bus here or anything like that. But you have people who think they know and they wanna show the world they know what you know. When guys come on First Take or they talk to me, one of the reasons I could be so hardcore in my opinions is because I'm saying you have every opportunity to talk to me. Draymond Green, who don't have— who can't get a hold of my number if they want it?
Everybody can get a hold of me.
Who can't fail to reach me if they want to reach me? It's ridiculous. So my point is, is that if you know how to reach me and you know I'm going to listen, it ain't my fault if you don't want to talk. That's your problem. But if you do want to talk, here's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to challenge your information as much as I'm going to challenge whether or not you're telling us everything we need to know. So if JJ Redick comes on the air or Patrick Beverley comes on the air, somebody— I'm like, wait, wait, wait a minute now, you know? And that's me saying, oh, you know more than you saying, or you got more to say than you actually saying. Give it to me. It's my job to bring the best out of them, not to make them look foolish. And that's what I don't try to do. That I don't try to outdo them or be right. I believe I have an opinion that's better. Sure, I'm gonna bring it. There's no doubt about that. But at the end of the day, you know, and that's why JJ Redick was a colleague that's now become a friend. And the list goes on and on for football players and basketball players because I want First Take to be that kind of conduit. I want cats to know, oh, the door, the door's open. Here you go. You want to sit? You want to sit across from me? You got something to say? Let's go. And that's what it's all about. And hopefully Thankfully, rather, a lot of them have gotten that message, if not all of them that have come on "First Take." I haven't had one single problem with anybody that's ever come on "First Take" or sat down and had been interviewed by me because that is a message that I make sure that they receive, that it's coming from a place of respect. I might be challenging this point, but I'm not challenging you. There's a difference.
What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward.
