ESPN Makes Stunning Stephen A. Smith Resolution Amid NBA Season

[ad_1] Stephen A. Smith has turn out to be one of the crucial distinguished and high-profile personalities within the sports activities world since becoming a member of ESPN in 2003.

Whereas his roots have all the time been in basketball, he started branching out into different sports activities after debuting on "First Take." Nevertheless, he's finest recognized for his NBA protection. On Tuesday, ESPN made a considerably surprising determination concerning Smith.

After serving for a number of season as one of many faces of "NBA Countdown" — a pregame present airing earlier than televised video games on ESPN that additionally options in-person units for the NBA playoffs and Finals — the community has determined to take away Smith from the upcoming crew for his or her first present on Wednesday.

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In a report clarifying that it wasn’t a demotion, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand wrote: “Smith won't be an everyday on ESPN’s premier NBA pregame present anymore, although he may nonetheless make occasional appearances on high basketball studio applications, in addition to the Monday Evening Soccer pregame or throughout different big-time occasions.”

The 58-year-old signed a large long-term deal price roughly $108 million with ESPN earlier this 12 months and has taken on a a lot bigger function with the community. Whether or not it’s his personal "Stephen A. Smith Present," appearances on "Monday Evening Countdown," or his frequent Sirius XM gigs, all of those coexist alongside his five-day-a-week dedication to First Take.

<img id="8616229" alt="Stephen A Smith" caption="NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - FEBRUARY 07: ESPN featured commentator and executive producer on set on February 07, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs will face each other on Sunday." src="Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images" sourcealt="Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images" sources="[]" fetchpriority="auto" loading="lazy" width="2500" height="1667" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" style="color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover" sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 1536px, (min-width: 768px) 768px, 100vw" srcset="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2616229-stephen-smith.jpg?w=640&quality=75&webp=1 640w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2616229-stephen-smith.jpg?w=750&quality=75&webp=1 750w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2616229-stephen-smith.jpg?w=1000&quality=75&webp=1 1000w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2616229-stephen-smith.jpg?w=1200&quality=75&webp=1 1200w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2616229-stephen-smith.jpg?w=1360&quality=75&webp=1 1360w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2616229-stephen-smith.jpg?w=1600&quality=75&webp=1 1600w" bad-src="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2616229-stephen-smith.jpg?w=1600&quality=75&webp=1"/> It seems that as a part of his five-year contract, Smith could be taking over lesser roles in a few of the different reveals he has appeared on previously.

Whereas he should still make cameo-type appearances on "NBA Countdown" once in a while, it can actually be a brand new look to see him not alongside the crew set to incorporate Malika Andrews, Mike Malone, Kendrick Perkins, Brian Windhorst, and Shams Charania.