EPSN’s First Take & SportsCenter
A former Newspaper Beat Writer and Columnist for 18 years, Stephen A. Smith has become, unquestionably, ESPN's most recognizable personality and most visible studio analyst. Since joining ESPN in 2003, he's been a fixture on SPORTSCENTER, primarily as the World-Wide Leader's premier NBA Analyst, which included NBA Shootaround and NBA Fastbreak, and currently hosts SPORTSCENTER with Stephen A. Smith. In 2005, he was given his own National television show, QUITE FRANKLY on ESPN2 with Stephen A. Smith, a one-hour weeknight show featuring sports, news, opinions, issues, headlines, and interviews, which lasted for 327 shows from August 2005 to January 2007. He also hosted a weekday Stephen A. Smith Show on ESPN Radio in New York from April 2005 to April 2008. In 2017 the Stephen A. Smith Show on ESPN Radio, syndicated nationally. That was after he Hosted the New Stephen A. Smith Show on SiriusXM's MadDog Sports Radio in 2014 — becoming the first African-American Radio Host in the channel's history. Stephen A. has been the Co-Host on ESPN2's First Take since May 2012, which moved to ESPN in 2016.
From a clerk/writer at the Winston-Salem Journal (1991-1992) to an editorial assistant's position at the Greensboro News & Record (1992-1993); from a high-school writer's position at the New York Daily News (1993-94) to a career at the Philadelphia Inquirer (1994-2010) — starting as a college beat writer to covering the NBA to becoming 1 of only 21 Blacks in American History elevated to the position of General Sports Columnist (March 2003) at the time — Smith, considering his success in all three mediums, by all accounts, is one of the most successful journalist/commentators of the modern era. Yet, he swears he's just getting started. Well known for his distinctive style and outspoken opinions, he is one of the few journalists in American history to parlay a newspaper career into success in BOTH television and radio.
"My goal has never been limited to being a preeminent figure in the world of sports," he says. "It's to be a preeminent figure, period. I'm about making a difference. You don't become a difference-maker by putting limitations on yourself in any capacity. You shoot for the stars. Or nothing at all."