Stephen A. Smith Unfiltered On Going Too Far, Being Authentic, His Next Move | KG Certified

Man.

Today, we got a special man. Man. They don't get no bigger than today. Man. We got the the one and only Stephen A. Smith today. Man. I look at him as kind of the Michael Jordan of this ship. You know what I'm saying. He is the pinnacle. He is the top of the top. And uh yeah today he's here certified.

So yash, let's skip this ship.

We came in here today. Hey, look this certified.

Man.

You can't come here with the whole. You know what I'm saying, How you doing? How you living good?

How you doing? Was saying what you do? He said, Oh, you're gonna love and you interviewing him? I said, no, he interviewing me.

Yeah, we're coming down here.

I'm gonna get grilled today.

I saw you this morning. How you doing? Looking good is my favorite color?

Man. I got to get ship.

You know what I'm saying. Oh yeah, yo, I saw that picture they put up. You weren't feeling that that was what forty pounds? I heard you yesterday they gave you.

Oh yeah yesterday, said well, first of all, take that yeah yeahah, And.

I saw it here.

Bro, I'm weighed I'm fifty six. Ye holy I lose my weight and unless it get myself. Ah, you're trying to make me look like I looked at you.

I can't heard it.

Just Totle studio, Kevin Man, big homie. Yeah, you're doing man. Man, it's all the joint, man, It's what we make it happen at Mann.

Yeah.

This this, this was the studio stuff. I know you used to that pots. You know what I'm saying, Welcome to the hood.

This is nice. I'm saying, this is nice. I'm saying exactly the hood. No, no, no, no. At the drive. You got to get you out here a mountain.

Lion, even on a mountain rain. This all the comference room right here.

You know what I'm saying.

Been here for like maybe three years, found this, man, This.

Is like a down the rough man.

Far do you live from here?

I lived probably twenty minutes from here. Okay, Calabasas Malibu is very close. I did not want to jump in production and have to go to Beverly Hills every day. I'll have to go all the way over. But like myself, it was just you know what I'm saying, and then everything that the big ways of doing a downtown You know what I'm saying. So I didn't want to do none of that. So this is like a diamond of Ralphie found it.

It works.

Come check yourself. Look, this is a viewing role. This is all styling for hair and all that makeup and stuff. This if we've got premier. I did like a little small premieres in here. It's cool, it ain't. You know what I'm saying, How you got like another? When I come to Jersey, one of the things I want to do, I want to come check your joint. I know your joint. You got it all up and going.

Well, yes, but you know I'm looking for another crib in Florida, so I might you know, I made about two months from now, it.

Might be in Florida. Damn for good, for good, I gotta have primary. I'm getting murdered in Texas, New York and l A.

Yeah, too much, it's too much.

I was about to say, damn yeah, you wouln't like, oh ship, you have too high stack stakes. I was just about to say, just a kitchen area. Yep, all this right here. Then that's what we shoot at. White screaming white. You you know what I'm saying, Come here, So it's you know, it's big enough to get things done. It's big enough. It don't have to be so posh. You know what I'm saying. You know, editing and everything.

Said, if you go to if you go to Hollywood, it don't want nobody m and guess what they're doing.

They're subsidizing a bunch of the work to gods like us.

That's right.

Watch your step. These are editing days up here. So we have editing up here. I'm gonna throw a little party from my little my daughter who turned sixteen today.

All right, yeah, yeah, my daughter's turned to sixteen August twenty seven.

Oh, that's what something? No party? She said, that's a gift.

She said, that's a gift. I want to call. And I was like, I had.

To do that yesterday. I know that walking ahead okay, rather than a certified brother.

Oh my goodness, this is us Okay, Oh I like this. This is special right here, somewhere, this is special right here.

Do something.

I gotta give it to you. I gotta give it to you. I gotta give you something is nice.

This is nice, this is real nice. Welcome to certified. We got Stephen a certified. You feel me? How you know you're moving up right here? How you been man?

I'm good man.

It's good to see you.

Bro.

It's good to see you.

Man. You know it crazy busy these days. E. I gotta work. Yeah, I got worse. Hell, I couldn't play. I better not do So.

Were you killing it? Bro?

I bet not how to do something?

Bro?

So I do what I gotta do. That's how. That's how I make it up.

I want to give you your flowers, man, like Bro, You're the Michael Jordan of this ship. Bro.

Thank you, Bro, and I.

Love the I'm watching how you have dictated the culture of journalists and analysts, and I'm watching how you set the precedent, not just with your style, but with your articulation. I think my first question is where does that come from? Like? Where does where does who you've become actually come from?

You know, when I think about my work ethic, it definitely come from moms. Mom was a hard worker. My mom and dad were married for sixty years. They should have been divorced for fifty. Oh wow, you know relationship wasn't the greatest. You know, not gonna dog Cam. I still love him, God rest his soul. But there was a lot he didn't do. And the reason why I don't hesitate to say that is because that's how I give my mom mom for her flowers, you know, for her to have to do all that she had to do,

How many sisters you got four? Four older sisters.

I had an older brother he passed away to car accident in nineteen ninety two, but I got my four older sisters.

Yeah, so I'm the youngest of six.

I just about this. Wow, So you're basically only the only guy that we grew up with a mom, my grandmother, and I got a bunch of aunts in my family and two sisters. That's right. I like to think that where do you fall in in the line of the six?

Like I said, I'm the youngest of you're the youngest. And the other thing is is that again, when I talk about my work ethic, it came from moms.

When I talk about my mouth, dad came from growing up in the streets, and you.

Know, on the block every day.

You're on the block every day. Got cast somebody saying something, the whole nine. You got all of that going on. You got to know how to weave your way through that terrain, get yourself out of trouble, even though you weren't the one that found yourself in trouble.

You got all of that shit going on.

And so for me, I remember growing up, man, I was surrounded by black musclms.

You're talking about about the whole.

As Law community in Brooklyn, New York, the five percenters, you know, the nation. I mean all of these cats, and they let me know. They would sit up there and they would listen to me, and you know, it could be about basketball, it could be about life or whatever. And when they listen to me talk, they said, promise us you ain't coward.

You're gonna go out.

There and you're gonna be ready to be that rebel with a cause on our behalf, even when we.

Don't like it.

When you get ten eleven years ten eleven years old, and it was like, you know, they were coming to me and they were like, ask me questions. It could be about anything. It was stuff that was going on current events and on sports. It could be stuff that was happening in the news cats getting themselves in trouble.

It could be anything, Yo, Steve thata, what you got to say?

Kobe to Steve rightever, so they would they would test my metal. And if I hesitated, like what you hesitant for? I'm stuttering? What you're studying for?

If I was passive, what you passive for? Speak? Because that's your gift. You the person that they gonna find you one day and you're gonna be speaking for us.

What you're gonna say, You're gonna punk out what you're gonna do. And they would literally challenge me, even through my teenage years, and that was always the case, and so I always remember that because you had to speak with courage and conviction, and you know, they sort of felt it was my destiny to be in a position where when I speak, I would be speaking to the masters.

You got to have courage.

If you wrong, say you wrong, but if you right, don't move, and so stand on it. And so that's the way I've always been, plain and simple wow.

And that's kind of the example of Queens. That's kind of the example of New York. You walk through New York, you got you know whatever, bro where you're in, you get in the form.

Of that that's right, right, And you gotta also know you gotta also know how to flow.

Can't flow the same way. You know, you're in the Bronx.

Bronx different in Brooklyn, Brooklyn different than stat Nyland, Statnyland, different from Midtown Manhattan stuff. And then you know what I mean, certain parts of the Bronx is different to a certain parts. You know, you go to bed Stockbrooklyn and all this other stuff, it's different spots. Hollis Qui's a little bit different. You know, go certain places in the Hollis House is nice. Go five minutes away the cave your Heights. That's where the honeies were used to see.

Get some of their honeies.

So they had attitude with you for that. You have to know how to move. You had to know how to flow, and if you didn't have that kind of knowledge, it was gonna hurt you because you get caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time. And one of the things that it was, it was rare if ever that I did. I was almost never in the wrong place at the wrong time, because I always sensed trouble around the corner.

I could just sense it. I could feel I'll be like, nah, we ain't doing that right away, that's right.

And I wasn't a follower, you know, so you know, because you got peer pressures a big deal and all of us could succumb to it. But that's when being around a bunch of black Muslims helped me, because what happened is is that you know what you ain't trying to follow per se, You got your own mind. You could flow with somebody if you believed, if you thought what they were doing was right, what their suggestions were

Kind of man on you? And that's and they would challenge you on that.

That's a real masculine energy too. Exactly how did you end up down south? I know you went to HBCUs.

Mister Silms State University basketball scholarship contred.

Contrad to probably believe I could bowl a little bit, but you know I cracked my kneecapp in half, so I never really had a career once I got there.

But your man boris to.

Real battle shot to TV.

You know that that's my man working for the Minnesota Timber was there when you were there, and he and I were classmates and roommates in college.

You know, that's one of my best friends on the planet.

So you know, we went to school together and had a good time as the best four years of my life. I would it would have been better if I could play, I could tell you that much. But I had an

You know, it's crazy that you say about the HBCU. I watch a lot of the stuff that they're trying to do. I see the effort, I see a song some of the major networks. You got to have a product out there that people want to see. YEP. Ask you this question. If Allan Noveson goes to Hampton, does he have the same trajectory of history and the same effect.

I don't think so.

If John Morant goes to let's say Nolin and t Let's say he go to South Carolina State, right shot board dogs, right right, does it change the trajectory of anything in their past.

I think so. I think so.

In this regard, I think that when Alan Obison went to Georgetown, O was there in the Big East playing for John Thompson.

High profile, et cetera, et cetera.

So as material and sensational as he was, the fact that he was performing on that stage in the aftermath of the adversity that he experienced said a lot about him. If he had gone to an HBCU, HBCUs were not getting the level of notoriety that it gets today, and even today it ain't enough. And so because of that,

A result, support base would have been strong.

But he still would have been in that cocoon, and the folks that had the power to make him into who he ultimately became, I'm not sure they would have went there to get him, you see what I'm saying,

With your own community.

If you got any kind of soul, you feel an obligation to be there for.

The community just as much as yourself.

And how could I prove this to you to anybody that didn't go to an HBCU but was stars and the pros or what have you think about? What you have done for your boys. The HBCUs is your boys. Think about what you've done for your girls, whether it's your daughter's, your sisters, your mom, or anybody else that's HBCUs. Those females, it's a family. And when you have that kind of connection to them, this is.

What they do for you at HBCUs.

That they ain't gonna do for your predominantly white institutions. You know what you're here for, right, don't let us down. You know you representing us right. Make sure you're doing this, Make sure you're doing this, make sure you're doing that, and they're staying on you like extended family. And because of that, if you have that kind of love and that kind of connection, you don't want to let them down. I tell you professors right now, Marilyn Roseboro, Larry Little,

What are some of your journalists influences? Who people that you respect, Who people that you looked at in the path of where you've gone, you know, kind of not saying you nothing's ever copy, but we definitely admire, you know, we pick off and use it and incorporated to ourselves. To what have been some of your examples great journalists.

Is ample idolized Howard Cosell growing up, that was that was definitely that God because his distinct voice and his willingness to stand up for Muhammad Ali when everybody when he transitions cash just played the Muhammad Ali and being a white individual of Jewish descent, if I remember correctly that was willing to stand up at that particular moment in time on behalf of Muhammad Ali was a black Muslim.

I had a lot of respect for him.

Brian Gumbel is one of the greatest journalists who have ever lived. And for him to be a black man and to be in the world of sports and the transition and the television and news or whatever, the Today Show, the NFL Show, ultimately HBO, Real Sports with HBO, all the stuff that he did, he's absolutely phenomenal and he's an iconic figure. The late great Ed Bradley for sixty minutes, he was something specially with my man, my brother Stuart Scott got rested soul on ESPN along with John Saunders.

I mean, guys like that.

And then you got a living legend who I consider to be a living legend is Michael Wilbon because people forget he was writing for the Washington Post before he became He got the part of the interruption.

Here's what people miss.

Do you know that in two thousand and three when the Philadelphia Enquirer, when I met you, actually I met you a couple of years later in two thousand and three when the Phillips.

Actually, I'm sorry, it was before that.

Nineties. I apologized.

But when they named me a general sports columnist in two thousand and three, I was the twenty first African American in this nation's history to be named the general sports colorists. The reason I bring that up is that, remember, when you're a columnist, you have the license to give your opinion editorialize. See, we don't we take that for granted today because of Twitter and Instagram.

And TikTok and everybody language.

Yo, bro, we didn't have it American, we didn't have the world. We didn't have that license. You couldn't give your opinion unless you were a columnist.

Will Bom was one of the first.

And so when he was at the Washington Post given his opinion, imagine how inspiring that was for all of us to witness what he was doing, how brilliant of a writing he was, how opinionated he was, how wrong he was with his voice and his convictions, and how people had to gravitate towards him because that wasn't a voice you wanted against you, you know, because you knew what level of respect he garnered. Those things really really

Could have been a data we see almost like a training camp for young journalists to come in and learn from the best. Is that even possible, Yes, it's very possible.

All they got to do is called me, right, I'll be there, should be, you know, and ain't no problem. Somebody wanted you know, somebody want to make that happen.

I'll make that happen.

My biggest problem with today without youth and the older people the bridge. Yeah, the older people don't want to you know, hey, I don't want to spend and then the young people don't have enough time.

Right, I would tell you the older folks, I think they think a little different lead than you realize.

I think so.

I think the older folks don't believe that the younger folks want to listen.

The young the young hairs I talk to come off right almost like they expect the young boy to listen. And these young young people just into like multiple things to where if you're not talking about what they talking about, they own to the next.

That's right, That's what I'm talking about. It's not about it's not that.

Older folks believe that you young, so you're gonna be disrespectful to the elders. It's that the world has changed. And so as a result, like I say, for example, if.

You're doing newspapers and you've been successful all of this time, right sixty years, right, times have changed.

Linear television is fading's streaming platforms have elevated and proliferated. You got all of this going on, and cats see money. All of a sudden, you can get a YouTube channel, and if you're doing something, a little something with it, you can make in a month what some people made

The problem is not you think.

In that way, because any of us would think that way.

It's the way you convey it.

If you convey it in a fashion that comes across as dismissive and disrespectful. How's the older folk gonna take that because we respected our elders.

No doubt you under saying that.

Man, I like what you said or whatever, but damn if it made sense, it made sense. But more importantly, we ain't looking at you as telling us something because you're trying to belittle us. We looking at you telling us something because you're trying to educate us. Because as an old person and an older person, you recognize the fact that you're your best days are behind you. You understand and you faded into that twilight and you get to a point where there's no success without a successor.

I don't think young I don't think young people know how to initiate. Though we're older, we've been through multiple times where you have to initiate, you have to be aggressible. I think young people know how to initiate, I say this, what is your what's your view on the young generation?

First of all, I'm very proud of them, believe it or not, ballsy, courage be on yourself, innovative, courageous. And I said of courageous already all of that stuff is applicable, absolutely true.

I just need them to be tougher mentally. Mhm.

Somebody giving you constructive criticism does not equal condemnation. It means in the moment, this is what you did in the moment, this didn't work, Suck it up, deal with it. And you see a lot of these young cats, particularly professional athletes, that don't absorb to all of that, and they're not telling the truth always as to why they

Today.

You played on Thursday, you play like shit, But Saturday and Saturday you might drive fifty what you worried about it for, you got another game to go out there, You got another day to go out there.

Just like that.

As long as the person is willing to keep the same energy in praising you as they were in condemning what you may have done.

That particular day, you should be good.

And unfortunately you got a lot of casts that can't take that. They really really can't. And that's where you see the divide existing. And it's not just with the young and the old. It's with professional journalists compared to professional athletes. It's with pundits and commentators compared to other casts that are doing what they're doing even though once they finished they trying to come and do that.

You look at Lebron James for example.

Lebron Ja's got over one hundred million subscribers with social media.

Damn, what do you need to do a podcast?

But you're still doing one? Eat you still doing one at you because you want a voice. You got the shop wow, because you want a voice. You see what I'm saying, so you can have all the followers in the world. But ultimately what you're saying is you want to be heard. You just want to be heard the way you want to be hurt. And what you're thinking about is what you want to disseminate and convey as opposed to how shit is being received.

And I'm the person.

I'm one of those dudes that I pay attention to both what's being put out there but also how it's being received.

It's almost like a balance. Yeah, I got a great story, Yeah that I was in there. I was in Chicago, and rest in peace to my dog block Big Mike. Right, he lived in this project called the Village and this one way in the village and it's one way out the village. I'm from a lower neighborhood, so they already know. But it's cool. They let us come in here. You got to get permission to come in. And who I'm saying this to speed up to say that situation went on when my homeboys fouled one of the guys up

Oh it's easy for me, bro I'm from the streets cold. Your personal life's your business. Don't break no laws, don't get no police bloggers, don't have everybody talking about something to the point where I got to talk about it too because the public consumptions.

But that's your business outside of that.

Now, what you do in a public platform, it's my business, it's everybody's business.

But what you do privately is your business.

And so you know, one of the things that anybody that knows me in all my years that I've been in this business, in any of my boys and my family, anybody that know me know that ain't know how I roll.

Your personal story is yours to tell your game? Is that my discretion?

That's everybody.

I'm watching the game. I see what I see, and that's that. Now, there's been plenty of times that I've seen and heard what affected your game. I don't go out and say nothing. I might say something like, you know, you just didn't seem like yourself.

Ok, you just seem like yourself.

It's my way of letting the player know, like, look, look, I know, I know, I know, I know what you You missed something last already.

You have some shit going on last night.

I got you no problem fix it because you blowing it right.

But I ain't gonna tell what I'm not doing that.

I mean, there's certain things that you got to be able to sleep at night. And I don't care whether it's Chicago, it's New York, it's LA. I don't give a damn what it is. When when I say the streets, I'm talking about the streets. You know what the code is. There's certain shit you don't do. You just don't do it. You know, I've often used this example. You know, I was around Jay Z on several occage before he got

I never once asked.

Them a single question about each other, not one time.

If you want to tell me.

That's inappropriate, though, right, we don't know that.

Were you asking for.

But I'm saying so, I'm using an extreme example like that to point out how you.

Just know and catch you don't know.

You don't need to be around them because they just ignorant and they don't know. The worst ones, however, are those who don't care, and they'll do it anyway. It's like, what are you doing? It's none of your business. If there's something for you to know, they'll let you know.

Now you're talking about music, Yeah, man, I got questions, you know what I'm saying about. I don't got questions.

You know cont I got questions to a basketball player.

You got tickets. Let's not forget the tickets. Damn it. I need a pass.

Damn I don't feel like we don't have me going no damn ticket mass put me on the VRP list. Oh yeah, that we could do.

But not asking you shit, it's none of you, It's none of my business, you know.

And it's like it's just a way of letting people know. You know what code is, you know what the line is. You know this just certain things you ain't doing. And that's why I could be the way that I am. When when I'm talking about certain things with players or were getting in beefs and we arguing or whatever, you see me get pissed and people will talk about, well, you.

Know, you know this cat, that cat don't like you said? What fuck told you? I liked that, you see what I'm saying?

Because they being weak about it, It's like, oh, so you had a bad month. I point out how you had a bad month. So now what you want to do is go behind my back and talk about me like I did something to violate you. When I was talking about your game. You're given this impression about I must be this kind of person because I talked about your game.

Once you tell them the truth, Once you tell them the truth, why don't.

You tell you mad?

You know what I'm saying, because your ass played like garbage last month.

I pointed the shit out. I ain't say why you were playing bad. I know why, but I never told why. You didn't tell that, didn't you? You see what I'm saying.

All of these kind of things you see cats and they don't.

They're not honest.

About it, which is why my favorite line line. I always used this, and I've said it in front of everybody. I've said it in practice, any interview where they asked me a question about it. I said, we want to have a conversation about my professionalism, my borrows, my integrity.

What I've done two or four or get.

Somebody name the time and place, and I'll show up and bring an audience because I want receipts. He said, I want people to see how your ass is lying. I want people to see how you full of want them. I want them to see it. You understand, I said, I said, And I remember I said this. I was doing somebody was interviewing me a couple of weeks ago.

I said, I've said.

That statement on many occasions. Have you noticed that some of the dudes that chirped the most have never invited me.

Where they got podcasts? They got shows. I ain't got an your names, they.

Got podcasts, they got shows. See k KG got me here. I'm saying, KG got me.

They invite me.

Why you you know what I'm saying.

You know why, because KG and I understand. You don't want them to understand. You want people to believe your bullshit because you want to be weak enough to hide behind stuff and talk smack.

I'm right here.

I'm on I got the number one morning show on television. I'm on live ten hours a week. After the ten hours a week, I got my Steven A. Smith Show podcast where I built my own studio. I'm doing interviews all over the place. They got me talking positive. Oh damn, you know he going off for the Damns right now. He's going off on the Republicans right now, and both sides call it. I'm like winning where I'll be there. I visit, but I'll make time today. You got time tomorrow. Fun,

Is it not true? All right?

And I say stuff like that, and I do that because I want people to know I'm not crossing lines. But I'm serious about being mean, and I ain't never betray who I am and what I stand for, no matter what people try to portray. And that's what I live on.

Have you ever said something that you thought you put too much on it or you went too hard?

I did, I did, me and Big Dog Glenn Robinson Definitely I went too far. When Randiers got fired, I felt he was responsible for that. Randiers is a black man, was an assistant under Lady Brown, former coach of Ohio State, and I really, really really had a problem because I thought that his behavior with Randy Airs was inconsistent with what it was with George call or what it would have been with Lavy Brown or one of the white coaches.

I felt like that. And then Randier's got to me let it go.

Mo Cheeks, gott to me, let it go, you know, AI and all let it go, Let it go. And then when I really realized that I'm the professional, I'm the journalist. It's my job not to be acting like that. It really hit home when I saw his son. His son was playing in the league and we were in Houston and he was walking out and he was like hesitant, not not rude or anything like that, almost like scared to come.

Across me because of what he thought I would say to him or do or whatever.

And I was like, oh my god, this is terrible. And that day I walked up to his son and I was like, whatever happened with me and your dad, I was wrong. I don't ever want you to think that anything that you do, that whatever beef I have with him would affect Now I cover you.

I said, I'm so sorry about that.

And I said when I said, when I see your dad, I never saw him again, but if I saw a big dog, ID apologize to him because it's my job to be It was I'm the professional, I'm the journalist.

It was my job to be above all of that. And I wasn't.

And I knew that that was that was a big deal, and that really resonated with me. And then I still have regrets about, you know, my sound on Kwame Brown from years ago. You know, because there was no Twitter, there was no social media. I didn't know fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years later, they still be playing this stuff, and I'm like, damn, you know, my bad. But you know, I mean, I had to clap back at him a couple of times because he's getting too ridiculous, you know.

Candy at the time. You know, Michael, Yeah, I did. I did. I did, And you were like trying.

You were like chill, you know, you told me and you told me to chill, and I was like, and all I could think about, Like you and I never really talked much over the years. We were always cool with each other.

We had mutual friends saying, Mitchell boris my boy. The whole bit. Mad love and respect to you.

But what I loved about you most you forced me to live up to what I proclaim about myself. I always tell people, look, bro, just talk talk to me. If I'm wrong, just tell me I'm wrong and tell me why. You know, if I don't believe it, I'm gonna tell you conversation. If I do believe it, I'm gonna I'm gonna change. I'm gonna change that. And I was like, this brother is a superstar in this league and stopped and said, Stephen, they let me holler at you,

And I dolled it back big time on all the way kid. After that, I dolled it back.

I appreciate, appreciate that, you know, but I'm just saying, you didn't have to talk to me.

You didn't have to talk to me. You know. It's like, but you did.

And it's like you look at these cats like to me, the Kobe's God rest his soul, Kobe, pick up the phone, Kobe.

Fuck you just said. I know you just say that.

Like love, you know, but I was but I loved it because it was like, yeah, you talk.

I'm gonna listen.

But don't try to intimidate me, don't try to bully me, don't don't, please, don't do that, because then the other dude gonna come out and I'm not gonna back up. But if you talk to me, I'm gonna listen. And that's what I try to pride myself and do.

Have you ever made a Have you ever made a point to something and felt like it didn't get It was a great point and it didn't get like the you that you wanted to. You ever made a great point and it didn't It didn't hit like it hit.

But it's hard for me to remember that, but I'm sure I have because I talk a lot because of what I do for a living. And so you know, as far as I'm concerned, that happens every day. You know, I'm doing fifteen segments per day to ask business over you know, it's fifteen segments per two hour show, and so and it went from twelve to fifteen, and so you got twelve to fifteen different perspectives on different things.

I didn't lie. I wasn't deceitful. I actually thought.

But then somebody might text me, give me a little bit of intel, say stephen A, you might have missed this here, you might missed it.

I come right back on it.

Somebody just let me know I missed this boom here I am.

But I always let the audience know.

Yo, I'm authentic, I am who you, I am who I portrayed myself to be, and I don't lie about it.

You have built first take to be arguably the number one show in the universe. They'll set the precedent A to Z. I follow you. You know, you know my greatest gift was that I had I read Scotter reports, I watched film. When I listened to you, you're rare prepared. Probably you're You're so prepared that you can actually take a topic and actually make it the precedent for the

It's not actually at.

You know what I'm saying. I say this to say in a in a in a poking way, prime time because the morning, if you can, if you can, if you can encapsulate an audience in the morning, it's says a lot. I'll say that to say that I followed from what you're doing with iHeart congratulations. You tell me to set up in what you're doing with I heart and then I got to ask the follow up after that to what's the precedent for that first first of all, and if I'm going in the right direction of what I'm louding.

Cool, it's cool right.

First take is a very big deal because I'm the executive producer first take two, and they gave you that title three years ago.

They said it's yours. Should show show us what you got?

Should you built that?

Yeah, but it was in the aftermath of Max Kellerman being gone, and I knew.

That it was like my asses on the line.

I got to show what what what what my creative juices are, and what I'm made of and what I think this show can be.

But be honest that that had ran its course.

Though be dead. But that's what I said.

I mean, it was like and it needed it. Y'all need a new blood. Bro.

He's a good brother, heart's in the right place, work hard, and I'm not telling you he can't do great TV.

Ain't that I'm not judging him. All I was saying was that us, he and I it ran its costs.

And I could tell because I'm out, I'm out in the streets, I'm going to the games. I'm inside the lock, people talking to him, and it's like people talking.

You know, and.

You know, I'm like, you know, and I'm sitting there like because I'm trying to win, you know. And and and this is the thing. People will hear me talk about winning Winingen.

Who you think he is?

Yo, we cover sports. We're holding dudes accountable every day for not winning.

How do you sit idly by and just be blase about being blase? No?

If KG was on the court balling and I looked at you and went like this, it really don't matter to him.

Whether he win or lose. I got a problem with you. I got a problem with you that can't happen.

And so it's like it also contributed to my health turn around in the last year because I'm like, I'm.

Covering professional sports. If I got walking around with pop elly.

For no, no, no, no, I'm holding each cats accountable.

Let me be all I can be.

And so after doing first take and doing all of that, then you also start looking at everybody.

Yeah, these brothers got.

Money, and they professional athletes, and they coaches and the general managers and the executives their owners. Yeah that's true, but they don't stand still they going for it? Are you going for it?

Doing first take every day? Is that really really going for it? Stephen A?

Is that all you got?

And I was like, nah, this is unacceptable.

Yeah.

I aspire to be my own boss. Yeah, I wanted to develop my own platform. Yes, I want to build my own media company. Yes, I'm doing stuff in the world of production with mster sas Productions. All of that's true, but it emanates from this desire and this refusal to start to not stand still. You do not want to

It will to a million. Thank you so much, the whole bit. I ain't satisfied. Bro.

Everybody walking around at me. You know, now I'm a boss. So are you employees now? And I'm looking at you and you happy, And I'm getting attitude with you because I'm looking at you like you don't establish the standard.

I established the standard. It's my shit.

I'm trying to win and I'm not satisfied with where we are. That don't mean we're failing, but that to me is like we walk into the season and you know, if we make the playoffs, we won, we're successful.

No, no, the chip.

Now, you can't win every year, but you're supposed to be shooting for it. And at the end of the day, you know, the Kg's of the world are the guys that personify It's like there is no one from year one to your choint. There's no one that can look at your career and point out one day where they looked at you and they went like this, you know, he's just gonna be good if we just have a winning record.

Nobody could say that about you. Everybody knew you were a warrior.

I love warriors, bro, I love warriors man. I didn't like the fact that AI didn't prioritize practice as much as he should have, but I covered that man every day for the first eight ten years of his career. My hand to God, that brother. When that brother stepped on the court.

Warrior, it was like it's and I was just looking at him, man.

And one day we had a talk and he was like, Man, what why are you the way you are with me?

Man? And I was like, because I love you seriously, Bro, You're the.

Little brother I never had. I think about the adversity you face. I think about the shit you overcame. I think about the way no matter what mountain of adversity come.

Your way, you still show up. You still show up.

And I know so much personal shit that he's had to put up with. You know, cats that betrayed him. You see what I'm saying and stuff like that, and he knows I know that, and you know, of course I would never say, but I was cool with some of those.

Cats that betrayed them flat I betrayed them.

And it pissed me off because I'm like this, how do you do that to him? How you just you just you see stuff and it's like to be around that, to be surrounded by that and to see that level of greatness. To me, it's not just about your abilities. It's about your mental and the conviction that you bring to the table.

So, just to.

Answer your question, man, it's like it comes from all of that. And when I think about the podcast and the production company and all of that, stuff.

It's coming from that. Yeah, I want to be successful.

You know, I can't announce it yet, but I got a drama series that was picked up that I'm gonna be able to announce in a few weeks. I got a docu series coming out, you know that I can announce that in a few weeks. I'm working on different projects and.

Stuff like that.

All of that's true, But where it really comes from is the fact that I've been blessed and fortunate enough to cover and be around some of the greatest athletes and the strongest mental people, the mentally strongest.

People I've ever ever seen. And it's made me stronger.

It's made me stronger because when you want to give up, how think about it?

Somebody working they working with KG yo. Man, it just.

It really don't really matter to me anymore. Man, I just want to give up.

You gonna be like, what are.

You talking about? What what you're talking about? Man? It's just depressire is just too much. Man.

The adversity is I just get tell you what, Look, what is this? How soon can I get you the hellup out of here? I don't need you contaminating the rest of my peeps.

We can't have that. You understand, yes, at versus he's gonna come.

Yeah, we can sit down, talk about it, we could vibe about it, we could work our.

Way through it. But giving up in an option.

And when you surround yourself with people who are strong, you get stronger or you fall off.

And I ain't trying to fall off.

Are you watching what you watching?

What bar doing? H I'm doing more than that. I've spoken about it. We just had less together a few weeks ago. Watching what he's doing.

I'm watching what he's doing. He's doing some special things. But he's been around for a while. He's a gamer, got major, major dough He's a visionary, highly intellectual, incredibly accomplished. I wish I knew all that he knows. But he's been in this world for quite a long time. And what he's done on a comedy circuit, what he's done for comedians, what he's done for other artists, it's a lot to be said for all of that.

Man.

I'm a tremendous, tremendous fan of Byron Allen, and I think that any of us who are striving to do something, whether we're working with him or not, to at least sit down with him, talk to him and receive his counsel, and more importantly bring him his flowers because he deserves so.

Much of it. I think that's incredibly important.

What is how far are we from? I know you mentioned your own production. I know you got your podcast. You've been killing it. Congratulations on that too, man, I know you got to build that. You know, I know that firsthand. What is next for you when it comes to from watching you with the first take him, watching you with the podcast, man, you just got the iHeart deal watching everything. What's next for you when it comes to this network? Well, first of all, hold on, I'm sorry,

Acting?

Like? What? Second?

Third time on that? Not at all? What did you live about seven years?

I've been there about seven years, bro, Yeah, I got a recurring role. Character's name is Yeah, it's a villist expert for the even want to know this name?

I was like like, no, you got to know the character name.

I was like, I love it.

Then my grandma rest in Peach to my grandma Milton Man, she chat there and watched that.

For that's right.

Millions the restless to most populars as long as those been going on fifty fifty plus year fifty plus years?

Has Vinter Curious Man killed yet?

Is he dead yet?

Victor? Victor Newman, Victor Newman, I don't even Victor Newman for Young and the Wrestless.

His name in real life is Eric Braden. He's one of my best friends. We have lunch every time I'm out here, every time lunch of dinner Automatic Automatic. His son is a big time director. He's the one who directed Dinner Thieves and it's coming out with number two Christian Goudikins. Yes, that's his son.

He introduced me to his dad.

I didn't know either of them until about twelve thirteen years ago, and they.

Said, oh my god, Eric Braden's texting you, I mean tweeting you. And I said, who the hell is Eric Braiden? And they're like Victor Newman Young at arrest Us. I was like, what Victor Doman right?

And come to find out, his son, big time mm a fan, big time fight fan, told his pops.

Yo, man, just do it right here, Steven A Smith. He said, he's the best sports and listen.

In American history. You got to watch them. And Eric Brady went and watch me. He said, I agree, I would love to meet you. We went out to dinner and we've been tight of a series thirteen years ago, so.

I see him all the time.

And the guy named Maurice Bernardo was also a dear friend of mine. He's the guy that plays Sonny Carinthos in General Hospital.

They the two biggest soap opera stars. They had never met.

Why I brought them together at Craig's in Beverly Hills for dinner a few years ago, just for them to meet and break bread with one another.

You know.

So I'm sitting there with the two biggest soap opera stars.

So that was hilarius.

But I enjoy it because I grew up watching it because we had one TV in the house, and when you came up from school, I got foller, Sisters, you wanted to watch TV because you didn't want to do your homework and you couldn't go outside and play and tell you did your homework. So if you wanted to watch anything, you have to watch General Hospital. So I've been watching General Hospital since I was like.

Eight years old, like eight years.

Old, and I'm talking about I'm literally watching it like i've been at ESPN and it's like, you know, not to come to me between three and four o'clock.

Don't bother me, ship, I mean the soaping, So what if somebody come? Do what when you want? You know, you know you know what time it is. Why you bothering me? You know you know exactly.

Boris used to come into the dorm and then come on, man, I'm like this, you know why you bothered me?

Yo?

Man you say you know General hospitals? On why you bothered me?

Right now?

Don't bother me right now?

Man?

You know what I'm saying. Coach used to try and go practice and be like, can we have practice? Can we have practice after four o'clock? I mean general hospital? Because you didn't have the DVR back then.

You don't have to be back there.

The second I could. I did.

I still do, Bro, I'm telling you I still do right now. I ain't yo dog yo yo, I'm out here in Cali with you. Let me tell you something right now. I take the last two episodes. I'm going, I'm going, I'm leaving here to go watch them. I'll tell you true, I'm gonna watch.

This ship dream role if you could do any role or have a role. What would it be? Dream role.

I'd like to be, not like specifically him, but a role that like imitated it.

New jack Cony. Oh get the you know what I mean? You know what I mean? No, brand your fire out as down, make change. Yes, Nino Brown, that's right, that's right.

Oh hell yes, they want to reboot you Jackson playing Nino. If you want to play Nino, you got Nino.

You know what I'd have it. I promise you, I promise. I don't under stay here. You know, I understand. I don't want to be ice Tea. You understand I'm saying. You don't know what I mean. My man, people's you know what I'm saying. I don't money. I want that money, I love it, but I don't want to money.

No, no, no smokeing you got that, that's right.

I'm telling you. He smoked the right in the roof. And by the way, you got that. By the way, you got that, by the way.

God he had to go.

He had smoked them smoke smoked.

I mean, you're playing over you gotta you know you you you you you violated man.

You know what I'm saying. You started using you said you're smoking your crack. You under ste what I'm saying. You on the run. You know, he goill dom you out, He'll get you up. You see what I'm saying. Now, you got to go. He got to go.

You remember when he said, I I'll be sure you just say like you're pretty kill anyway, pretty remember that man?

Oh yeah, horse fris mm hmm.

You got him?

Man walk this smell to his car. Swippy moved you as you got that.

I think Stephen, there you got I think I need to see that. All I'm saying to you is this. I'm not saying I got him yet. I would have him if I had to do the role. I would have him if I had to do the.

Row or you can get it done. You got the type of network that you can go in the office at the peoples.

Yes, yeah, but you know what though, certain greatness ain't meant to be imitated.

Leave it alone, Leave it alone. You know what I was watching the other day.

Can't touch classics.

I can't touch him. Remember, Let's do it again?

Yeah hell yeah.

See.

We talk about Holly Berry, we talk about Beyonce, we we we talk about the j Lows of the world and others did you see Jane Kennedy walking out there in the construction site to start the movie.

When when when when Bill Cosby was riding on that construction truck and stuff, but and he crashed into it.

You know, I watched it at least once a week, just that scene.

That's that's your favorite thing. Just that scene.

Okay, Jay Kennedy, Jane Kennedy, and go back and look at that grim.

I'm a Pam grim Man.

Listen man, listen, listen, listen.

That early on Pam Green when she was like listen, we did a movie with Pam Grid called Cinnamon Brow And and I don't really getting.

But she's Pam Great.

She's fam had to keep it together. I had to keep together my home. Pam Grush still looking good, smelling good.

And let me say this to you.

You bring up Pam Graham grip another well, of course nobody was Roquel Wells. Does not forget about off the Change.

Jesus, we're doing this.

Rachel cam back.

He really back and just really back in. But I'm just saying, man, they got some stuff in the news right now because Steph Curry and the executive producing this animated version of Good Times whatever, people criticizing that all of that stuff. But I ain't bringing that up for that reason.

I bring up the real good times. Oh shit with the Thelma.

Thelma might have been the baddest chick on TV for me for about twenty years.

Have you seen Thelma today?

Thelma still bad?

When you talk about black beauty. Lord, I just told somebody this story.

You know, in my room.

You come to my room, you see Jordan, you see Kenny Anderson. I was a huge Pearl Washington. I sudden, Lord, I sudden, thank you?

So is that not the greatest show in the history of college basket d Wayne Pearl Washington this Syracuse.

It was a line about that.

It was a line about that, you got the list right, Lord, you got the list right. You put Pearl up there, didn't nobody even understand that was in there, right?

And you know, had the audacity to tell me I was wrong. Oh JJ reddick you the fun he told me. I said, I think he just showed your youth. You just showed your youth. You're just young. You just I know, you know basketball.

But you wear brown in his brestt like sibe like you go do not what the way Pearl Washington.

What the way Pearl Washington.

JJ Reddick does not know all cultural basketball. Okay, he knows what he knows.

Okay, when you start digging through the crazy vinyls.

Come on, man, that's what I'm talking. Come on, man, that's what I'm saying.

That's where I had to go.

Who Lee Kenny Anderson with lead the Weapon three at Georgia Tech. Listen, Lord was a lionhe was the line when I talked about he gave it nobody joe Yoe Man. I love Bobby Hurley, Bobby Hurley, but but he sent Bobby Hurley to the bench crying to coach.

Don't know what that was that liar, It's not the same.

Oh, my goodness, my Lord Kenny Anderson. Now now Chris Jackson, my mode.

I was just thinking about the cultural heroes. Chris Jackson was winning. I think he was wearing some Bo Jackson's one. Listen listen, Yo, listen.

The brother was average twenty nine w w SHA and big stands and stay.

Big listen listen listen man, everything you be on, I'm on the same plateau. I forgot my damn questioning where we were born with all this, because.

Come on, man.

But wait a minute, before we leave that subject, I want to say this about Pam Grad Pam Gred marvelous, marvelous. I kind of figured and by the way, years later, to show you how bad she was.

Years later she was.

In into deep with Oh.

Right, she was in there, right, she looked good that But let me say this to you.

I'm gonna see it one more time, ladies and gentlemen, Let's do it again.

That's the name of the movie.

The opening scene, Jane Kennedy going walking. I challenged somebody to show me someone more beautiful than that.

Woman was in that scene.

Right, it's been in, Miss Parker. Yes, it's being miss park Miss Parker was warning the grass, Miss Parker. It was being in Miss Parker. Brown.

I'm just being real with you. Hold on with some mother candy.

Throw him out here. I know he got some hold.

On Jane Kennedy.

Bro, it's a it's a pale grill. She walking into the room. Look look, Vanity, yeah what about Yeah? Vanity?

Vanity was nice? You remember what was that the dragon? Not Bruce Lee about she was in that one.

Show message.

That's what you know we're not saying. You say, show that movie, whatever the hell I title was, Okay, that dude right there, and and and you know what, and and she's trying to get with him and stuff like that, and and and showed him doing his martial arts and her theater and ship, and he loved it and then ran out because he came up with an idea and left us standing. The vanity was a bad chick, no doubt. Apolonial.

Chili all that. But Jane Kennedy, you stuck on there, bro show me better. I ain't saying that. I'm talking about that scene. That scene.

I got some better get a Yeah, I promised you you could think hard as hell.

It ain't gonna find you, ain't gonna find it. You ain't gonna find it. Not better than that.

Scene, Johnson, that's another's solid.

No, No, no, I ain't saying all of them are.

Grinn or not got you.

No, No, this is not for examples.

I'm great, all great, it's all, but it's not Jane Kennedy at the beginning. Uh damn it, don't make me, make me do it right. I'm just telling you. I'm just telling j Kennedy, bro, trust me on this.

Trust me.

I got a part of here.

What do you say? What do you say? You know? He know? He don't you know? I'm telling you, you know, I'm telling you.

What is your recollection on what this new TV deal is gonna look like for the league? I watched it. I watched a commercial with AT and T commercial and they had uh they had young Juju in it, they had Joel in it. And I'm watching just the whole yes special, super special. Shout to Juju, she's doing the thing. Shout to Joel doing this thing and all that. We ain't even talking about basketball, right, we didn't even get into that. But this is about you. Just wanted more

The thing about it is this The first order business they accomplished is when they took basketball related income and

So we understand that part.

But in the larger markets, particularly if you're innovative enough, you can really really maximize the potential of your individual franchise and that's not going to be stopped. So the NBA will guard against that. But the streaming stratosphere has really opened things up. And what I would say to you is that you got to really really.

Look at what the NFL did.

They were on direct TV, but then they went to YouTube and they couldn't be happier by making that move.

And it does look like a better product, the clarity.

You know, of just the whole visual It just looks esthetically brilliant. On a part of the NFL just pops, It just pops more. Not only that, you got four games on one screen, so you don't have to sit up there and have three four multiple TVs or whatever. You could put three or four games on one screen, and then you know what, you can sit up there and you know, full screen any game that you want. So having the ability to do those things really really

Why is that relevant? We take a situation.

ABC and ESPA or with Disney collaborate with Fox, collation, you know, Warner Brothers, Discovery, right, their market cap was projected to be at approximately a little under four hundred billion dollars, a lot of money.

We get all of that. You know what Apple is, you know what Amazon.

Is like over trillions, nearly three trillion apiece.

You knows, if not a little over that.

And so when you see that they just haven't really really delve into the world of sports because obviously these league rights fees coursed the load, and some of them don't want to pay it. And if you don't need to pay it, because you're already more valuable than anybody else, why do you need to do that? But if they decided that they wanted to get into it a bit more, who knows what the hell will happen?

Netflix?

What if they decide they really want to prestick their feet they're toes into the world of sports.

What's gonna happen?

So the leagues are looking at all of this and they're exploring what opportunities are available to them.

And if you're the National Football League, if you're college.

Football, if you're the NBA, you're gonna have a whole bunch of suitors.

You're gonna have a whole bunch of suitors.

And if you're showing the ability, especially if they figure out how to monetize the streaming stratosphere to the degree they should, it's going it's gonna be off the charge that then we haven't even taken into account artificial intelligence AI and the kind of impact that that's going to have.

In years to come. You gotta be dogged about your rights.

You gotta make sure you own your rights, because if you don't, they could utilize it to their advantage, profit off of it, and you're gonna x out the casual fan.

Think about it this way. Somebody told me the other day that it's projected that nearly.

Two hundred million jobs will be lost in the next ten years. Now, that don't mean there won't be additional opportunities for you to get in the.

World of AI.

But because of the existence of AI, it's gonna move out the common man. I've never quite understood that, because I've said to myself, you need the common man and woman to feed in fuel capitalism. If they ain't, they ain't making any money. They can't go out there and spend What the hell you think is gonna happen to our nation if you elevate artificial intelligence at the price of actual human beings who go out there and patronize products, go to the restaurants, go to the movies.

Go buy clothes, all of this, buy cars, oubms.

What are you going to do? It makes no sense whatsoever. So I don't know how they're gonna figure that out. But knowing that all of that stuff is coming down the pike, you got to be aware of it.

I had somebody do this to meet the other day.

KG.

They sat there and they presented something to me where it was me.

Calling the super Bowl that just happened with San Francis gonna get yeah, oh fuck, looked like me, sound.

Like me the oho shit. They showed it to me. I was like, what the hell? They said, that's artificial intelligence.

So if you can do that, why do you think the actors and everybody sag aster and everything.

Do you think they were going crazy?

Because again, they want their rights, because if you can emulate or duplicate their work without them, where does that leave them in this business going down the line. And if you're the viewer, how would you know the difference? Because technology is so advanced, you might think it's them, but it's an AI version of them, and.

You could barely tell the damn difference.

This is the kind of world that we're about to encounter, and so owning our own stuff, making sure that we have ownership of our name, image, likeness, and all of that other stuff, it's become even more of a priority than ever before. Because the world is moving in a different direction and its threatening to leave anybody behind that isn't willing to keep up with the.

Joneses and the loss and the loss don't support Right now, there are really no loss. To protect your name in likeness, you have to actually go out and incorporate your own and actually grab it, own it, get it up. It's crazy.

This is where we are. It is crazy.

The next two to three years are going to be life changing for probably us, everybody that's been living for the next last thirty five forty years. I really see a sense of how things are changing. I'm seeing things be demasculine. You know what I'm saying. I own know it's feminine. What is it fit?

Femininity is heightened.

I say this to say, how far are we from a women president? How far are we from women in stronger positions? I see Brazil had a woman president, of France had a women's president.

But here's what I would tell you.

If the FBI directed at the time James Comey hadn't come in at the last minute. It was some shit about Hillary and emails, and Hillary I believe had campaigned in Wisconsin and Philadelphia in the waning days before the election. I think you would have had a female president in the twenty and sixteen You think so, Yes, I also believe Oh.

No, I think they so heavily in what they've done. Yeah, but track record wise, that's why he was able to dig on.

Yeah.

But I'm just saying I think that she was that close. And I think that Michelle Obama would win right now if she would have run. I think that Michelle Obama would hands down be the next president of the United States if she would have run against Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee. Now that obviously is not going to happen. She doesn't seem to have an interest. But I only say all of that to say, like that with her, you like that. It depends on the person.

Yeah, but I like it.

I like it, listen, like what it says.

It doesn't bother me.

And here's the reason why we love women. We love what they meant to our lives. When I think about a woman in a leadership position, the first thing I think about is my mom. And when I think about what my mom meant to me, what a rock she was, and how many men I've seen have cowered away from

Women are leading all the time.

They leading in corporate America, they're leading all over the place, and they're doing a hell of a job, to be quite honest.

With you, that's right. Well, it's always in the background.

I mean, I always have women in the back background supporting me, my sisters, and you know, my assistant, Sumatra and various other people.

Has always been.

Women that have been my rock, my foundation. So I don't really have an aversion to that. But that's an entirely different question than when we talk about our society and the wok culture that we're living in, and as a black man, it's pissed me off at how things have gotten.

So we got.

Xenophobia, we got people, you know, hating on immigrants. I'm not a proponent of illegal immigration. I think we need to control our borders, But in the same breath, I don't believe in separating families. I don't believe in throwing people out like the bath water and acting like they don't matter whatever. I just think that anybody that comes to this country should be documented and they should be paying taxes.

Just like I paid taxes. That's it, that's all.

Now we got that, we got homophobia, we got transphobia.

Why do I bring all of that up? Racism has been thrown at the bottle of the barrel.

I mean, you talk about black people experiencing racism in this country, folks, can bailey give a shit right now compared to the other issues going on. Why Because they've made sure their votes count. See what we've done, in my opinion as black folks, is we've made ourselves incredibly transparent. So we looking at the conservative folks and you've got folks from the black community questioning their racial sensitivities or calling the flat our races.

So you're not gonna vote for them. Since Lyndon B.

Johnson was the president of nineteen sixty four and he said, he said this right, and he said, if we vote, if we put civil rights legislation in the law, we'll have the negroes voting for us for the next two hundred years. And sure enough, since he did that, black folks have given the Democratic Party over ninety percent of our vote. So one side knows you're going to get their vote, so they could take you for granted.

The other side knows.

They have no chance in getting your vote, so they can ignore you. And we're the loan group without representation. But immigration, as much of a crisis as it may be at the borders right now, they actually benefit from that attention because somehow, some way, people are feeling compelled to get it under control, which means they're in the eye of the storm, which means their issues.

Matter because whoever gets credit.

For fixing the problem is going to get the Latino vote for years to come. And they are now the dominant minority because we had thirteen percent.

The Hispanic community is at seven to eighteen percent.

The US Census Bureau projects it's gonna be at over thirty percent in a few years, which means that they said, let's focus on their vote.

The hell with black people.

This is why immigration, this is why immigrations. If you're going off that formula, that's why we're having our border problems.

And so I look at it from that standpoint, and people look at me and they say.

You sports you support Yeah, but it's real life.

And don't come to me with that sports shit, because the second you see an athlete and you think you can manipulate them into getting what you want, you put pressure on them.

Bureau models, stand up, be your voice. You do all of this stuff to them.

But now if you did agree with them, you want them to be quiet.

Don't come to me with that. Nah. Let's be mindful, let's be cognizant.

And most importantly, people who have the ability to create change, to make a difference, to have an impact. Why are you not using it for that? Why are you not using it for that? Because That's how I'm looking at it. Like, you know, we could say, I got the Democrats pissed off of me right now. I said Trump's kicking ass and they were like they were mad. I was like,

Y'all can't beat them. That's why you got all of this, You know, all in in court.

The former president of the United States is in court right and in New York City because allegedly supposedly he paid the poor in star hush money.

Really, that's what we're doing.

This is another way he got something from a poor star and didn't want you to know because he got the conservative rights supporting them, so he kept it from you while he was running for the president of the United States.

And I'm like, God, he did that. We gotta get him.

Forget John Edwards, forget Gary Hart, for get Bill Clinton. Now now you want to do all of that, Come on, man, I'm just saying you're doing it because you can't beat.

Them, because you can't beat them. That that's like, you know what it is that that.

That's like, that's like making the rules as we're going.

Remember when Shaq sat up there and said they the Sacramento Queens. He was pissed off because he got tired of, you know, flopping.

Remember that.

So I'm just this is the equivalent of that. You you know, you you you're using the Lord to try.

And get them.

You flopping because you can't beat him. And I'm like, damn, I don't plan on vote for him, but I'm looking at him and I'm like, look.

He's whipping your ass. What you're gonna do about it?

Look at our world. World up fucking damn man.

And that's why it's got to be about business man. It's got to be about building your brand, being as successful as you could possibly be, making that money and what have you.

Because you can't.

Depend on the system, because the system continues to betray you.

It's constantly, ever changing.

It flows where it throws its finger up into the wind and sees where the wind is blown before it does anything, and it throws you.

To the wolves. You can't you can't trust it.

It's agenda driven. You can't trust it's agenda driven, and it's important for you to have your own. I think I actually like the conscious state of where we're at in the world. I think more people need to be more conscious of the square. You need to be conscious of your surrounding and vision. I never like to follow anybody, never, I ain't never been successful trying to follow somebody. So

You know what I'm saying, Well, I think I do it because I'm I want people to know that I'm connected to ship that matters, that that's what I'm talking abo. I'm not I'm not just talking about anything. You know, it matters. It impacts you, and you know you gotta have that.

And politicians need to be accountable like just like any person that's in a professional has to be has to be.

When I got on when I got on Conservatives years ago, it was because of sports that I jumped all over the whole Trump situation. I said, when he's sitting up there and he's acting the way that he's been acting, whether it's calling people out as be disrespectful, it's engaging in.

Whatever level of lawlessness or whatever.

I said, I just need all of y'all to explain to me how it's the Kappenic situation going on or there's something else, And you ready to hold twenty twenty five thirty year old athletes accountable more so than you're gonna hold at the time of seventy four seventy two, seventy four year old man who happens to be the president of the United States accountable. How is it that you can explain with a straight face that people who have the power to legislate our lives are held with

Well, they're a role model. Well, what the hell is the president supposed to be?

Fact?

What the hell is the senator government? What are you talking about with a governor?

A man?

What are you supposed to be?

If the athlete is supposed to be the role model, what are you supposed to be?

And keep it real, We're supposed to go in the past and catch some of this yesteryear's ship and bring you back up. That's right, Tulsa never got that's right. Georgia, the son of the the Lake, it's got the whole thing, Central Park, it's got the whole You feel what I'm saying?

All that, all that, all of that, And so I make folks uncomfortable because I bring that up and when I'm and then you might have people in the world of sports, like I've gotten too certain issues with coaches and other people, right, and they might get mad. They might try to come at me because or they don't like what I said, or whatever.

The case may be.

And I and I'll look at I'll be on TV, and I'll look at in a certain way.

And I'll be like, yeah, I know why you don't like it.

You see what I'm saying, because you know, they got they got other ship going on, you know, like they might flow with a politician, they might flow with a particular issue. They might flow with it, but you ain't want to say it, you see, And I and and and when the players all, you know, rally around them and support and I'll be like this, to move the hell out the way.

I'm looking right at.

That, that coach or that executive, whatever you got ship to do with it, My your damn business.

You being users upon.

Trust me, that ain't the issue they got with me. It's deeper than that. But if you playing games, you playing a game and you ain't paying attention to the shit I'm paying attention to, of course you're gonna think like that. But I'm thinking differently. You see what I'm saying. It's like I remember when Grey Popovichi called up.

He called up a show and because he was playing about Trump. I love that. Why because you're showing what you think about Steve.

Kerr going ballistic in all us rightfully so, by the way, about some of the politics that were gonna play, bringing up the bills that weren't being passed by name and number, Like, Yo, this is what's going on. And I'm like, yeah, finally you saying it, because this goes on all the time. They just don't admit that, and they ain't talking to the players about that, and they ain't telling them about

They know what that. They know what I'm saying.

You know exactly what I'm saying, and it is to make him uncomfortable, so be it.

So be it.

That's what rebels with the cause.

Do they say to have a presence, it's a cost disruption, and true disruption is honored No, you don't even know if somebody's in the room, if they're not a presence. You know what I'm saying. I totally get it. What's what's next for you? Man? Like I see everything you're doing and hurd all this.

Man.

I love see men. I can talk to you for like a whole day. Bro. You man, I'm glad we ain't here drinking. I'm glad we got water. No no, do not bring out no liquor. No, no church is good.

We can.

We can toe dominated the chamber and it's sports.

Wow the grass.

We can. We don't know what you gotta do next? You know what I'm saying with the man out here. Look, you know what I'm saying, king and certified and got been.

You know what I'm.

Saying the way you know now we got to hear his top.

Oh yeah, we gotta do that, man. But thank you man, well deserved by. I'm proud of you.

Man.

You're doing your thing.

You hear me.

I like this, man, that's move smooth.

What is this churn.

Works for? Me's gonna have us been on this mother?

Man?

That's cool. Put in the go cup up.

Man, I gotta I gotta ask you bro Top five MC's man. Let me hear your all time.

Let me answer that first question first in terms of what's next.

Oh yeah, my bad, my fault. I didn't even give you that. My bad.

What's next?

My production company, discovering talent, giving them an opportunity to shine, coaching some of these cats about what's out here in the world and how the maneuver your way through the mind field. It rude to really really making a difference. I definitely want to do that. I want to develop television shows, movies while still doing my own thing. Yes, I'm gonna get into acting more. I'm gonna actually take it seriously and I'm.

Gonna do some acting. Oh you go to school, I'm gonna take take some classes the whole.

I'm telling you, I'm gonna need no brown baby, you know brown, i'na pull shit off.

I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do I'm gonna do something like that. I'm telling you that right now.

You know I'm gonna.

Do all of that. I'm gonna do all of that. But you know.

The goal is to be successful enough to be able to hire people, to bring people along to help us grow. I'm not anti anything, you know, But I'm pro black and I'll never.

Apologize for that.

And so it's like, yeah, I'm gonna hire white folks just like I'm hire Latinos or whatever.

But I'm always hire us too.

And I want I want talent, and I want to be able to develop and grow, but in the same breath, I gotta take care of myself. And so you know, I got a contract coming up with the ESPN.

Who knows what that's what's gonna happen.

We'll see what's gonna happen with that, and and and and whether or not I'm gonna stay or or I have to move on. I doubt that I'll have to move on. They definitely made it clear they want me to stay. They know I don't mind doing first take, but in order for me to do anything beyond first take, it has to be worth my while. And that's just where I'm at with it. So it remains to be seen what's gonna happen. But that's my vision in terms

You do I don't like the world raptors.

Hip hop listen. This is me man. It's hard. It's hard. I hate, I actually hate.

I hate this subject because I always got to leave people off that I got so much love for jy Z to me is tops.

He's number one, number one.

I got j number.

You got number one because God, because you got cats who play some ship you can dance too. You got cast to say ship that make you think you got cast, that you could just lay down and listen to. You got cast and you want to thump once you ride it once you once you, when you once you riding through Calabasas or wherever it is else.

We're gonna be all that kind of ship.

That's true. Jay Z can do all of that. He don't let you down.

Versatility, the versatility.

I gotta put him there. I can't with that as a criteria. I can't leave out Biggie and Tupac. I cannot.

You know.

As a matter of fact, I think if Tupac were alive all of these years and have never left us, I think Tupac will be.

Number one music.

He was because he was an activist. Biggie was brilliant, but he was an activist. And because he has an active this mentality, had an activist mentality, spirit and spirit. I think I would have put him number one. But since he hasn't been here for so long, and jay Z has elevated the way that he has and has withstood the test of time, I'm gonna put jay Z at number one. I'm gonna put Pocket number two. I'm

And then you got to remember, I'm from Hollis, from Quez. So that's one dm C jam Master Jay. He was best.

Friends with my late brother god Rest both this soulis, you know. So it was like we grew up right up the block from each other. I mean I grew up one hundred yards from Jim Master and say I saw him all the time. I knew who run was messing with. He was messing with this girl on my block long before he got married. Get met his wife and got married.

I mean, that's how far we go back.

So I'm looking at fitty, respect the hell out of you know, all of these cats, you know, Heavy D and the boys. This is where I come from. You understand, Fat Joe got loved for him. We got to give him respect all of that ship. But if I had to go with four and five, I had to go with four and five.

You got some Southern playerlistics in there. You got some you got some Texas boys in there. You got some Midwest boys in there.

You got something boys by men.

University, I know you university stew.

Let me say with with Dre, he's not a hip hop artist. I mean he's not like he's not I'm not.

Said, okay, okay, producer music.

There's only one of one's. Doctor Dre is is headed. I mean I idolized this brother. That's why my bucket list to interviewed that brother.

I love doctor Dre love I love him.

Snoops my oh my god, my god. I got to put I got to put snoop up there. I'm like, how I mean I gotta put snoop for I gotta put I just gotta do.

I gotta put snoop. You know not now now eminem and now's belonging then you know that right? You know you?

I mean, oh my god, damn.

West side covering from the west side. Yeah, man, you know how Orange and the crew, I mean all of them.

Man, he's forty water right, all right, all right, I'm gonna have to say.

This the fifth one.

You got one more, man.

I gotta put ll test the time, I gotta put l. I'm not then I apologize Nas. I love not love Noads so much love listen. But like, for example, you see cats rapping right, and they look at NOAs because Nas is so scientific.

He's a surgeon with his ship. He's so brilliant. Got mad love for him, the whole nine. But but here's the thing.

Everybody don't get it from him.

Everybody get l L L L is like he Hollywood. But he's still, he's still, He's still.

He don't let you down, you know what I'm saying. And the versatility and he's with still the test of time.

L L just battles.

I mean, come on, man, you without question and then you, I mean, and a businessman, an actor. Ella is a brilliant brother man, a brilliant brother mad loving. But I can't leave Snoop out.

I just can't. And you know, by the way, I gotta bring this up.

I really really liked Doctor Dre showed Super Bowl halftime a couple of years ago.

It was special Mary J.

Fiddy and then whatever, how do you have Snoop on that stage in l A and you don't have him play.

What's My Name?

How I'm not I've been loving Doctor Dre for decades.

It is to this day.

The only negative I had how was that?

Could you imagine as to what ever god, I mean, could if they have played that but with Snoop? Super Bowl.

Every every since the famous nipple with just a tip of Lake and Jenna Jackson j Jackson showing that tity on a Sunday afternoon.

Ha, get two seconds of that? We out right, man.

The NFL has been playing it safe every since. I don't know about that that okay place.

I'm saying you got Snoop in l A. You to play that this whole.

You could clean it up, though, man, it has the whole inger Wood whole you could clean it, clean up effect of the song.

I'm just telling you, And it would have had the whole it had been a bunch of Indian white.

People like no, no, no, no, no, no.

Turn down.

It was one month. If it was one moment, if it was one moment, one moment.

Where the world would have forgiven the NFL, it would have been for that.

I'm telling you. It would have brought the house down. Brought the house down. How do you not play that song?

That?

That is? That is all.

That is the only critique I've had of doctor dre.

Right there.

I'm like, what's you don't play that song? That's the one song you have to play, and he didn't do it.

That was the best halftime show for me.

I'm gonna tell you this though, I'll tell you it was, but I tell you pick your poisons.

Depends your taste. Beyonce with Bruno Mars.

That was like cold Play. Yeah listen, yo, listen, yo listen. I'm a Rihanna fan. That ship Rihanna did. I was thinking, that's ship. I was looking at Rihanna and yo yo, she she suspended yo. Hold on first though she's pregnant. Yeah, she's suspended in there. They got it in there. You see this, you see what I want. That's what I'm saying. I feel you that was a show.

But when it was a show, show, That's what I'm saying.

But Beyonce, Bruno mars let me tell that, Bruno mars By myself. You know he Mindernave, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson, o Key, Bruno.

Mars Key special, very special special. But when him and Beyonce and cold Play did it together.

Stop stops, she didn't. She was fired. That that was fired. She did a sweat suit. You talk about the next sweat draft, y'all was higher than Giraffe.

I know it.

The lid would sweating. I feel you had your hair. She was taking like somebody Auntie in that motherfucker.

Boy who.

That ship was the hardest.

I forgot about Whitney. Excuse me.

That wasn't halftime, That wouldn't half to pre game get there.

Oh that's oh my god, that one had time. So I'm not confused.

I know my ship now, that would not happen.

That had time. Okay, I'm just telling you what I know.

Whitney is nice and by the way, national anthem since we brought that up. We religiously say that's the greatest national anthem we've ever heard.

Whitney Houston. Fair enough. So we're just gonna igno Marvin Gang.

Yeah, in l A n B A All Star Weekend, we're just gonna ignore that performance by the late great Marvin Gang.

What's your favorite floor? What's your favorite saying it's fluid? Fluid, it's fluid, it's.

Fluid, it's all right, Well, then make it fluid. It ain't definitive about Whitney's fluid.

That's all I'm trying to say. Come on, y'all correct.

It was not a halftime show that I am about to thought about.

It was not a halftime ship.

And she just poured, hopped out, did that and jump right back in and got our shot.

That's right right. She didn't leave. She stayed in the game. Stiff again, Stiff again. We're gonna show yourself.

I want you to Oh ship, Oh ship.

That's J Kennedy, that's George Foreman.

Look at look a look at it. Look it again. Look hard. Did you see that? You shouldn't have to look at her? Look at this woman right there.

That is J Kennedy, my brother halle Berry before halle Berry.

That was hard damn, Jane. Keep looking what Jane, it ain't really looking Bill.

Cosby, right, look at this woman right there? Look at hard Now watch them, Lord have mercy.

This is the scepties. Bro, mister, I'm gonna go watch this today. Look at Bill Co's about the fucking all the way else watch he rescue bills.

Watching you see this woman?

Yes, I try to tell you, Jane Kennedy, he jumped out.

The damn lift.

What. Oh, there's some fucking going on in the set here. Oh there's some fucking going all along in this movie. Oh yeah, we got to that's a great shape if that was true?

What but if it was I understand.

Certified Stephen Man. But this is my manager made from custom guys. They gotta they got a gift for you.

You.

This is some of all the capsule. It ain't a bunch of shit, but it's simple stife.

Like this like this. I like this.

I want to I want to get your take on it. You know what I'm saying. I know you're a clean brother. I know you like a salon stuff quality. I like all of the simple stuff.

So is this right here?

This is this is. This is just a you know, creation of it right here?

All right?

Check it out?

Now this ship works.

So I had the I had, I had, I brought Sam Cassell, who you got?

You got? You gotta be courageous to wear this right here. You can't just wear this. You gotta be courageous to wear this because you know this. Did you stepping out when you're wearing this right here?

You gotta be right right?

You know what I'm saying.

You gotta have some.

Confidence with you, no doubt, Sam, you gotta saying I am out head.

Check this out. Some custom gods they want to be able to present you with something you.

Thank you, bro, thank you for coming.

Thanks so much. Man.

Can I open it?

Absolutely?

Let me see this? No, no, I'm good. I want to see this.

I want to open it.

I want to see what you gave me. Help over it's taped up? How it is?

He got it?

Oh? Damn right? Okay, all right, okay, okay.

You know what for you, I'm gonna wall this ship when I got to.

That's right.

Anything else here, get your information. We take care of you.

Thank you, brother, no doubt that.

Thank you man.

I'm proud of you, bro, though, proud of you man. You know, keep doing your thing. Yo. We got to hook up for the playoffs.

Let's do it.

Come on my show, let's get it.

Then we got to bring our basketball analysis up in there, because we know, we know some people.

Now you ready, you know everybody ain't ready, they ain't.

Ready to listen list and that you would meet break it down the playoffs.

You are all in a way right in here with I'm good with.

That's h