Full Show: Nephew Josh's Post Valentine's Day Pitch. Stephen A Recaps NBA All-star Weekend. Jay-Z responds to dismissal of lawsuit.

Let's roll. What's up, everybody. Welcome to the latest edition of The stephen A. Smith Show, coming at you as I love to do, at the very least three times a week over the digital airways of YouTube and of course Heart Radio. As always, I like to take a moment to thank my subscribers and followers. We now eclipsed one point zero eight million subscribers over the digital airways of YouTube, not to mention the millions of downloads we received over the last few months courtesy of iHeart Radio.

Can't thank y'all for the love and support enough. As I always tell y'all, keep the love coming, and I'm gonna keep on coming. There's no shortage to do, diminished capacity of energy. This way, I got a whole bunch of stuff on my mind that I want to get into. And I thank y'all for listening to this show and

supporting me as always. To continue to like and follow the show, just click the bell to get notified for all of our new content newest content rather, and you too shall consider yourself the latest member of the Steven Ate Smith Show family. And while you're doing that, make sure to pick up a copy of my New York Times bestselling book, Straight Shooter, a memoir of second chances and first takes, now in paperback. Just go to straight Shoot to book dot com get yourself a copy once again.

That straights you to book dot com. Perfect time to have this book out. Most folks that are thinking about running for office and stuff like that got to write a book. I don't have to. The book's already there. It's already a New York Times bestseller, which is the Krem Dela Krem of publishing. Although I'm not thinking about running for office, it's nice to know that the book is out there and that work is done. By the

way you heard me say, Straight Shooter. You see that tag over my right, show showed the Straight Shooter Media. It's because that's the name of my media company, my production company, Straight Shooter, named after my book, just for future reference, so you all know that it used to be called Mister Sas. It's now called Straight Shooter Media, and it's been that way for a few months. But I just wanted to make sure I reiterated that to y'all.

Got a lot of stuff to get into today, especially the political landscape Trump and Putin and Elon Musk and some stuff going on there, but also involving me, and I'll explain why that is and how I feel about it. But before I get into any of that, by the way, my nephew's in the house. He's going to be coming here in a few minutes. He's invaded the residencies, the residents rather, so I gotta deal with that. But I got to get to the NBA All Star Weekend in

the Bay Area. First, we're hometown hero Steph Curry captured the second All Star Game MVP to the delight of the fans at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Curry scored twelve points in Team shacks OG's forty one twenty five victory Sunday in the first of forty finale against Charles Barkley's Global Stars to win the league's new round robin tournament. The two teams had dismissed Candae Parker and

Kenny Smith squads in the semifinals. Some of the players acknowledged the new format led to a more competitive product, but it was met with mixed reviews overall. Case in point, mister Draymond Green. The biggest headlines of All Star Weekend may have been generated by him, who expressed his displeasure with the changes to the All Star Game. When asked to rate the new All Star Game format on a scale of one to ten during TNT's broadcast, he gave

it quote a zero. He questioned the addition of the Rising Stars to the Sunday All Star Game festivities and said the new three game format quote sucks end quote end quote. It ate basketball end quote. A couple of things before I get into this. Number one, Draymond Green, Jalen Rose, and Vince Carter were outstanding, absolutely outstanding, no doubt about it. They did that thing yesterday. They did what pregame shows are supposed to do, and in the

case of Draymond Green, can't say enough. He stole the show with some of his comments. This was one of them. Now I went on Twitter and I said, for the record, I agree with him. It's All Star Weekend. You mean Ricky All Stars. They're not supposed to be a part of basketball on Sunday evening for the All Stars. So I think that Draymond Green was absolutely right, and I had no problem with him expressing his displeasure. But what NBA All Star Weekend had deteriorated into in terms of

its main event, no doubt about it. But that doesn't mean that he was complete in his synopsis and his breakdown of what disgusted him about the encore for All Star Weekend. Because you see, when you point to the game itself and the appearance and the participation of Ricky All Star, Draymond Green left one thing out. One thing out.

He left out the fact that it was the fault of the players, the legitimate All Stars, who have basically snubbed their nose and given the proverbial middle finger to the league, to sponsors and advertisers, and to the fans because you've shown up each week over the last two to three years minimum, and you have flat out sucked.

You haven't given a damn. When you couple that with the load management issues that had concerned the league, and you considered the games missed and the activity of people missing games and announcing it the last minute that they were going to miss the games and stuff like that during regular season and beyond, it became problematic. So the dereliction of duty exercised while the players on All Star

Weekend is specifically the Sunday game, the main event. That stuff is what provoked rookie All Stars being added to it because we knew that players were gonna get their backup and they didn't want to be the one going out there losing to the rookie All Stars. And you saw that happen, You saw an extra level of an elevated level of effort. You saw all of that. Why, because they didn't want to get bounced out by rookie All Stars who they know were coming for them. That's

exactly why the league did it. They did it to soak and milk every ounce of effort from All Stars who were supposed to be showing it. To begin with, I will remind y'all that did y'all know All Star activities is a part of their country? Did you know that it's a part of their country? And for these guys to walk up a prominent agent in the league said to me a few weeks ago, he said, the problem with the All Star weekend is that the players look at the league like a instead of looking at

them like partners. You know what is a bank. It's the place that holds your money and you're allowed to come get whatever they're contractually obligated to give you based on a salary that you receive and nothing more. As opposed to looking at the league as partners who helped you get an eleven year, nearly seventy seven billion dollar deal with a league average salary being of over ten

million dollars, were God's getting generational wealth. And what we're not seeing here is that you got cats that are making nine figures, well over one hundred, well over two hundred million, in some cases over three hundred million dollars.

And literally you got cats going out there signing their contract and playing for their next contract or protecting themselves for their next contract without honoring what the president contract that they signed their name too, and what they're obligated to fulfill before they've done anything in regards to that. Let me position myself to acquire generation of wealth. But before you fulfill your obligations to earn the money you just signed off for. Let me tell y'all something right now.

NBA All Star week is in the world of trouble. Last night was a step in the right direction because we saw some effort for the first time in a while, which was a good thing. Because I'm here to tell you right now, had they showed up and not given any effort similar to what they did the last two to three years, had they done that last night, I'm here to tell y'all right now, the NBA All Star Weekend was in danger of being canceled. I'm not guessing. I'm telling you what I know. It was on the

verge of being canceled. So please understand that that's what we're talking about here, that really, really is. So I was pleased with what I saw compared to what I saw for the previous two to three years, but it still wasn't anything, And knock my socks off, it really really wasn't. And I didn't blame Draymond Green one second for saying what he said. I'm just saying you got to put the owners where it belongs, which is on the players who've wet the bed in terms of their effort.

By the way, we got two examples last night. Listen, how you Lebron James, and you're gonna announce right before to the league that you can't participate. You showed up to San Francisco and you can't play. You didn't know that beforehand, so they could have made sure to have somebody like a Norman Power of the Clippers or somebody else that was there to fill your spot. Adam Silver didn't have time to name a replacement because Lebron James

let him know at the last minute. Though any of us believe that Lebron James didn't know he was gonna play, do any of us believe for one second that he decided at the last minute he was gonna play. Nobody believes that. Nobody's by I mean spin teuge wet spending somebody's face telling them it's raining. Nobody's believing that he could have let him know, but he did it. I got news for you too. Who says anything about Steph Curry, I mean the great Steph Curry. I mean, talk about

a godlike figure. I mean, to say anything negative about this brother is damn They're sacrilegious because he is, to quit essential ambassador. He is perfection personified as a human being. He's God fearing, he's decent, he's a family man. Don't get himself in any trouble, don't talk bad about anybody. Nothing Seth Curry special. But is it just me, fellas ladies talking to my staff here? Is it just me? Am?

I the only one that had a problem with the fact that the three point shooting contest was taking place right there in San Francisco on his home turf, and he wasn't a participant? Is it just me? Is it just me? I mean, he's only the greatest shooter God ever created. It's a three point shooting contest. I appreciate the fact that Damian Lillard was a two time champion and then he ultimately lost. It probably had something to do with all that damn activity is going on where

y'all interrupting their rhythm. He damned it looked like he was taking a nap on a bench before it was his turn to shoot. Maybe if y'all hadn't disrupted this rhythm, he would have been better off. But any event, it came down to Buddy Heel versus Tyler Hero. Ain't no shame in that both the brothers can shoot. But All Star Weekend is in San Francisco, on the home turf of Steph Curry, and the greatest shooter God has ever created chose that three point shooting event to not participate.

Is it just me? Is it just me? Would have been nice to see him. Just wanted to say that. Let me move on to the next subject, because we got to get to the Dunk Contest, where we saw Matt McClung become the first player to win it three straight years, beating rookie Stephan Castle of the San Antonio Spurs in the final. His first dunk was over a car, and after his performance, NBA stars John Moran and Jannis after the gunpo publicly contemplated participating in the context next season.

John said he may have to enter the frame next year and shouted out former champ Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon, and Yanna said he would participate if Moran entered the contest, which basically means neither of the imna gonna participate because we know John Moran is just talking. Now, this is a brother that has been a skywalker for years, but suddenly you gonna want to participate. Who you fooling? Don't believe it, ladies and gentlemen, until we see it. I'm

so sick of this stuff. I really really am. It really really rakes my nerves. And by the way, Yana's your seven feet, I'm not that interested in seeing you in the dunk contest. Honestly speaking, if we really really think about do we really care to see a seven footer in a dunk contest? You barely have to come off your tippy toes to dunk. Now, Mack McClung ain't spud Wab but the brother special and props to mac

McClung because that brother can dunk. White dudes can jump, evidently, remember the movie White Man Can't Jump where Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrison. White Man evidently can dunk. Because that brother Mack McClung, not one, not two, but three times back to back to back champions. Having said that, with all the credit this kid deserves, can we take a

moment to pause to give it some proper perspective. Sherry, don't laugh too much, Griff, don't look sad because Mack McClung looks like you and you're looking out for your brother. Just listen to me. Can we just be very, very honest and realistic about something here, Ladies and gentlemen, Draymond's assertions about All Star Game should also apply to the Slam Dunk contest. Do you know that Mac McClung is

in the G League? Do you know that he has three Slam Dunk Championships and it almost matches the number of NBA games he's actually played in his NBA career. Do you know that Mac mcclun has played a grand total of five NBA games in his career and he's won three Slam Dunk titles. This is not to throw any shade on him whatsoever. It's to show how disgraceful the players are. Nobody can participate in this, Ladies and gentlemen,

let me stay for the record right now. This is not piling on because Lebron James is the second greatest player in the history of basketball, who I believe is grossly underpaid. It's worth more than he's being paid as an ambassador for this league, is a marquee and has spent the vast majority of his career showing up in every way one can imagine, except for one thing, and that is slam Dunk contest of All Star Weekend. Lebron

James single handedly ruined this competition. Ruined it, Ladies, gentlemen, to get Mack McClung out the way, y'all do understand that Mac McClung. Those are prop dunks. That's right. I said it, Griff, don't be offended. He'll be afraid enough talking about your brother like that. It's the truth, that's the truth. He doesn't dribble. Even Dominique Wilkins, who didn't have much of a hand, who used to dribble, he doesn't dribble. What he dunks, there's always assistance or he's

always getting some running start. Did you see Vince caught in two thousand Huh? Did you see it? I saw it. Did you see Zach Levie in twenty fifteen that wasn't even his best? Did you see him in twenty sixteen against Aaron Gordon? Did you see it? I saw it? Did you see it? I mean these brothers were sensational. Did you see Jordan in eighty eight against Dominique Wilkins. Did you see him? See him cuff the ball? You see Doctor j back in the day, You see sput Web,

you see Jason Richardson. Did you see Dawaight Howard versus Nate Robinson. I appreciate so much what Matt McClung did over the last three years to save the dunk contest, But let's stop talking about him like he's on those brothers level. It's not true. It's not true. He's not, but you have to make it seem that way because at least he had the decency to be fearless enough to participate, which is more than we could say for a whole bunch of brothers legitimately in the NBA who

are stars who want no part of this competition. And it all started with Lebron. Doctor j participated, David Thompson participated, Dominique Wilkins participated, Michael Jordan participated, Vince Carter participated, Tracy McGrady participated, Kobe Bryant participated. All the megastars who played above the rim participated until Lebron James refused. He ruined the slam Dunk contest, which is why if you can have a Matt mcclun coming from the G League, I

would strongly advise people to embrace my suggestion. Remember when I said over the airways before not just this show, but on ESPN, I would personally attach my name to a nationwide contest going throughout the cities of America to find the top ten slam dunkers in the country to come to All Star Weekend. And what I would do is use ten All Stars to sponsor the players that they support that they think would win, where they could be active participants but play the role of cheerleaders and

sponsors while you let them dunk. First prize a million dollars, second prize half a million dollars, Third prize one hundred thousand dollars. We got brothers in the streets starving for a portion of those dollars. At one hundred thousand, let alone five hundred thousand of a million. Could you imagine what they would do to participate in a slam dunk contest on All Star Weekend. It would be the best

slam dunk contest maybe ever. That's what we should be thinking about that's what we should be thinking about again. Props to Mac McClung. Appreciate his contribution, but let's stop acting like we ain't seen better. We have. I gave you a plethora of examples. And boy of zach Lavine gets back in it next year and Aaron Gordon gets back, and I think's too late for Aaron Gordon. They'll be

a too old to be doing that. But zach Lavine, John Morant certainly has the ability, but he didn't want to do it to what you want to do it now? For I don't believe it. Zack Levine already did it twice. He doesn't owe us that. But if he gave us gave it to us a third time, boy, what the treated would be. That's all I wanted to say about that. Before I get back to Draymond Green about something else.

Here's a word from our our sponsor, Prospects. Listen up, all right, folks, I need you all to stop what you're doing and listen up. You know. I love this time of year, right The NBA season is in full swing and with all this action going on, The Stephen A. Smith Show wants to make sure you take advantage of it all. That's why we've partnered with Prize Picks, the best place to get real money action while watching your

favorite sports. You see, with Prizepects, you pick two or more of your favorite players, and then you simply select more or less or the projected stats for the game. So download the app today and use the code sas to get fifty dollars instantly after you play your first five dollar lineup. Again, download the app and use code sas to get fifty dollars instantly after your first five dollar lineup. Prospects, YO, run your game today. I'll give you my picks on two games as the NBA returns

from the All Star Break. The Charlotte Hornets are visiting the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night and the Cleveland Cavaliers are at the Brooklyn Nets Thursday night. So let's get to it first. Up with the Los Angeles Lakers, Lebron James. Will he score more or less than twenty three and a half points against the Charlotte Hornets. I'm going with more. The brother had a break, right's rest? Right? Didn't play

All Star weekend? Right? I mean, and you look at it from that standpoint, I know he's trying to get Luke involved in all of this other stuff. But Lebron is Lebron, and with the criticism he's gonna get for sitting out and letting the NBA know at the last damn minute that he was sitting out, not giving Adam

Silver an opportunity to name a replacement. He's gonna take some heat when Lebron gave James since his heat, he responds the best way he knows how to on the court, and considering the fact that it's against Charlotte Hornets, I think he'll be fine. Twenty three and a half points is easy. He'll handle that. Next up, will the Charlotte Hornets moles Bridges scored more or less than twenty three and a half points. I'm gonna go with less. I'm

gonna go with less. He's up and down some of the Yany's's definitely capable of having big games, no doubt about that. But twenty three and a half points against the Lakers is suspect, as their defense is from time to time. I think they can handle it. I don't think he's gonna have that big of a game against the Los Angeles Lakers this Wednesday night. I could be wrong because he could give it to them. I just suspect that Wednesday night's not gonna be one of those nights.

Next up with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Will the Cleveland Cavaliers Donovan Mitchell score more or less than twenty three and a half points, Ladies and gentlemen, I'm thinking about saying that the Cleveland Cavali is gonna win the championship. I'm not there yet, but I'm getting there. That's primarily because of that brother right there. I love me some Donovan Mitchell. I wish he was a New York nick. I don't give a damn what size issue it would have existed

with him and Jalen Brunson. Could you imagine what those brothers would be doing on the offensive side of the ball if that brother's on the New York next I don't give it damn what anybody says. I'm off the mindset. Excuse me that this brother is gonna do his thing. I'm always gonna pick him to score over twenty three and a half point. Demn it. Even when I'm wrong,

I'm right. Oh, when I'm right, I'm wrong, it don't matter. Finally, with Cleveland, Cavaliers will the Cleveland Cavaliers, Darius Garland scored more or less than twenty and a half points. They've been playing phenomenal basketball all year long. Darius has got his game back. Acting sen Kenny Actinson, the new head coach, has done his due diligence. They've got this ToIP of the best record in basketball. Darius Garland has a lot to do with that. I'm gonna go with more on

this one too. So it's more with Garland, it's more with Mitchell, Okay, it's with Lebron James, it's less with Myles Bridges. That's where I'm at with it. Okay, That's just where I'm at with it. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong. Just note this, I'm not wrong too often. Flow with me on this. Please flow with me. Now. Let me get to the whole Draymond thing, because I don't know if y'all saw this last night, but Draymond went a bit beyond All Star weekend, started talking about

his gold to State Warriors. Obviously, he was in front of his homes on his home turf to Chase Center outside with that crowd watching him, and Draymond Green had this to say, ladies and gentlemen, I need you to see it. Put this up on a full screen, please, because I need them to see it. He said to that crowd outside and the Jalen Rose and Vince Carter. I think we're gonna win the championship. Oh, I'm sorry. I lied. I said, I think we're going to win

a championship. But again I lied. We are going to win the champion. Draymond Green, I don't think he's smoking something, but I don't think they're gonna win. But I will say this, Jimmy Butler does bring a different dimension and Andrew Wiggins and those brothers brought. He gets to the free throw line. I got to the free throw He's only been there four games, got to the free throw

lines forty times. That stalls the action. That gives Steph Curry an opportunity to rest, which means that when you're running the floor of your offense and this brother's getting loose looking to launch, you got them in a better position. Plus Jimmy Butler defends as well. So Jimmy Butler defends along with Draymond Green. There's no shortage of heart in that locker room. There's no shortage of ability between Steph and Jimmy. With Draymond's abilities outside of shooting the basketball,

I don't think Golden State could be OKAC. I don't think they could be the healthy Dallas. I don't believe they could be the healthy Denver. I'm not sure they could be a healthy LA. I think they got a chance against a health the LA because it's Lebron and Luke offensively, but the Lakers got some size on them. But I don't know, don't I think they could beat

the Lakers. One thing I will say about Draymond, he has made the latter part of this NBA season, these last twenty seven games, very interesting, very interesting, because you know he's gonna go out there trying to back it up. Steph Curry said he ain't had no problem with what Draymond said, so he's ready to back it up. And you know Jimmy Buckets ain't back it down from no damn body. So it's about to get and Steve Kirk can coach his ass off, So it's about to get

very very interesting. On that, I will say. But before I go to break, I got a guest in the house. I'm out of town. But my nephew is in and when I'm not in town, he loves sitting behind my desk acting like he's running the show. My nephew Josh, No, it's not nephew tism, but that's what he likes to call it. Look, look, why you look like you got a beanie on or something. What the hell are you wearing? What kind of hat is that?

articulate your position as opposed to creating enemies. The thing about it is, we can't act like what we need is a smile and we need somebody in our face see, I had to give you tough love. You understand, because you know what, Grandma smiled enough of your face. Grandma set up there and pacified, pacified your baby ass self. I mean, that's what Grandma did. I'm not gonna do that. But don't I love you. Don't I look out for you? Do I not?

in on all your sports knowledge. You see. Prize Picks is a daily fantasy at where you pick two or more of your favorite players and then you select more or less on their projected stats for the game. Choose from any of your favorite players Luka, Doncic, Jimmy Butler, and Zach Lavine all in the same entry to sit back and watch. The list is endless, and now with Prospects Flex Friday option, you can still cash out if

your lineup is it perfect. That's right, every Friday, just look for the protected play so win or your cash back and get this. Prize Picks now offers MasterCard for quick and easy deposits into your account during the sports season. Make your picks in less than sixty seconds and turn your sports opinions into real money all season long on prize picks. So download the app today and use code sas to get fifty dollars instantly after you play your

first five dollar lineup. Again, download the app and use code sas to get fifty dollars instantly after your first five dollar lineup prize picks. Yo, run your game. This message is brought to you by color Guard, a non invasive colon cancer screening test. So I want to talk about colon cancer screening for a second here. I know you might hear that and instantly feel a bunch of dread. You're thinking stuff like drinking all of that prep liquid,

having an invasive procedure, missing work. No thanks, But hold on a second, because there's another option that allows you to skip all that drama. The color Guard Test. It's a one of a con way to feel more in control of your colon cancer screening through a prescription based test with none of the prep that's required of a colonoscopy.

The color Guard test is the only FDA approved non invasive option that looks for both altered DNA and blood in your stool, which can indicate the presence of abnormal cells. This test office convenience and ease of use, and it's delivered right to your door. It's also affordable. Most insured patients pay zero dollars at this point. Come on, don't let your health take a backseat. You're out of excuses.

So if you're forty five or older and at average risk, ask your healthcare provider about screening for colon cancer with the color Guard test. You can also request the color Guard prescription today at coli guard dot com, slash podcast. The color Guard test is intended to screen adults forty five and older at average risk for colorectal cancer. Do not use a color Guard test if you have had autonomas, have inflammatory bowel disease, and certain hereditary syndromes, or personal

or family history of colorectal cancer. The color Guard test is not a replacement for colonoscopies and high risk patients. Color Goard test performance in adults ages forty five to forty nine is estimated based on a large clinical study of patients fifty and older. False positives and false negatives

can occur. Color Guard is available by prescription only. So while I got you here, before I get you out of here, and you can taminate the airwaves even further with your drivel you under saying, I know you, you understand of saying. Very few people on the planet know you better than your uncle. And I know you just talking smack because you know better than really legitimately thinking and acting the way you proclaim. We ain't owning that's wrong with you. Okay, but we'll talk about this later.

You saw All Star Weekend. What were your thoughts about All Star Weeking? You heard what I had to say, Well your thoughts, it's it wasn't the worst.

So I think that because of the pride that they take in representing their homeland wherever that may be, you put the international players up against the US players, since this is where the sport was born. You put it up against the US players, and the US players go up against the international players, and that's how you have all star wiken. And I also think you put it in different places. One year you put it in the States, another year you put it in Paris, another year you

come back to the States. Another year you go to England, another year you come back to the States. Another year you might go to Croatia or Sweden. Or Finland or someplace like that, Amsterdam, which is I here as a party town and all of this other Croatia something like that. I think you do that. Or rather, let's say, for example, you got Luca, he's from Slovenia, all right, you have other you know when beyonnas from France, you have and

be to somebody who's from Congo. I think you go to those places where one of those players are represented and you have the All Star festivity there. I think that's how you do it. I think that's the only thing that could potentially save the event. To that you say, what.

saying is to validate it, to close the deal. You got to show up in the moments that count. And last time I checked, you agreed with me because you brought up a score.

action that has evaporated before our very eyes. The kind of legal action that was being taken against them gone. We'll discuss that next right here on Stephen Nate Smithshaw. Don't go away. Welcome back to Steve Nate Smithshaw, right here with the digsual airways, with YouTube and of course iHeartRadio. Let me get into some pop culture please, I'm not

gonna call this entertainment. The woman who accused jay Z in Sean Diddy Combs of raping her when she was thirteen years old has dropped her lawsuit against both men less than four months after it was filed. Court records showed that the suit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning the plaintiff cannot refile a suit. The suit included disturbing details of how the woman was allegedly lured by a limousine driver outside the two thousand MTV Video Music Awards and

assaulted by the two rappers at an after party. Jay Z strongly denied the claims, and his attorneys had been seeking to get the case dismissed. In a statement on Saturday, jay Z Sean Carter himself said the claims will quote frivolous, fictitious, and appalling, and called the suit a money grab. The statement continued, I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, my loved ones,

and I have endured can never be dismissed. This one to eight hundred lawyer gets to file a suit hiding behind Jane Doe, and when they quickly realize that the money grab is going to fail, they get to walk away with no repercussions. The court must protect victims, of course, while with the same ethical responsibility, the courts must protect the innocent from being accused without a shred of evidence.

End quote. On Saturday, Colm's attorney said the suit dropped on Friday will be the first of many that will not hold up in a court of law. End quote. Jay z ain't that one. As far as I'm concerned. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. He didn't sit oddly buy and watch his name be raaked through the colds and Sully the way that he did. Most of us would have. Most of us would have let our lawyers handled it. We would have shut up,

we would have kept silid. He didn't do that, and I remember I was taking a lot of heat for coming to jay Z's defense. My initial question is where the hell are y'all now? And to the people who have smiled in jay Z's face, who was supposed to be his friends, who are supposed to be supportive of his where y'all at? Where y'all at? Let me be very very clear, none of us were there. We don't

know what happened to whatever the case may be. That's fair, and if you have a microphone and a camera in front of you, you have an obligation to say that. But in the same breath, what was I being attacked? For? Ladies and gentlemen, if you were, if you were recalled? What I said was the man that I have known and I have been friends with for twenty five years. There's no way I believe he's capable of something like that. See, the bigger issue is the damn punks that society has

turned us into. You can say two things at once. You can say I wasn't there, and I have no factual evidence to prove my position. But the person that I've known for twenty five years, nah, I don't believe he would do that. I want to stak. I want to make sure that I'm clear because I got friends and loved ones and people like that in my life.

If y'all ever handle some stuff with me the way that some of these people handle this stuff with jay Z, y'all kiss my ass and you go to hell, because at the very least somebody should be able to say, I've known stephen A for twenty twenty five years, forty years, Nah, I can't see him doing it. You're just gonna go silent and just leave him hanging like that when it ain't like he was silent. It ain't like he hid it and leaving others to talk for him. No, he

spoke and said I'm innocent. This is not true, and nobody could stand up and say, nah, I that brother that I know, I can't see that a thirteen year old girl, Yes, you are guilty. You are innocent until proven guilty in the court of law, and we understand it in the court of public opinion. It shifted in

this day and age. You know what the sad part is some of you out there might have believed jay Z was totally innocent, but you know what, it wasn't clickbait to say that so what you wanted to do was throw it out there and give a reaction for bake purposes. That's sad, it really really is. If I'm attorney Buzzby, ILL watch my back because jay Z coming. I don't believe for one second that jay Z's gonna sit oddly by and stop there. I don't believe it.

I don't believe it. You don't have to hang out with people everybody, Eh, Steven, you're trying, you name, You're trying to act like you cool that. You know how many times I've been in forty forty know how many times me and jay Z were hanging out in the back with with og Wan and the rest of the crew talking sports, hanging out, playing cards, playing fantasy football or whatever it is. You know how many times I've

been around these You know how you know? You don't know who I know, You don't know who anybody knows. But you don't have to be around people every day, ladies and gentlemen. One of my best friends in the world is my boy Pooly. You know Poolly that love the big women. You got to be a minimum of two hundred and fiftyounds for him to look at you Beyonce could be in front of his face and E'd be like, what the hell am I supposed to do

with that? She's too small. That Pooly Pooy was raised in Hollis Queen's with me, I'm lucky if I see Pooley once a year. Once a year. I'm lucky if we talk more than five times a year. The one thing you will never hear me say is that there's somebody on this planet Earth that is my best friend over him. I grew up with him. I've known him for over fifty years. Fifty five. Actually, that's my dog.

I don't give a damn if I don't see him or I'll talk to him as much I love my brother, and if he ever needs me, I'm only a call away. This notion that you got to hang out with people and got to fratenize all the time and got to be in front of their face all the damn time for them to be friends, y'all know that's not true. I'm doing jay Z for twenty five years. I never believed he was guilty of such a thing. Ever, it's a damn shame that the only voice I heard say

that was myself. It's pretty messed up. He's a better man than me, though he'll probably move on. I wouldn't forget any of y'all asses, wouldn't do much, wouldn't say much, but I know you, and you'd know I know you to Jay, Beyonce and the family. Hope y'all continue to live life wonderfully and prosperously. I'm glad this specific ordeal is over, and I hope you never have to deal with anything like this again. That's all I got to say, because anything else I say, I might just cuss people out.

Can't speak up for nobody. That's how much punks we are in this day, and these can't speak of anybody coming up. All bunch of stuff is going on with Donald Trump showing you as strength or capitulating the poot, and we don't know how I might be of assistance if I went in the Oval office. I don't know about that either, but I'm about to speculate on a very high level to kill some noise once and for all.

If you didn't know where I stand before on my own politics and how I feel, you're about to find out. Hold on to this because I don't like repeat myself too. Last block of the Steven Ax Smith Show coming out in a minute. Welcome back to the stephen Ate Smith Show right here over the digital airwaves and YouTube, and

of course iHeartRadio. Let me switch to a subject near and dear to my heart me because once again I'm in the news and you would think it would be about something else other than what I'm in the news for, but one thing after another has appeared. I had a couple of articles that I had to pay attention to this week, and there is no way around this. So I'm going to tackle it with the further that it

deserves and let you know what I'm thinking. The Daily Beast last week wrote the headline is top them a lot to like about stephen A. Smith presidential bid, that is as a House minority speaker Hakeem Jeffries, who I hope will be on this show in a very near future. Another article came out this week and by the New Yorker headline stephen A Smith for President New Yorker dot Com. Check it out. I must admit I got on like a lavender blazer with a lavender shirt and a purple tie.

I was looking pretty fly, if I should say so myself. I just want to throw that out there. I just want to throw that out there, Okay, and out of the latest It's courtesy of TMZ, now mind You, USA Today, Washington Post, USA. You know, various other publications have written about this as well. Steven A. Smith, I am not

running for US president. This is when TMZ caught me coming out of a Shannon Sharps party in New Orleans during Super Bowl week, and I guess they ran this recently, and I wanted to go there because I wanted to make sure that I put this to bed once and for all. I have no intentions of running for the presidency of the United States America. I do not believe

I am an officionado. I do not believe that my pockets are deep enough for me to ignore the financial strain that could potentially have on me, because obviously I earn more than the President of the United States. Right now, it makes about fur hundred thousand dollars a year that position. There is Senate and congressional figures make anywhere from one hundred and seventy two hundred and seventy thousand a year. Needless to say, I make more money than that, and

so I'm not really interested on that level. But here's a reason why, while being honest about having zero desire whatsoever to be a politician, because I consider them beggars donors, you know campaign donations, you know sponsors, and you know political figures, and even when you get into office, you got to curry favor with politicians to get legislation pushed through and all of this other stuff. I mean, it's

just no peace in my life. Plus it's given you a license because I'm asking to legislate the lives of three hundred and fifty plus American citizens. That gives you a license to get into my personal business that I don't want you in. That all of that's true. But

there's a reason. While there's a reason that, while saying what I've said and meaning it, I've often said, even in a half joking way, of the American people wanted me to be the president of the United States, and I knew that I had a really, really good shot to win. I can't deny that it's something I would consider. Let me tell you why I say that, because I think our system sucks. I think the binary system that we're in where we have to choose between the Democrats

or the Republicans is a joke. I think it dissuades a vast majority of American citizens from wanting to be a part of the political process, and I think that something needs to be done about it in order to bring America back to where it should have always been. Ladies and gentlemen, I cover sports full living, Griff Sherry Rashan, Everybody, listen up, because I'm only gonna say this once, so very very important, because I know, like I told America before,

I've got a bunch of liberals working for me. Some are closet Republicans. They don't want to admit it, but it's true. We got a bunch of liberals working for me. In a whole bit. Let me be very very clear about where I stand. Wes, you need to listen to damn it. You got a family, Listen to me. Listen when I'm talking to you, Ladies and gentlemen, I cover

sports for a living. I like competition. I want legitimate competition between the Republican and the Democratic Party over your ideas of what the country should be and how we can get it there. I hated when the Left because I firmly believed they politicized a whole bunch of legal stuff against Donald Trump. I'm not questioning the legitimacy or lack thereof. I don't know. You got the eleven thousand votes he was seeking in Georgia, you got the thirty

four felony convictions he received in New York. Some people said it's hush money. Others said, what's the difference between that and a NDA? Damn it. The man cooked up with a poorn star and didn't want anybody to know before the election. Oh my god, stop the presses. John Edwards got loose as a Democratic nominee or a Democratic candidate when he was running for the presidency. He didn't want people to know. I'm quite sure he would have hit it if if he could have gotten away with it.

Gary Edwards did the same thing. You don't think Clinton tried to submerge evidence against him with the whole Monica Lewisky skinned Come on. I think it was politicized to some degree anyway. And I hated that because what I was saying is beat him, go back to the tapes, Griff not ahead. If I'm lyon, I was saying, beat him, don't pussy for the round don't depend on the legal system to wipe him out, so you don't have to go against him in the polls beat him. What's one

of the reasons I think he lost. I think he won because he was saying, you can't beat me. You're using this to get help, because you can't beat me on your own. And sure enough, election day rose around and the Democrats got their ass kicked. I don't want to hear this noise about how he can get fifty percent of the vote. Forty nine point eight percent he got. Kamala got forty eight point three. The man won fifty

counties and went up in every one of them. He won all six or seven swing states, The black vote, the Hispanic vote, the young voters all voted for him. He won. He won because we didn't want to engage in competition on the left. We were looking for the courts to help us. Now we fast forward, and what are we saying here? I'm reading an article right here, New York Times. I'm reading it right here, New York Times headline venting at Democrats and fearing Trump, liberal donors

pulled back cash. I'm gonna read a couple of excepts from here, from you the small dollar online figured that powered oppositions to the first Trump administration has slowed to

a trickle as shaking liberal voters withhold their donations. Charitable foundations that are long supported cause like voting rights, LGBTQ equality, and immigrants rights are pulling back the voting time to prepare for expected investigations from the Republican led Congress, as some of the country's biggest legal donors Liberal donors I'm sorry have paused giving, frustrated with what they see as democrats lack of vision and worried about retaliation from eventful president.

Some Democrats say a few of their reliable donors are now openly supporting mister Trump, or at least looking to curry favor with him, and another paragraph it says while mister Trump has not taken action against any liberal groups or lawmakers, Democrats worry his frequent threats of retribution during the campaign have led to a chilling effect on the charitable foundations and nonprofit advocacy groups that have long been

pillars of the country civil society. Jeff Skoll, a Silicon Valley billionaire and a longtime friend of Elon Musk, said there was an awful lot of pressure to side with Trump.

This month, mister Skull, who's donated tens of millions to Democratic candidates and courses in recent years but said he did not vote in twenty twenty four presidential election, posted a photo on social media of himself standing with mister Trump backstage at the inauguration on Friday at breakfast in Palm Beach, Florida, with Senator Chuck Schumer, New York, the minority leader, where they discussed the prospect of mister Schumer's using mister Skull to back channel ideas to the president.

Mister Schumer recalls the conversation differently, according to an aid. Okay, but here's the biggest thing, and I'll stop the reading after this quote. There are people who are absolutely against Trump, never trumpets, who fear that they'll be retaliated against it. They'll have to leave the country, mister Schul said. Folks who wish to oppose them, it may take some time before they gather up the courage, but listen to this.

The result is a political environment that is strikingly different from twenty seventeen, when money poured into democratic causes, fortifying existing organizations and ceding the flowering of new groups to fight different parts of mister Trump's agenda. Now, some of those same organizations are struggling to survive, in part because few new major liberal donors have emerged since twenty seventeen.

Groups that support LGBTQ rights, promote gender equity, and champion other progressive causes have cut staffing and announced that longtime leaders are leaving In United and Citizens United, a left leaning group that aims to overhaul campaign finance laws, laid off its six senior staff members last month as part

of her restructuring. Run for Something, which works to elect liberal down ballot candidates, laidoff thirty five percent of its staff late last year, and Gelson GLS he and a group dedicated to protect the LGBTQ students, laid off twenty five people last month. Let me tell y'all something. If you're the Democrats, that's why Stephen A. Smith is in the news, be cause y'all don't have anybody. You don't have anybody who got who got Kamala Harris Bett not run,

she betted, not run. She's not gonna win the presidency in twenty twenty eight. Keep in mind respect for her I'm not gonna disrespect the former vice president of the United States. Never do that. But we got to be real about something here. When she ran for election on her own, she couldn't make it to Iowa in twenty twenty. She ultimately positions himself gets the vice presidency they win

the election. In twenty twenty, Joe Biden is feeling himself after the Liberals won the mid terms and instead of being a transitional president like he promised, the man backstabbed the Liberal Party and turned around and said, I'm staying. They wanted him out. So what did everybody rate? We all know this now booboo, the fool can see what happened. Now you knew he had lost the step We don't know what the hell was wrong with them, but clearly

his fastball was gone. So you have no primary. You fix it so he doesn't have to face a primary, and then you put him on stage last June twenty seventh for a debate. He embarrasses himself and three weeks later he has to bow out. So Kamala Harrison come in as a Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States of America at a time when they didn't have any time to put somebody else and to compete with her. You don't overcome that after losing the election.

America ain't gonna go for it on the left. They gonna go for it. Who else you got, Hakeem Jeffries. I personally support west Water, governor of Maryland, but I don't know how much of a national figure he is. Already interviewed Jos Shapiro. And oh, by the way, that the Republicans listening out there, you're welcome to come on to Stephen Asmith show. I'm not one sided. See, this

is why my name is in the election. You hear me, Griff, You hear me west You hear me Sherry, You hear me with Sea, You hear me the Stephen A. Smith team I'm talking to. That's why I'm in the news. I'm not in the news because I'm here. I'm in the news because the Democratic Party is here. Damn it. Lower than that down at the bottle. They suck right now, horrible because they don't have a voice. Where in the hell of the voice everybody want to sit up there

talking about I mean, I need anvience. We do not need it, but we don't need a voice. We don't need a voice. Well, guess what, somebody got to send the message. How the hell can somebody receive a message If there's no messenger, you gotta do it, and they don't have anybody. That's why Stephen A. Smith as a candidate. Who the hell told y'all I'd want to be a Democrat. I have conservative ideas. I believe in free market capitalism. I believe in patrol on our borders. I believe in

strong national security. But you all right, I'd probably be a Democrat, a moderate, a centrist leaning left. I'm about that Bill Clinton Newt Ginridge agreement. I'm about that surplus when Clinton walked out of office. I'm about Obama deporting more than Trump did, but the American public didn't notice. I'm about a strong economy. I want Grift to get paid. I want Chevy to get paid. I want Gala to

get paid. I don't want Rashan to get paid. I just want to get paid to you really really think that Stephen A. Smith would tolerate crime in the streets to the point where you gotta lit three people in the store at a time. Do you know anything about me? Do you know what I would do as commanded in chief if I saw a crime raiding through our streets and it was affecting jobs and safety and ultimately the economy. Do you know who the hell you're talking to or

listening to? Hell Trump might not have anything on me with that. I ain't having it. I ain't having it. So I'm just saying to y'all, that's why I'm a candidate. It ain't because I want to. It ain't because I'm some expert. It ain't because I'm some official or not. Who's saying that?

But you better hope I stay feeling that way, because let me tell you something right now, I said, I'll bring the rain. I lied, I bring hell hell because I ain't playing I'm near to win. I two party system sucks. You think I like what I see Elon Musk doing. I don't know whether I like it or not.

I don't know if he could be trusted. I don't like the fact that he's getting billions from our federal government while he's doing business on behalf of the president, and the president is talking about all police and myself, I'll watch him. Why I was supposed to trust that. No, but President Trump has a right to do it because

he won, because y'all didn't beat him. Because while he was talking about the economy, and he was talking about the price of goods, and he was talking about inflation, and he was talking about our borders, and he was talking about crime in the streets, the Democrats was talking about LGBTQ and transgender rights and one percent of the population at the expense and see, and this is the part that I want to make sure I'm clear about. This was the crime. It's not that they were talking

about transgender rights. It's that they forgot thirteen percent of the population in the black community, and they forgot nearly twenty percent of the population in the Hispanic community who supported them at the expense of the one percent. How stupid can you be. I don't believe that's Kamala Harris's fault. I believe that's zealots on the left, on the progressive side, who somehow, some way managed to pull these people to

their side. Nobody sent your left simply looked at them in the face, whether it's AOC or anybody else from the squad, and ask a simple question, where the hell are you going? If you don't vote for us, what you gonna do? Go vote, vote, vote, vote for Trump. You're gonna vote right, and you're on the progressive left. If you all the way left, okay, if you all the way left, what you gonna do? All the way right?

You might not like where somebody is center left, but at least they're closer to the left on the other side, and the center left was capitulating to that. Why because you had no strong leadership, You had nobody to tell them to sit their ass down, shut up and follow my lead. I'm the Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States, not you. We gonna do this my way. They don't have that on the left, and now you got a whole bunch of people running scared, talking about

leaving the country because they scared of Trump. Well, maybe if you didn't try to lose use warfare to get him, and you just sat up there and competed with him fair and square about your policies being better than his, and articulated that message to the masters, maybe it wouldn't be this way. But you didn't do it. That's why Stephen A. Smith is being polled as a presidential nominee. It ain't because I'm qualified, It damn sure ain't because

I'm the smartest dude in the room. It's because I got herd I got guts, and if we're gonna have a fight, let's get down, let's get it on. America knows I would do that much, and I'd have a clue as to what I'm talking about, and I'd have a clue as to what not to talk about, like something that's less than one percent of the population. Think about this last point, I'm gonna make president. Barack Obama deported more people than Trump ever did, and you barely

heard about it. He just did it knowing that Joe Biden opened borders. They can talk about how you can open it, but you couldn't necessarily close it after you opened it because of COVID and all this stuff. I don't want to hear that the streets of America were ravaged with illegal immigrants in our nation and Joe Biden and his administs did nothing about it after Obama had done everything about it other than past comprehensive immigration reform

which takes both sides of the aisle. President Obama did his job, Joe Biden did not. And the Democrats, who are progressives that means looking forward, stood up during his State of the Union, knowing that he was approaching eighty two years of age and chanted for more years. You

have no authenticity, you have no legitimacy. Your heart might be in the right place with some of the policies that you're trying to implement, some of the things that you're trying to move forward, while it appears Trump maybe trying to turn the clock back. But it's the price you pay when you're in selfish tone, death, devoid of impact.

That's what the Democratic Party, that's where the Democratic Party is at right now, and it's exactly why some sports analyst on National TV is a candidate for the presidency of the United States of America. I have no desire whatsoever to compromise my quality of life for this, but I'll say this much about myself. I don't blame millions of Americans if they want me to, because what the hell is the alternative? Look at y'all. Look at y'all.

I'm talking to the dem specifically, what a travesty. Everybody's jumping ship from y'all. Party has to change, It has to be purged. And those who got in Kamala Harris's ear and told her that that was the strategy they needed to exercise in those one hundred and seven days before the election, all of them should be gone, every living ass, every one of them. What an egregious plan

to put forth. She didn't lose this election. Y'all lost it, and with it you took her presidential aspirations with her and threw it away. That's why I'm a candidate, And even though I have no desire to be one, I don't mind the noise. Hopefully it'll make y'all uncomfortable to get y'all back up so you can get your act together and do what the hell you supposed to do. If not that holler at me in three years, I

mighta changed my mind by then. Til next time, Peace in love, everybody, Stephen, that sonn