Steven A.
Smith has been going around talking about his confrontation with Lebron. James talked about on his show. I went and talked to talked about it with Gilbert Arenas and he said, I thought it was weak.
I thought it was some bs.
Yeah about Lebron coming up to him. And then also he went on Sean Hannity's show last night, Yes and Does, and this got brought up in despite the all the awful things hannedy Is said about Lebron over the years. So I have a lot of takes on this, and I was going to leave this be, but the Gilbert Arenas show appearance was to me it has to be responded to, and there's so many different tentacles to this, so I will first first, I want to make this point we in the media have to be willing to
occasionally taken out. Everyone does, but particularly us. We in the media have to be willing to at times be like that was a miss. I was wrong. I didn't handle that perfectly. And we in the media also have to recognize and acknowledge that no matter how big or prominent, or wealthy or successful any of us ever get, we will never be from a fan or credibility to the audience standpoint on par with the biggest athletes that we cover. It'll never Howard Cosell was not equal to Muhammad Ali.
He was telling Ali's story. The audience was there for Ali. Bob Costas was not equal to Michael Jordan. He's he's telling Michael Jordan's story.
Go ahead to mins with that.
With that point, don't you think it like, because Steve Natesmith is saying it's weak, Lebron James obviously has all the leverage on the court. Do you do you not think that it's a little Uh, I don't know, it's I don't want to say it's weak, but because he obviously does have leverage, like nobody's gonna be on Steven As yet.
But you also you that's the thing. So that's the thing you have to know in the media that you at some point the actual stars are the people we're talking about. Sometimes we can be good enough or successful enough, or prominent enough or whatever where we become kind of supporting actors, but it's their movie. People are here. They care so much about them that we become important people
because we talk about them. And so there is there will never be a White House courus or White House correspondent that is more important to the political discourse than the president. There will there, and there will there will never be a stephen A And he has earned it, earned it. He is the most prominent sports media member, which does make him bigger than some athletes, but he will never be bigger than the biggest athletes. Like here's a good kind of you know, back in the Napkin math,
do you remember Demanse when I went after Patrick Beverly. Yeah, that is I think two people on kind of equal footing. But think about why that is. You have me. I'm just saying we're about on equal footing. Me someone who's probably near the bottom of the top ten in my field, and someone like him who's near the top of the bottom ten in his field. And that's where we meet.
So you've got it. Like so the and there was another little jab at Patrick Beverley fit in there, but uh so it is so No, I don't think it's unfair for Lebron to to respond. We all like the And here is the other thing. You gotta be prepared in the moment with how you're going to respond if they if you get checked, and this idea like I got, I told the story you know, confronted is too strong, but questioned by Jalen Hurt's mom night before the super Bowl,
and she was totally within her rights. I've told the story for anohing of good things say about her, uh and one of the only they're not many bright sides for me that came out of that Super Bowl. But I respected her in that interaction so much that I was part of me, the little part of me that wasn't heartbroken about the result of the game, was happy for her because she was so adamant or someone was gonna win and that he was gonna play great and
all that happened. But in that moment, I had a choice to make do I snapfold my hand, or do I say, okay, we can actually talk about it. What I don't think is typically cool is to in the moment snapfold your hand and then after the fact talk and talk and talk and talk and talk about it. And here's the other pieces of it that I just I'm gonna go ahead and say I have a hard time fully buying. On Gilbert's show, stephen A said, essentially, my producers made me address it. I didn't want to.
My producers made me address it. Bro, that's not how that works. We all we all know that, like, that's it's not how that works on first things. First, I can't imagine that's how that works. On first take. I cannot imagine. And I do not think that anybody really believes like there is anything on that show that stephen A's like, I do not want to do this, and they're like, so you have to come on, man, that's
not like, that's not that's not a thing. Like maybe the day after a finals game, if see if someone was like, I don't want to talk about the basketball game, they might be like, well you have to and if not, we're gonna pay, like the but I, that's not a thing. And the other thing was this because on Gilbert Show, stephen A said, oh, I I thought in the moment
this was about Bronni. It wasn't until I saw what Lebron's conversation mouth somewhat covered mouth not with Richard Jefferson that I knew this was actually about what I had said about him as a father. Man. I knew it the next day. I was on here the next day and I told everyone that's what it was about it was obvious. That's what it was about. The everyone who's in these circles knows, that's what it was about. When Lebron's people called you and you made fun of them,
it was months ago. It was about that. It was about the I'm begging you as a father. So it's okay to say I was caught off guard, has caught off guard, didn't really know. And then the other part of it, like again, and I say this every time, and I'll say it again, And it's so funny that I texted with stephen A the day this, the morning before this all happened, so like I think this happened a week ago today, I actually text with steven A that morning, so before it all happened. Obviously, I have
and I'm still using current present tense. I hope a good relationship with him. But I have to be I have to be fair here, because I'm not hesitating ever on this platform or on the TV show really to criticize colleagues if I think they're dead wrong. I can't just have the guys that I really like or my friends or whatever be like a sacred cows here, especially when this this is the story that continues to be
the story. The implication with Gilbert and Company that listen, maybe I'd have handled that differently, but I work for Walt Disney.
Come on, man about like the fighting or like I was gonna I.
Mean, that's what it seemed like was being implied. I mean, like, man, like, listen, Steven Ain't, to his credit, has gotten in great shit and did like a real boxing thing and would be a even even you know at his at his you know, he's in great japer's age and is despite being a decade plus order than me, I'll say it would be a significant favorite over most other media members. You know what I mean in hand to hand combat, but the idea that it's like well, you know, hands are a
little tied because I work for the mouse. Otherwise, like, come on, man, like what are we like? That's just go ahead.
I don't play a Devil's advocate any longer, but this last time we'll do it.
Do you think like what is in like? Is are we saying that the only thing that Stephen A.
Smith did wrong was call out Lebron James a father, Like is everything else like in bounds?
What's out of bounds?
So here's so here's what I think. That's a great follow up and a great question. The I think that I'm pleading with you as a father was out of line. It's also what Lebron was responding to. That was very clear from the morning after the event. I again, I set it on this show on a little emergency pod that we did right after or over the weekend, but before the rj uh interaction with Lebron, and it was
it was very clear that's what it was about. So that is you Now, I talked to Bamani about that, Butmani says we need to normalize judging other people's parenting, which is an interesting take, and like it's also you know, Butmani's you know, glass house there, not glasshouse there. BUTMANI ain't got no kids, so he didn't know how hard you guys can be some times. But but the that is that's what triggered Lebron. Okay, that's what it was
now is the criticism of Bronnie fair. It let me, I'm gonna tweak how I word that.
Go ahead, Well, I mean also like there's a while back Lebron put out a tweet and I get it's not Bronni that tweet like it's just unfortunate that it's landing on Bronnie the kid.
When so that tweet is I would argue, and this I think kind of speaks to how relatively well, not relatively well, but incredibly well lebron James has handled twenty five years in the public eye. That tweets one of the five biggest missteps of his whole career, honest to God,
like it really is. But the fact that everyone keeps pointing to this tweet from three years ago as evidence that, oh, Lebron has been building Bronnie up bigger than he was, I think speaks to the fact that after that tweet, Lebron pumped the brakes on it, right, like that that tweet was it put a bigger target on Bronnie's back,
and so that was that was a mistake. That that's totally fair, and that's that would be criticizing lebron You know that a decision he made, Like that's totally fair, But that's not what this was about, right, So the so, but I but to get back to your other question is is Bronnie James a fair target for criticism? The answer to that is yes, he's an NBA players, a
grown man NBA player. Is it also fair to say, if this is going to be the one and only second round pick in the entire draft in the last two drafts three drafts that we are going to occasionally criticize on national television, that if you have been one of the more vocal critics, whether it was his summer League performance or his opening few g League games or those awful minutes against the Sixers, then if you really want to be fair, you've got to mix in the
context and maybe include, oh, he's actually played really well since that moment. Now, I think it's probably like, does that make sense that if I'm that anybody that you are is you don't have to talk about, but you choose to talk about either super glowingly or super negatively or it's you know that you insert in, It's probably fair to balance the scale to a degree you don't
have to do. That's why I keep doing the You know where he ranks amongst rookies, and he is somewhere between forty eighth and fifty eighth in every single minutes games, points, assists, steals, which is what you would hope for from the fifty to fifth pick. So that's the other piece of this
that I think is a little bit of bullshit. If you were and this is not I'm not talking about Steven ah here, okay, if you are, to a degree, I'm kind of talking about one of my dearest friends in the world, among others, but among other not among my other dearest friends, but Manni is one of my dearest friends in the world. He's one of many people who were very loud and skeptical about Bronni being drafted.
I do think what's fair is if you were one of those people saying this is a farce of a pick, to at some point mention he's acquitting himself pretty well in the G League, that he's averaging the exact same as the Lakers first round pick last year in the G League, that he you know what, like that, because I think it's pretty clear that the people who said this is a farce of a pick, if Bronni in
the G League was four points, couldn't you know? It is terrible to be like see, And so I just I do think though that stuff is convenient well, and again, I just it's also not all that day to day relevant. I just what I don't. I just have a really hard time with the sequence of I didn't want to talk about this. I've now talked about it almost every
single day on four different platforms since then. I didn't know what he was mad about when I got a call five weeks ago from his agent about the exact thing he's mad about, and anyone with kind of deductive
reasoning knew that's what he's mad about. Having been on the record for twenty years about how many games you go to and about how everyone you talk about is welcome to come up and talk to you about anything they say, and when that happens, to say it was weak and it was bullshit, And this is why I started with the we're not on equal playing field with these guys. He sometimes you don't get to respond like you can respond. That's let me don't That's I said
that wrong. That's not what I meant. What I'm trying to say is, in that moment, I think what he's saying is I wanted a phone call so I could give give my side of the story, and Lebron was saying, I don't give a shit about your side of the story. I didn't like what you said, and I wanted you to stop it, and if we never speak again, no skin off my back. And that is a power and balance because like rounds like I don't care about this relationship. You might, I don't, and that just kind of is
that that that's why I used the Coseel Ali thing. Now, Cosel actually was incredibly helpful to Ali because Ali had the US government working against him and a lot of things. So it's not a perfect example at all, but as helpful as Howard Goseel was to Muhammad Ali, Howard go Sel needed Muhammad Ali in that relationship more than Ali ever needed would need him. And no matter how wealthy or famous any of us get, we're not the actual stars.
And then we also have to have the humility to at times just take an l. I don't know why that is so difficult for certain folks like and that's and I'm not just pointing out stephen A there at all. That is that is a lot of people again, well particularly people that in our business people that are there is It's also why there's kind of this unspoken rule almost like oh, you know, I'm in the media, I'm not going to criticize other media that I obviously don't
subscribe to. I just think that is somewhat hypocritical, almost like we can't we we can't do what we do to these athletes and then act so wounded if somebody does it to us.
Exactly like this guy needs to change this that like that needs to happen. It's like I feel like which is in some fashion.
And so listen, I really hope this is the end that of this the and the handity thing.
Do it well?
I just I don't. I I don't look given all the things Sean Hannity has said about Lebron that I find to be in inaccurate on their face and wildly unfair. I think going on that turf and doing this was and now and again in Stepney's defense there, it didn't look like he knew that question was coming, and he didn't spend a lot of time on it, you know. I think he was on there to give more political commentary, which is a whole nother discussion. But whatever, Who's scoring
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So yeah, after dropping the first ever thirty twenty twenty twenty game against Phoenix Yolks, MVP odds cut in half. Then SGA got the best of them in that Denver game he dropped forty and then Jokic got a little get back. So they're kind of kind of a weird situation for the MVP right now.
Who do you have?
I think it's Shay. I don't think it's really that debatable, and I am consistent. Well, here's why Demansey and I heard Mike Malone. God, Michael Malone. Basically, if you're not willing to say the NBA logo should be changed from Jerry West to Nikola Jokic, like you're not given Jokic
enough respect by Michael Malone's standards. I mean the idea that Jokic has won three of the last four MVPs, he won back to back MVPs prior to ever going on a deep playoff run which was not unprecedented but close to unprecedented, and so like this idea that he's not getting enough respect is just crazy. And here is why I feel the way I do about the MVP, and it is the same reason I felt it was very clear Josh Allen was the MVP this past year in the NFL. We cannot play Calvin ball with how
we give out MVP awards. And if people don't know what the phrase Calvin ball is, it's from the old cartoon Calvin and Hobbes, the comic strip. But it's where you just make up the rules as you go. It's essentially heads, you lose, tales I win. It's where whatever the whatever the rules need to be for me to win, those are the rules. And so two years ago the NFL MVP Josh had these amazing numbers and not so much Josh. Actually it was really brock Perty and Dak
had these amazing numbers. Lamar had middling numbers, but his team had the best record. He played you know great in some big spots, and they gave it to Lamar. This year, Lamar has amazing numbers, but his team's record is you know, mediocre compared to the other MVP candidates.
Josh had good numbers, not as good as Lamar's. The team had the better record, and people were like, no, Some people were like, no, it should be Lamar again, like, well, he can't win for one set of logic in twenty three and inver ctle logic in twenty four that if we give Joker the MVP this year, then we need to go back last year and give the one he won there to Luca. Because last year here was Luca's numbers, thirty four points per game, the scoring champion by three
and a half points, nine rebounds, ten assists. He was thirty four, nine and ten on forty nine to thirty eight splits. Joker, who won the MVP was twenty six points per game, twelve rebounds, nine assists on fifty eight thirty six splits. So why did Joker win it? Because the Denver Nuggets tied for the best record in the Western Conference. They had fifty seven wins and Luca's team was the five seed. They had fifty five or they
had fifty wins. Pardon me that seven win golf is why not only did Joker win it, but it was not close. If I remember, I'm gonna check real quick. Joker had got seventy nine first place votes, Shay got fifteen, Luca got four. He ran away with it. So this year when Joker's numbers are remarkable, and they are remarkable at twenty nine, thirteen and ten. Shae is going to win the scoring title, by the way at thirty two
and a half, but then only five and six. But Shay is the in my opinion, rightful MVP because his team has fifty three wins and the Nuggets have forty two.
Would He's not say no team, It's more just like if the Thunder didn't have SGA, you know, they'd be less off good. I think if Denver didn't have Yokics, they'd be absolutely ft.
No, that is listen, that's definitely true that Denver would completely collapse without Joker. That's definitely true. But that can't be the solo standard, and we can't change the rules year over year like the And it is true, and it has always been true that the hardest MVP to
win is the next one. The easiest MVP to win is your first, and then to win a second one you usually have to be even better than you were for your first one, and then to win your third one, you've got to be truly in historic territory, and then to win your fourth you have to be have a historic season and be one of the greatest players of all time and not have any first time attempted first time winner have a real case. So and Joker is one of the greatest players of all time and he
is having a historic season. But the guys with four are Bron Will Russell, Jordan Kareem. Those guys have four or five or six. I'm not saying Jokers not allowed to join that group one day. What I am saying is we can't give Jokers third MVP, even though Luca had one of the most insane statistical regular seasons ever, because Joker's team was better, and then give Joker his fourth MVP because he's having an insane statistical regular season
when SHA's team is better. Like if the we have to be consistent with it, and and also like this idea that the Thunder would be okay without Shae, I don't agree with that. The Thunder without Shae would.
Be I mean, they wouldn't be in great shape. The point I was just making was Denver.
Would be no Denver would instantly become one of the worst teams in the league. I get that, But sh Shae scoring thirty three a game for a team that doesn't have another established star is super valuable. So like I just I just like consistency in this stuff.
Yeah, and the press, I think from the beginning we've just gotten really far off of what MVP means.
I think it should have just been the.
Actual most valuable player as I get like the don't know.
So this is a point Broom makes and and I'm curious how you feel about it. And then we can get to the NFL stuff quickly. And I don't know why I ever say we're doing a quick show. I don't have the capability of it. Does Is that fair to the previous eras right? And here's what I mean. If all of a sudden we change it to just like, hey, who is the consensus best player in the league and is he having an awesome season? Then he's the MVP, and then all of a sudden, Joker ends with six
and maybe one day Wimby ends with seven. It's like wow, when that's not how we treated Kareem Lebron or Mike or Michael, Like is that like, so that is that fair? I don't know. Yeah, say it again.
I said you have to make a new league. I was joking, but yeah, not.
No, but yeah, I mean it just and so and also this is it should be noted Shay the going into this year, the only guy on his team who had ever been an All Star is going to run away with the scoring title. Scores thirty three a night on good efficiency. Uh only plays thirty four minutes because they blow so many teams out. His team has a historic net rating and they have won. They are eleven games clear of the Nuggets in the standings. That it's not like this is a you know, a week MBP
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and TikTok for more updates and recipes. Before the twenty seventeen NFL Draft, before First Things First Yet existed, Chris Carter and I filled in for Colin Cowherd and we interviewed a few of the draft prospects. One of them was a potential first round pick out of Texas Tech named Patrick mahomes I. And here is one of the questions I asked him and listened to his answer. Patrick, I've got a son who's around your age, just a little bit younger than you, and I did something with
him that I want to do with you. Right now, you're not driving, are you okay?
All right?
Ten years from now, close your eyes, think about it. In a perfect world, everything goes great. You are, you are doing exactly what you want to do. Take me ten years from now. Describe where you are and what you don't have to tell me a city. Describe what your life is ten years from this moment.
Ten years from now, I hope to have a family, a wife and a kid or maybe two, and I'm playing in the NFL, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and have a couple of Super Bowl championships with me.
Well there you go. So like that. So you already know your endpoint. Man. So now that you know your endpoint, every fork in the road, every decision you make, just keep in mind that's the end point you're trying to get to. Where people screw up, at least my sec is they don't know where they're trying to get to. So you get to fork in the road and you
don't know do I go left right? But Patrick has said he's got a wife and kids, so I guess that means he's got to, you know, be hitting the dating scene in the off season a little bit, I guess. And you got a couple of quarters, you got a couple super Bowl championship, still playing in the league. He already knows where he's going, just got to figure out how to get there. Yes, that is remarkable by Patrick that he said the goals that high and exceeded all
of them. He said, one or two kids, he's at three. The I didn't know obviously when I was saying hit the dating scene that he was in a serious relationship. Yeah, you know what I mean that he had the woman in mind. He had the woman in mind. And he said one of the best quarterbacks in the league with a couple championships. He's the best quarterback in the league and has three. I mean, that is a really really cool thing. And then the also him men. Yeah, right,
so that was eight years ago. It was eight years ago, So that was, Uh, that was I had I had no recollection of that. Isn't that amazing?
Yeah, that's truly awesome. I mean, got it on heed.
Yeah, and so that that was really cool. So I don't know if he I'm gonna I'm gonna send if we put out that clip right there, a little throwback Thursday. Also again, folks who accuse me of hair plugs or anything, look closely at that video. You see I have a full hairline. I just have a shaved head. I don't look like a guy who lost his hair. Look, this idea is everywhere you can see doesn't matter. Point is uh yeah, I mean that's not a guy who's bald,
that's a guy who shaved his head. Wasn't the greatest look.
I will say you can lose that one. I don't ever want to get back to that one unless you have.
To the But regardless, Uh, I don't know. My guess is Patrick doesn't remember that either. But if we put out that clip, I'll send it to him. That was really cool.
Good for him for the first time in his career. Rogers is a free agent. Pittsburgh, the Giants, and maybe a little bit of Minnesota. Those are the teams that seem to be hawking him down. What are your thoughts?
So here's what I think. I think that Aaron Rodgers knows exactly where he's going and exactly what he's doing, and Aaron Rodgers wants the attention, and I don't think that they are still negotiating. I think that he is the main character in his story and in every story, it would seem, and he, you know, likes that. Well, there's three teams right now, kind of in a bit of a two definitely in the Steelers and the Giants, and one maybe in the Vikings that are waiting on him.
I I don't understand the Vikings piece of it, demons.
And here's why it doesn't make sense to me that they were like Daniel Jones, we'd like to give you around ten million dollars to back up JJ McCarthy, and then Daniel Jones went to Indianapolis and they're like, okay, Aaron Rodgers, we'd like to give you forty million dollars to start in front of JJ McCarthy like those You know that it doesn't seem like if you were if they had tried to retain Sam Darnold and lost him and then they pivoted Darren Rodgers to be like, okay,
that makes you know, that's cogent thoughts, so to speak. This one doesn't make sense to me, And does it you understand what I mean?
Like I don't understand what you're saying, like, it's.
It just seems like I'm looking for a car. I'm either gonna get a Miata Tutor or a minivan. It's like, well, wait a minute, what are you trying to get out of this thing? Like the and so I just don't. I don't follow it in that way, that's all. And so I don't know that he'll pick today. I really don't. I also will say this, the folks that believe the Steelers could be anything close to contenders with Aaron Rodgers, they weren't contenders last year with Russell Wilson. Aaron Rodgers
at disappointing. His career is not better than Russell Wilson. I'm not saying he's worse. They're about the same. Like, and so, I know they added George Pickens, but man, that feels so combustible Pickens and Metcalf and Rogers, Like, I don't, I don't. I don't love that at all. Might