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taught that holds us. What's

1:09

up, everybody? Welcome to the Ladies' Edition of

1:11

the Stephen A. Smith Show coming at you as I love to

1:13

do it at the very least three days a week over the

1:15

digital airwaves of YouTube. This special episode

1:17

simply because it's not the typical Monday, Wednesday,

1:19

or Friday show. This is coming to you

1:21

on a Thursday in the immediate aftermath of

1:23

Game 3 in the NBA Finals between the

1:25

Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics where the

1:27

Boston Celtics took a commanding 3-0 series

1:31

lead. One went away.

1:33

They are now from an NBA

1:35

championship. Their 18th, which would obviously

1:38

surpass the Los Angeles Lakers because

1:40

both of them are tied all time, 17th,

1:42

17 rather NBA championships.

1:44

This would be the 18th for Boston if

1:46

indeed they close out Game 4 Friday

1:49

night in Dallas at American

1:51

Airlines Center. Listen,

1:54

there's a lot to get into here. Before we do any

1:56

of that, let's get to the logistics. 156

2:01

teams in NBA history have

2:03

trailed 3-0 in a playoff

2:05

series. 14 of those

2:07

times it has happened in

2:09

an NBA finals. No team has

2:12

ever overcome an 0-3 deficit

2:15

to win a playoff series or an

2:17

NBA final series in the

2:19

history of the National Basketball

2:22

Association. It is that deep, it goes

2:24

that deep. So needless to say, it

2:26

appears to be a foregone conclusion that

2:28

the Dallas Mavericks will ultimately come back

2:30

from this. They'll be able to save

2:32

face and be able to derail

2:34

the Boston Celtics from winning the championship. It just

2:37

hasn't happened. There's no reason to believe it now.

2:39

By the way, before I

2:41

get into anything any further, just want to

2:43

take a moment to thank my audience, my

2:45

subscribers, my followers. We've now eclipsed 703,000 subscribers.

2:49

So keep the love coming. I'm going

2:51

to keep on coming. Remember, we also

2:53

heard on iHeart Radio. So let's not

2:55

forget that to give them some love. iHeart

2:57

Radio, not just YouTube, but iHeart Radio

2:59

as well. And so again, to all

3:02

the followers and the supporters out there, really,

3:04

really thank you all. Really, really appreciate it.

3:07

I want to say this, getting

3:09

to these NBA finals, change

3:11

in scenery meant absolutely nothing to

3:14

the Dallas Mavericks. They trailed by 21, by

3:16

the way, before ultimately succumbing to the Boston Celtics 106-99.

3:20

I already told you about the 3-0 lead the Boston Celtics have.

3:22

They were led by Jason Tatum, who had his best game of

3:24

the series with 31 points. Jalen Brown

3:26

only had six points in the first half, finished with 30.

3:29

That's 24 points in the second half.

3:31

Eight rebounds, eight assists. The dunk of

3:33

the night, driving down the middle of

3:35

the lane and dunking on everybody. Plus,

3:37

he was harassing Luca Doncic all night

3:39

long. As for Dallas, Kyrie Irving showed

3:41

up, finally leading the match with 35

3:43

points, shooting four of six from three-point ranges. This

3:45

is after he went 0 for 8 from three-point range

3:48

in the first two games of this series. But

3:50

he wasn't the biggest issue last night. The

3:52

biggest issue was Luca Doncic, who

3:55

fouled out with 27 points and continues to

3:57

hurt his team on defense. y'all

4:00

take a look at what my colleague

4:02

at ESPN, his senior NBA writer

4:04

Brian Winter said last night about Lucas impact

4:06

on this team. Check it out. I'm standing

4:08

here in the Mavericks tunnel over there is

4:10

the Celtics tunnel. That's where the winners are.

4:12

If Lucas ever gonna be a winner coming

4:15

out of this tunnel here, he is gonna

4:17

have to use this have what's happened in

4:19

this finals as a learning experience.

4:21

His defensive performance is unacceptable. He is

4:23

a hole on the court. The Celtics

4:25

are attacking him. They are ahead in

4:27

this series because they have attacked him

4:29

defensively. And you've got a situation here

4:31

where Lucas complaining about the officiating. They have

4:34

begged him. They have talked with him. They have

4:36

pleaded with him. He is costing his team because

4:38

of how he treats the officials. He's a brilliant

4:40

player. He does so many things well. They are

4:42

here because how he did his performance in this

4:44

game is unacceptable. And the reason why the Mavericks

4:46

are not gonna win. He's got to get over

4:49

this. And the fact that he came out after

4:51

the game and blame the officials showed me he's

4:53

nowhere close yet. So maybe over the summer somebody

4:55

will get to him because nobody with the Mavericks

4:57

or anybody else in his life has. And that's

4:59

where the Mavericks are at this point. They're never

5:01

gonna get to this tunnel with the trophy

5:03

if he doesn't improve those packs aspects

5:06

of his game. Amen. Amen. Wendy's

5:08

absolutely right. But he wasn't the only one. A

5:11

whole bunch of people had a lot to say about

5:14

Luka Doncic performance in Game three. None

5:17

were as acerbic, as

5:19

hostile, as disgusted, however,

5:22

as my man Kendrick Perkins. He

5:24

showed up on

5:26

a podcast with my man Richard

5:29

Jefferson had a bunch of

5:31

stuff to say. But check this out. Luka

5:34

fucked off the game. He

5:37

drained his team emotionally,

5:39

even Jake. He started from

5:43

the tip, the complaining

5:46

every day. I'm possession down the

5:48

fallen on the floor, right? Not

5:50

getting back in transition, not making

5:52

a second effort. He didn't box

5:54

out. One time he missed the

5:56

box out on. I believe it

5:58

was Drew Holiday. It

6:00

was a timeout. He's yelling at his

6:03

teammates. Teammate was nowhere involved in the

6:05

damn play. Who are you mad at?

6:07

Okay. The bullshit files. Yeah, that was

6:09

not a charge. Why even put yourself

6:12

in that position? He tapped

6:14

out and he left his team

6:16

hanging. By far the

6:19

worst performance I've seen for Luca

6:21

in the playoffs. Listen,

6:23

some people are going to debate whether or not Kendrick

6:25

Perkis is telling the truth there now in terms of

6:27

it being his worst performance, but damn it, who cares?

6:30

The fact of the matter is if it was in the

6:32

ballpark, Luca, it

6:34

was unimpressive, but I think a lot of people are

6:36

missing a boat to some degree. You've

6:39

got people talking about him complaining and

6:41

crying and wanting to the referees. Totally,

6:43

totally true. Luca put himself

6:45

in that position because guess what? The third

6:47

foul that he picked up, you know when

6:49

he was frustrated, he didn't get a call

6:51

under his own basket. I mean, basically that

6:54

put you in a foolish position because you

6:56

were reaching just out of frustration. Then there

6:58

was another time you were reaching for Pritchard

7:02

and you had no business doing that. So there was 2,000, 3,000, 4,000

7:04

that he picked up that

7:06

made absolutely positively no sense whatsoever. So you're

7:08

not thinking about the position that you put

7:10

your teammates in, your coaches in, et cetera,

7:12

et cetera. That was jacked up. No question

7:15

about it. Kendrick Perkis isn't wrong there. Clearly

7:18

too much whining, too much bitching, all

7:20

of that stuff. That's on Luca, no

7:22

doubt about it, okay? Here's

7:24

my biggest issue with Luca and it basically

7:26

also people talking about his defense. His defense

7:29

was horrible, horrible. I

7:31

mean, Joe Missoula, who's doing a hell of a job,

7:33

by the way, hell of a job. We can talk

7:35

about E.M.U. Doka like I do, thinking about how good

7:38

he was and how Boston would be in this position

7:40

with E.M.U. Doka. But give Joe Missoula a lot of

7:42

credit. This man has done a hell of a job

7:44

and he's proven to be one hell of a coach

7:46

and he's about to win a championship. You can't talk

7:48

about Joe Missoula, man, in

7:50

anything but a positive way. But

7:53

having said all of that, you

7:55

look at Houser, who he brings

7:57

off the bench. This dude comes

7:59

out there. Ain't known as a player

8:01

at all purely a shooter. Everybody in their

8:04

grandmama knows it and What

8:06

they did was? They made

8:09

sure if you're the boy Dallas Mavericks Well, let's

8:11

put Luke on them because look I don't want

8:13

to guard nobody any damn way So let's put

8:15

Luke on this brother. What does Luke do? He

8:17

got his head turned. He's taken for granted guys

8:19

a shooter That's the only reason he's in there

8:21

He's a shooter and Luca left

8:23

him open twice to hit threes from

8:26

the corner So yes, Lucas

8:28

defense was horrid his defensive effort

8:30

was horrid But even with

8:33

what Kendrick Perkins said about him complaining

8:35

to the officials or what Brian winter

8:37

said about him complaining to the complaining

8:39

To the officials about him not playing

8:41

defense here to me is where the

8:43

most egregious part occurred Luca

8:47

is struggling all night long We

8:50

know this we see this it's clear as

8:52

day He finishes the

8:54

game shooting 11 to 27. That's 40% y'all we get that Didn't

9:01

you see Kyrie was in his bag? Didn't

9:04

you see Kyrie was flowing? Why

9:06

are you holding the ball? Why

9:09

are you dribbling 10,000 times? I know

9:11

that's what you do. Normally. I know you're

9:13

a ball hog I get

9:15

that part we understand that

9:17

about Luca, but my point is is

9:20

that Kyrie Irving was somebody you believed in

9:23

You should believe in even though he showed

9:25

up and didn't really didn't show up in

9:27

games One or two Kyrie came out aggressive

9:30

looking for a shot attacking the basket The

9:32

brother went from going 0 for 8 from

9:34

3-point range in the first two games

9:37

To sitting up there and hitting 4 6

9:39

for 3-point range yesterday including a couple of

9:42

I think it was 3 in the first

9:44

half He's

9:46

in his bag Especially

9:49

in the second half when Boston

9:51

goes up 21 because Tatum

9:53

and Brown is putting on the

9:56

show and Boston's ball movement is

9:58

big time this space Everything is

10:00

great. The effort on the defensive

10:02

end of the floor, the ability to switch, everything.

10:05

I mean, you've got to sit up there and

10:07

see this. It was impressive. But

10:10

Kyrie is getting to his spots and

10:12

he's getting to the hole at will. And

10:15

on top of it all, he's getting to the free throw

10:17

line. Why are you holding

10:19

the freaking ball, Luca? Give

10:21

up the damn ball. Luca

10:24

didn't do that. He was forcing the issue

10:27

and he was building his own frustration. And Boston

10:29

played right into his hands because you know what

10:31

they did. See, ladies and gentlemen, here's the thing.

10:34

When you are a spectacular offensive

10:37

talent, here's what happens

10:39

to you sometimes. If you

10:41

struggle defensively, teams don't only

10:43

pick on you defensively because they know they

10:45

can take advantage of you. They

10:48

also pick on you defensively in

10:50

hopes that it will frustrate you. It'll

10:52

get you more agitated and anxious to

10:54

produce on the offensive side of the

10:56

ball. Then you force the issue.

10:59

You alienate your teammates because you turned

11:01

them into spectators. As a

11:03

result, more pressure mounts to you and

11:05

you don't necessarily answer the call. And

11:08

then you end up looking like Luca looked in game

11:10

three last night. That's

11:12

what happened. That's what happened.

11:15

Now, there were other things that happened. Tim

11:18

Hardaway Jr. I'm

11:21

so happy you're under contract for next year because

11:23

I don't know if you'd be getting one after this performance. Nineteen

11:26

minutes, not a point, not

11:28

a damn point. Tim Hardaway Jr. was so

11:30

bad, he didn't even register a foul. He

11:35

had three rebounds, but every other category across the

11:37

board in 19 minutes with all of us clamoring

11:39

for Jason Kidd to play some faith in

11:41

him and play him, he gets out on the

11:44

court and thanks people like myself and others by

11:46

giving us a donut. No

11:49

points whatsoever. No field goals

11:51

made whatsoever. No assists whatsoever.

11:53

It was an atrocious performance

11:55

by Tim Hardaway, who by

11:57

the way had to be

11:59

in. the back into the game after Luca Doncic

12:01

fouled out. It couldn't score a

12:03

basket. That's point number one. Point

12:05

number two. Jason Kidd. Clearly

12:12

whatever words he's given to Luca Doncic

12:14

ain't being heard. You

12:16

got to contain his brother, get him under control. You

12:19

got to remind him that what he's doing is selfish and

12:22

it hurts the team and prioritize

12:24

or get him to prioritize doing that. He

12:26

clearly hasn't done that. He hasn't gotten through

12:28

to Luca because Luca was acting like a

12:31

damn brat last night. Jason

12:33

Tatum was getting fouled. Jason Tatum

12:35

wasn't getting calls. Neither was Jaylen Brown. They'd

12:37

say something to the ref but then they

12:39

turned around and hustled back on defense. Luca

12:42

Doncic would lay on the floor and put

12:45

the Dallas Mavericks defense in a four on

12:47

five situation. Boston would drain

12:49

another three and what did Boston end up

12:51

shooting from three point range on

12:54

this particular night because we've

12:56

got to look at all of this stuff right here. Boston

12:59

shot 17 of 46. 17

13:02

of 46. Both Tatum and Derek White hit

13:04

four three-pointers. Brown and Horford

13:07

hit two. Sam Houser hit

13:09

three pretty much all on Luca. Series

13:13

is over. Dallas

13:15

made a nice run. We didn't expect them to get

13:17

this far but they ultimately did and they deserved their

13:19

props but in the end what

13:23

do you say? This

13:25

is what it is. This

13:27

is what it is. Now before I get

13:29

to my next subject I want to

13:31

say this because this wasn't initially on my rundown

13:34

but I felt the need to switch

13:36

gears a little bit and to touch on this

13:38

subject okay because I'm thinking about it and I'll

13:40

get to Jerry West in a second because I

13:42

got to get to my man Jerry West. God

13:44

bless his soul. I

13:46

want to talk a quick second about

13:49

what happened this week and

13:52

the noise that's been reverberating. So I

13:57

think it was Monday or so. I'm one

13:59

of the air with Monica

14:02

McNutt and ultimately

14:05

the next day it was her and Janae

14:07

O'Goomickay and then after that it was Janae

14:11

O'Goomickay and Andrea Carter. I

14:14

think that Janae O'Goomickay

14:16

and Andrea Carter are superstars in the

14:19

making in this business. They do

14:21

an incredible job and I love them both and

14:23

I'm so proud of them both and Monica McNutt

14:25

does a hell of a job too. Um

14:28

and by the way, there was

14:30

a typo earlier this week about me calling her my

14:32

former colleague. That is far from the truth. Monica McNutt

14:34

has a very bright future for ESPN as well. She

14:37

should but

14:39

the noise that was being made disgusted

14:43

me because

14:46

one of the things that

14:49

I keep trying to say to people is I

14:51

have no problem with people's opinions. I

14:54

have no problem with people's criticisms. Just

14:57

make sure that it's contextualized properly.

15:01

If I'm arguing about something, don't say I was arguing

15:03

about something else. That's

15:05

all I ask. Hold me accountable

15:07

for what I actually say. Not

15:09

what you think. Not

15:12

what you're speculating about. What

15:14

I actually say. The

15:17

subject matter was Caitlin Clark

15:19

and you got people out there like

15:22

Andrea Carter and Janae and others talking about

15:25

merit merit merit and Monica McNutt to a

15:27

lesser degree. Merit merit merit and how Team

15:29

USA and the WNBA and

15:32

all of these folks shouldn't be thinking about

15:34

marketing and it's about what's gonna be unfair

15:36

to the other ladies. Blah blah blah blah

15:38

blah blah. I

15:40

specifically said you're

15:42

absolutely right. It would

15:45

be unfair to the other ladies. There's not a

15:47

single person that deserves to be taken off of

15:49

Team USA in favor of Caitlin Clark. I

15:52

specifically said if we're talking strictly

15:54

basketball, no argument. But

15:57

Team USA particularly.

16:00

on the men's side and one could argue

16:02

on the women's side as well, along

16:04

with whether it's the WNBA is the NBA

16:06

or any other business. They

16:09

don't make decisions based strictly on the

16:11

purity of the sport and

16:13

the meritocracy of competition. They

16:16

also take marketing into consideration. When

16:21

we think about decisions that have been

16:23

made in a world of sports forever,

16:26

marketing has played a role. Ladies

16:30

and gentlemen, marketing always plays a role.

16:34

It's all about establishing

16:36

and understanding. This is what is

16:39

going on. Caitlin

16:44

Clark wants

16:47

to be on the team, but who cares? She

16:49

knows that in all likelihood she didn't deserve it. She's

16:51

a rookie. Four years from now,

16:53

she'll be on a team. And

16:56

by the way, in fairness to Monica

16:58

McNutt, a Chanel, Guumakay, uh,

17:01

Andrea Carter and others, I've

17:04

had male hall of famers

17:06

called me and argue with me about how right

17:08

they are.

17:12

They've said, respectfully, we love Caitlin Clark. We think

17:14

she's going to be a superstar. We wish her

17:17

nothing but the best, but the hell with her

17:19

when you're competing against her, try to

17:21

destroy her every chance you get when you get on a

17:23

court with her, try to be better

17:25

than her in every category. All

17:28

true. None

17:31

of it addresses my point. My

17:35

point is she's

17:37

the golden goose. You

17:42

have been clamoring for attention.

17:45

You've been clamoring for more cash. A

17:48

fair and equitable treatment, charted

17:51

jets, weight room

17:53

facilities, dollars, marketing

17:56

opportunities, et cetera, et cetera, et

17:58

cetera. We've seen the. ladies in

18:00

collegiate sports capitalized off of NIL

18:02

and the transfer a portal. We

18:05

anticipate that more is coming down

18:07

the pike for the ladies in

18:09

the professional ranks in terms of

18:12

marketing opportunities. You see it all.

18:15

And when you see those things, what

18:18

they're doing is, is that their

18:20

game will validate it. But those

18:23

other elements accentuate them and accentuate

18:25

the product because if they make

18:27

themselves more attractive to people outside

18:30

the world of the sport, they'll

18:32

gravitate to those athletes and support

18:34

them inside the world of the

18:37

sport they're playing in because that's

18:39

the name of the game. NBC

18:46

is investing nearly $8 billion

18:48

in the Olympics. You think they don't

18:50

want ratings? Do

18:53

you think they don't want ratings? Who doesn't

18:55

know they want ratings? Everybody

18:58

knows that yet somehow,

19:00

some way, all

19:03

of a sudden, I'm getting castigated.

19:07

You got folks treating me like

19:09

I'm chauvinistic. I was

19:12

raised by five women. Here's the difference. Y'all let me

19:14

tell y'all a little secret. Let me tell my staff

19:16

a little secret. Let me tell everybody a little secret

19:18

about me. Do

19:20

you know why it

19:23

may put people off a little bit when

19:26

you see me talking about issues

19:28

pertaining to ladies? It's

19:31

because I talk about it the same way

19:33

I talk about issues pertaining to men. Because

19:38

while most people talk about treating women

19:40

as equals, I

19:42

actually see them as such because

19:46

I was raised by five

19:48

of them. I grew up

19:50

all my I'm the youngest of six. I

19:54

got four older sisters. I've

19:58

never hit a woman in my life. I've been

20:00

slapped up my damn head by women all

20:03

my life. All

20:05

of it. Except by my

20:07

mama. Now, my mama used to take

20:09

my ear and just ring it and make my head twist. That's

20:11

how she used to punish me. She used to twist my head.

20:14

She used to twist my ear rather and spin

20:16

my head around because it hurt like hell when

20:18

she twisted my ear. She wouldn't

20:20

hit me in public places. She'd just grab my ear

20:22

and just twist it. All

20:24

my sisters, I'll tell you their names.

20:27

Linda Arlen, Carmen Abigail. Linda

20:29

Arlen, Abigail, and Carmen in that order

20:31

because Carmen's the youngest Linda's the oldest.

20:36

They slapped me upside the head all the time. I'm

20:39

56. They'll slap me up

20:41

the head right now. I've

20:46

been debating with women all my life. It

20:49

doesn't faze me because

20:53

I see them as equals, if

20:55

not better. I

20:58

think women are far more capable than men have

21:01

shown themselves to be. I think women are far

21:03

less trifling than men have shown themselves to be.

21:08

They say behind every great man is a

21:10

great woman. I say beside every great man

21:12

is a great woman. What

21:15

are you talking about? And

21:17

you have people walking around here treating

21:19

stuff like there's some misogyny going on.

21:23

And then everybody gravitated to the statement, oh my

21:25

God, well, you know what he's going off about

21:28

first taking. He was talking about how first take

21:30

did this for Monica McNutt. And then

21:32

people labeled it. I never said I made them.

21:36

I never said the show made them. People

21:39

interpreted it as such, but you left out

21:41

how I said first, what first take did

21:43

for me. What

21:45

first take did for Shannon. What

21:47

first take did for Ryan Clark. What

21:50

first take did for Marcus Spears. What first take

21:53

did for Molly. What first take did for Kimberley.

21:55

You left all of that out. Left

21:58

it all out. And

22:01

people who don't know better or don't

22:03

have the time to watch the show or have

22:05

no interest in contextualizing stuff

22:08

properly Buy into that

22:10

bullshit. I Wonder

22:12

why that is and It

22:15

ain't just some of the ladies It's a lot of

22:18

the fellas too, which is why I dressed

22:20

Peter Rosenberg the other day the way that I did Because

22:24

I thought I was taken out of context and I

22:26

thought that I was being attributed to saying something I

22:28

did not say But

22:30

I'm turning on a TV and it's like oh my

22:32

lord Well, you know what? What are you trying to

22:34

say first takes done something for all of us? it's

22:36

a two-hour show live every

22:38

weekday morning and Two

22:41

hours of real estate give people

22:44

opportunities to speak commentate

22:46

and pontificate about a bevy of

22:48

subjects the more Air

22:52

time you get the more

22:54

profile you build the more your

22:56

profile builds The

22:59

more cache you may gain. It's a crime

23:01

to say that It's

23:03

a cray. It's misogynistic to say

23:05

that When I'm saying

23:08

the same thing that has been done for men has

23:10

been done for women What

23:13

are we doing? What are

23:15

we doing? And

23:17

I turn around and I see oh, okay.

23:20

So suddenly Monica McNutt is on John Stewart

23:24

John Stewart Not

23:26

Sports Center John

23:28

Stewart No

23:30

crime there get your shine Hell

23:35

I don't care if Janae and Andrea and Molly

23:37

and everybody else is invited in I saw a

23:39

carry champion on CNN talk about me Carry

23:43

champion the former host the first take module Ain't

23:50

throwing no shade on her. She's entitled opinion Jamel Hill,

23:52

of course. I Mean

23:54

the names just come flocking out And

24:00

I'm not accusing anybody of doing anything wrong.

24:04

I'm simply saying the

24:07

issue is about marketing

24:10

versus basketball. The merits of playing

24:12

basketball compared to the merits of

24:14

bringing marketing into the equation to

24:16

influence potential decisions. Team USA feels

24:19

one way. The WNBA feels one

24:21

way. The ladies on the squad

24:23

are going to feel one way.

24:25

Somebody else is going to feel

24:27

the other. And I love how

24:29

I see all the emotions dripping

24:31

everywhere from these folks that were

24:33

going to be on the team.

24:37

Men have been left off of

24:40

teams in the past. Is

24:42

there any greater crime in Olympic history

24:44

than Isaiah Thomas being

24:47

denied a roster

24:49

spot on the original dream team in 1992?

24:52

Is there a greater crime? Is

24:55

there a greater crime? We

24:57

all know he deserved to be on there. I'm

25:01

not saying it's right. I'm saying it happens. Women

25:07

have received unfair treatment for centuries.

25:10

So have men. Don't

25:13

get me started with black men and how black men are

25:15

treated. I'm

25:18

not saying it's right. I'm

25:20

saying it's reality. And

25:22

in the

25:25

end, if

25:28

you told me that

25:30

somebody has to get messed over for

25:33

a spot on the Olympic team so

25:35

collectively they can all get paid more and

25:37

they can all get a greater cachet and

25:39

they can all get greater shine, I'm

25:42

good with that. If you disagree,

25:44

you disagree. But it should not

25:46

be accusations

25:49

of misogyny or chauvinism

25:52

or anything like that. We're

25:56

talking sports. We're talking

25:59

marketing. talking business.

26:02

You agree or disagree. That is

26:04

the merit of the issue. Nothing

26:08

more. And we will

26:10

continue to do that on this show. And a

26:13

matter of fact, I got one better because he

26:15

had noticed the problem, especially

26:17

when it come to me. Anytime

26:20

I say something, anytime

26:23

it involves the opposite sex. It's

26:26

always some debate. Ladies,

26:30

I'm running from no one.

26:33

You are more than welcome to come on

26:35

the show and challenge me about

26:38

an opinion I've had. I

26:40

don't care if it's Jamel Hill. I

26:43

don't care if it's Kerry Champion. I don't

26:45

care if it's Monica who's been on this

26:47

show before and was invited this week. I

26:49

don't care if it's Andrea Carter who was

26:51

invited in this show up on the show

26:53

this week. I don't care if it's Janay

26:56

Ogumike who has been on this show or

26:58

any of the ladies out there because you

27:00

know something ladies. I

27:04

value your opinion and

27:07

I don't mind disagreeing because

27:10

I respect you enough to hear your

27:13

opinion, which

27:16

is more than I can say for some of these

27:18

fake ass people out here that

27:20

act like they support you, but you

27:22

never hear from them and

27:24

you never get an invite from them. You have

27:26

an invite from me. I have

27:29

no problem with it. Whatsoever

27:32

I don't give a damn what the

27:34

issue is. If it's

27:36

a pertinent relevant subject and

27:41

gender issues come into play where

27:43

some women may feel differently than

27:45

most men or vice versa and

27:47

y'all want to talk about it.

27:50

Stephen A's right here.

27:53

Ain't nobody hiding. And

27:55

I say that with a smile on my face because I

27:57

welcome it because I like doing that. You know why? because

28:00

those five women that I told you raised me,

28:03

we've been having those kinds of discussions all

28:05

my life. All my life,

28:08

I love it. The only

28:10

time in my life, and I move on

28:12

after this, the only time in my life

28:14

I've ever been petrified of talking to women

28:19

is when they had me come on The View years

28:22

ago, Tiger Woods

28:24

had gotten busted by his wife. And

28:27

remember when she whipped his ass? Now I know he didn't

28:29

miss you whipped his ass, but damn he was bruised. He showed

28:31

up in those police photos. Remember he was bruised up? That was

28:34

the wife kicking his ass. That's what that was about. We all

28:36

know that, right? We all know that. It

28:38

was funny to us. We laughed about it. You got

28:40

busted. You got busted, the wife put it

28:42

on him, okay? And next thing

28:44

you know, he was in the police bladders, right?

28:49

I had already had a scheduled guest

28:52

appearance on The View, and

28:54

I had to show up the next day. I think this was

28:56

like 2010. 2009,

29:00

2010. And

29:02

I rolled up in there, and it

29:05

was the late great Barbara Walters, along

29:08

with Elizabeth Hasselbeck. I'm

29:12

sorry, Whoopi Goldberg and

29:14

Joy Behar. And when

29:17

I walked into that studio, it

29:20

was stadium seating, and

29:22

it was like they were sitting on top of you. And

29:27

there were no males in

29:30

the entire building. The audience,

29:32

damn it, not even backstage. If there was a man, I didn't see

29:34

it. I was

29:37

the only testosterone-filled

29:39

individual in the

29:41

building. I

29:43

was by my damn self. That

29:46

is the only time in my life that

29:49

I have been scared to talk with,

29:52

debate, or disagree

29:56

with anyone. And they just so

29:58

happened to be women that day. And

30:01

any man alive would have forgiven me at

30:03

Barbara Walters we talked about It's what

30:05

we Goldberg enjoyed Behar and Elizabeth Hasselbeck we talked

30:08

about Excuse

30:10

my language. That was some scary shit.

30:12

I Mean I

30:15

had to go to the bathroom The

30:18

entire segment I was holding it in that's

30:20

how nervous I was It's

30:23

just the truth It's just the

30:25

truth Anyway, before I

30:27

go to break Let me say

30:29

this I just want to

30:31

take a few moments to honor the life of

30:33

basketball icon Jerry West Basketball

30:36

icon of figure Hall of Famer who

30:39

passed away yesterday at the age of 86 West

30:44

you to recall he was selected to the basketball Hall

30:46

of Fame three times as a

30:48

player and executive and had an impact on

30:50

The support that was felt for generations and

30:52

that will be filled felt for generations to

30:54

come. I knew Jerry West a special

30:58

man highly

31:00

knowledgeable brilliant basketball mind two-time

31:02

executive of the year Obviously

31:05

a Hall of Famer one of the greatest

31:08

players to have ever played the game the

31:10

living the silhouette of the NBA all of

31:12

these years he's phenomenal. He

31:14

was phenomenal and I Feel

31:18

so bad for his family Johnny and the rest

31:20

of his kids Joe Laker up the owner for

31:22

the Golden State Warriors Had him as

31:25

a consultant for six years He

31:28

was the one that pushed him they were once upon a time they're

31:30

gonna trade clay Thompson Jerry West stopped that

31:33

He also assisted in them acquiring Kevin Durant

31:35

from Golden State We

31:38

know what he did to help the Clippers We

31:40

also know that one of

31:42

the greatest moves he ever made was when he

31:44

departed from the Los Angeles Lakers and ultimately became

31:46

an executive overseer in the Memphis Grizzlies at

31:49

which time He was the

31:51

one that plucked Hughie Brown out

31:53

of retirement had been gone for more than a decade and

31:56

inserted him as the head coach and Hughie

31:59

Brown helped build build the Memphis

32:01

franchise into relevancy. That's who Jerry

32:03

West is. A

32:05

special, special individual who

32:08

will be surely missed by all and any

32:10

who knows anything about the game of basketball.

32:12

Before I get on out of here, I just wanna

32:14

share this with you upon hearing the news of his

32:16

passing, Michael Jordan reached out

32:19

personally and sent this

32:21

statement to me about Jerry

32:23

West. Quote, I

32:25

am so deeply saddened at the news of Jerry's passing.

32:27

He was truly a friend of the mentor, like an

32:29

older brother to me. I valued

32:32

his friendship and knowledge. I admired his

32:34

basketball insights. And he and I shared

32:36

many similarities to how we approached the

32:38

game. He will be

32:40

forever missed. Rest in

32:42

peace, logo. There

32:46

you have it. You hear from

32:49

Michael Jordan. What the hell, more do you need to hear from me?

32:52

Coming up, we'll talk boxing. There's

32:55

two big fights are taking place this weekend

32:57

in Vegas. We'll talk about that for sure.

32:59

But first, the Lakers have their eye now

33:01

on the one and only JJ Rettick. Again.

33:05

And he's getting ready for another round of meetings about

33:07

the head coaching position. More on

33:09

that and then some in a minute. You're watching

33:12

the Stephen A Smith Show right

33:14

here over the digital areas of YouTube and of

33:16

course, you are listening on iHeartRadio as

33:18

well. Don't touch that dial back with more

33:20

in a moment. All

33:27

right, everybody. You know what time it is. It's time

33:29

for Stephen A's weekly picks. If you're

33:31

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33:33

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33:35

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34:33

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34:35

just off topic just for today all right that's

34:38

right I'll be selecting either more or less

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than three and a half times a month

34:42

someone actually comes to me and

34:44

asked to borrow money. Really

34:48

is this a question? Is this a

34:50

question? I mean is

34:53

it a real question? Three and

34:55

a half times a month? How

34:57

about three and a half

34:59

times a day? There's always

35:02

somebody that wants some money. Always

35:04

somebody that wants some money. Anytime

35:06

somebody think you got money all of a

35:08

sudden everybody's wants becomes their needs. It

35:11

transitions to a level of urgency. Could you help me?

35:13

Could you help me? Could you help me? Why you

35:15

think folks that got a little paper change their numbers

35:17

or if they don't change their numbers it's hard for

35:19

them to return phone calls. If it's hard for them

35:21

to return phone calls guess what else they do? They

35:23

disappear. They move, they relocate. They

35:25

do a lot of damn things. You know why? Because

35:29

people usually want something and

35:31

that something is usually money and

35:34

everything is a need. Let me tell y'all something y'all

35:36

know years ago I had

35:39

a cousin it's hard for him to catch me these days

35:43

you know very very hard not gonna say

35:45

his name or anything like that but he knows what it is I'm

35:47

not apologizing for it I'm not gonna talk about it. I

35:51

got on vacation I went to the islands. He

35:54

accidentally just happened to be

35:57

in the islands you know

42:00

a coach in the NBA. You know what you do? If

42:02

you don't want to be an assistant, you get

42:04

a television job. JJ

42:07

Rettick, again, I'm not knocking him one bit, but

42:09

if he's going to be mad about what I'm

42:11

saying logically, I'm not revealing any inside information. He

42:13

certainly didn't tell me this. LeBron didn't tell me

42:16

this. No player told me this or anything like

42:18

that. I'm just deducing stuff based off a logic.

42:20

If he's gonna get mad about that, he's got

42:22

to get over it. Here's the deal. JJ

42:25

Rettick was coaching his kids. Hilarious

42:28

video of him getting thrown out of

42:30

a game that he was coaching his

42:33

son in and the son ain't even the

42:36

teenager yet. So let me get

42:38

this straight. You want to coach a kid. You want to coach,

42:40

you want to coach, you want to coach like pop Warner style,

42:42

you know what I'm saying? But you don't want to coach in

42:44

the pros. Come on now. Of

42:47

course he wants to coach. He's unapologetic about that. He's

42:49

not hiding that from anybody. But

42:52

why being an assistant coach is getting a few $100,000 and got to answer

42:54

the head coach praying and hoping

42:56

that you'll get the recognition you deserve or

42:58

get noticed by some owner or some other

43:00

teams executive and you get a job for

43:02

that one. All you got to do is

43:04

be on television displaying your knowledge for the

43:06

game and articulating that on an everyday, every

43:08

game basis. Doc Rivers

43:11

did it. Mark Jackson did it. Other

43:15

people did it. Steve Kerr was there. He did it.

43:19

We've seen a host of people that became head coaches that

43:22

weren't assistant coaches before they started up. Not to

43:24

say this, that Steve Kerr didn't do some of

43:26

that assistant work in San Antonio, whatever it is,

43:28

but I'm just saying you want

43:30

to get notoriety and position

43:33

yourself ahead. Coach your job. TV's not a bad route to take. So

43:35

clearly that was one of the things if you're LeBron James, you

43:42

wouldn't know this. Why is this relevant right now? Because the legitimate argument

43:45

can be made that all that noise that the Lakers were

43:47

making about making a big time

43:49

offer to Danny Hurley, a reigning two time defending national champion

43:53

as a coach who's universally recognizes the best coach in

43:55

basketball. Like

48:01

his hands are completely clean. He

48:03

has absolutely, positively nothing to do with this.

48:06

Nothing! Maybe

48:08

he didn't. I

48:11

honestly don't know. But

48:15

appearances do matter. LeBron

48:17

is more cognizant than that of anybody. How

48:20

could he not know that during a podcast with

48:23

J.J. Reddick, Wild Darvisham was on a

48:25

hot seat, and

48:29

then J.J. Reddick ultimately becoming a prime

48:31

candidate for the Lakers head coaching job?

48:33

How could he not know? And

48:37

who's to say that the Lakers, in

48:42

all seriousness, is

48:46

innocent in this as well? How

48:53

do you m- The only reason I'm saying that about the

48:55

Lakers right now, Jeannie bus, who I

48:57

love dearly, and Rob Palenco, who I respect and like,

49:00

the only reason I'm saying that is that

49:02

if you really, really wanted Danny Hurley, how

49:04

could the offer be for six years and

49:06

70 million? How

49:08

could it be for 11 million a year

49:10

when you know there's at least

49:12

five coaches that's paid more than that? And

49:15

he's a reigning two-time defending national champion,

49:17

universally recognized as the best coach in

49:20

college basketball. How could you

49:22

possibly think that that was gonna be enough

49:24

for him to leave Connecticut and

49:27

go to LA where the taxes are

49:29

more than double? And

49:34

it's 3000 miles away from what he calls home.

49:37

How could you possibly think that? J.J.

49:43

Reddick, I think deserves to be a

49:45

candidate. I think Sam Cassell deserves to be a candidate,

49:47

assistant coach in Boston. I think Mark Jackson deserves to

49:49

be a candidate. I think Jeff Van Gundy deserves to

49:51

be a candidate. I think all of those things are

49:53

true. I think J.J. Reddick is going to get offered

49:55

this job. on

50:00

how things have fallen out. We

50:03

shall see. We

50:06

shall see. Coming up, two

50:08

big fights in Vegas this weekend. Javante

50:10

Davis takes on Frank Martin, and

50:13

David Benavidez takes on

50:15

Olexander, Volsdy. I'll

50:18

break down both fights and the larger

50:20

implications that I don't think people are

50:22

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on to the world of boxing because this is

53:26

on my mind. Saturday night, Jevonta Tank Davis, one

53:29

of the best in the world, clearly one

53:31

of the best punches in boxing with 20-second

53:33

knockouts, by the way. 27 knockouts, by

53:36

the way. This

53:38

brother will defend his WBA lightweight

53:40

world title against Frank Martin. The

53:42

fight happens at the MGM Grand Arena in Las

53:44

Vegas where Martin has risen from top prospect to

53:46

a dangerous contender in a lightweight division. He's got

53:49

an 18-0 record. He's got 12 KOs. The

53:52

brother can fight. I like Frank Martin a

53:54

lot. I don't know about the competition he's going against.

53:57

And one of the things that

53:59

really resonates with me is when Jevontae

54:01

Davis said, you might've came too

54:03

early. You might've came too early.

54:06

That's what he's talking about because he's talking about

54:08

his experience. You gotta remember, Jevontae Davis

54:10

got 27 knockouts and 29 fights. Okay,

54:13

he's undefeated. He is a knockout artist. He

54:15

puts brothers to sleep. This is what he

54:18

does. And so when you look at it

54:20

from that standpoint, you got a guy like Martin. Martin

54:22

can box. I don't

54:24

know how much power he's got. You got the

54:26

12 knockouts, but 12 knockouts and 18 fights. It's

54:30

about a 66% knockout rate or whatever. Well, it

54:32

ain't 95% knockout rate. Okay.

54:34

And I saw the press conference with him

54:37

and Jevontae when Jevontae was talking about he

54:39

made him flinch and stuff like that. I

54:41

didn't see all of that, but Jevontae was

54:44

getting so annoyed with him talking about how

54:46

he stung him and he buckled Jevontae's legs

54:48

in a sparring session, stuff like that. You

54:50

know, this kind of stuff gets under his

54:52

skin. I don't know if it's the

54:54

wisest decision for Frank Martin to piss off Jevontae Davis,

54:57

but then I guess the argument could be made. Look,

54:59

he coming in the ring to hurt you anyway. So

55:01

what difference does it make? He gonna try to hurt

55:03

you no matter what. So it ain't like he gonna

55:05

get pity on you because you ain't talking. So you

55:08

might as well talk, I guess, promote the fight. All

55:10

of that stuff is true. I

55:12

hope it's a great fight. I hope

55:14

Frank Martin is what I think he

55:16

is. His trainer is Derek James, the

55:18

same guy that trained Errol Spence Jr.

55:21

I love Errol Spence Jr. Never expected

55:23

that beat down that he took at the hands of

55:25

Terrence Crawford. I had Terrence Crawford winning the fight, but

55:27

I thought it would be a close fight. He would

55:30

win by decision. I did not know he would do

55:32

that to Errol Spence. I

55:34

did not know he would do that. You could take

55:36

into account the car accident. You could take into account

55:38

something else that happened to him that messed up his

55:40

jaw or whatever. Either way, it

55:43

was clear once the second

55:45

round started that Errol Spence

55:47

Jr. had no business in the ring

55:49

with Terrence Crawford. And

55:51

Derek James was his trainer. And so,

55:54

yes, the trainer can only do but so much.

55:56

I'm not trying to throw no shade on anybody

55:58

or anything like that, but it... It does have

56:00

me looking at Jerry James with a raised

56:02

eyebrow because I'm like, your fighter got destroyed

56:04

that night. Having said all

56:06

of that, Frank Martin can really fight. Um,

56:10

at least against the competition he's going against.

56:13

The competition he's going against is

56:16

not tank Davis. This

56:19

brother can put you to sleep with

56:21

either hand, either

56:24

hand. He

56:27

beat Garcia, Garcia, Ryan, Garcia, getting himself

56:29

in trouble seems to be a head

56:31

case these days. You can easily attest

56:33

that to him losing to tank Davis.

56:36

When tank Davis caught him with a body shot, liver

56:38

and ultimately, I don't know, deliver a kidney, but

56:40

ultimately ended that fight. Okay.

56:42

Ryan Garcia comes back. He has a couple

56:44

of fights, including beating Devin Haney, but he

56:46

came in there overweight, didn't care about being

56:48

overweight. And then

56:51

rumored according to test results, actually, uh,

56:54

it says that he used performance enhancing

56:56

substance. So who

56:59

knows what to think? Devin Haney, the

57:01

way we saw him get rocked by Ryan

57:03

Garcia, get dropped three times. I don't want

57:05

him in any ring with Jovante Davis. Yeah.

57:08

I don't want him anywhere near tank Davis,

57:10

anywhere near tank Davis, stay away from him.

57:13

This kid, Frank Martin, he

57:16

looks the part, looks strong, obviously

57:18

in shape, biggest fighter of his

57:21

career. But I still

57:23

got a favor tank Davis because of the experience

57:25

and the power. The combination

57:27

of the two. If you don't

57:29

have the power, you at least need to have the

57:31

experience. Frank Martin

57:34

doesn't have either. He doesn't have the power

57:37

nor the experience. I'm talking about more

57:39

power than Jovante Davis, more experienced than

57:41

Jovante Davis. And I don't even know

57:43

if he's the better boxer because I

57:45

saw Jovante

57:47

Davis versus pit bull who's this

57:50

miniature dude that just stalks everybody.

57:52

And he just takes you out

57:55

and Jovante Davis beat him by decision, but he

57:57

outbox that kid. Jovante.

58:00

Davis can box. He not

58:02

just a fighter. He's got so much power. And he knocked

58:04

you out. People think he's a, you

58:06

know, he's a puncher. No, that's

58:08

Deontay Wilder. That's a puncher. The

58:10

void of the requisite boxing skills

58:12

needed. And I'm not throwing shade on

58:14

Wilder. We just talking boxing here. He's

58:16

a puncher, not a boxer. Javante

58:19

Davis is both. And

58:22

so I'm looking at him and I'm like, yo, I

58:26

don't want Frank Martin to get knocked out. I

58:29

don't want it not to be a good fight, but

58:33

I'm looking at Leonard L. Aby, you know,

58:35

with the money team, Mayweather promotions and stuff

58:37

like that. And you know, obviously tank Davis

58:39

is in that camp. And I'm looking at

58:41

my man Leonard L. Aby who always has

58:43

the fly shades of anybody. I don't know

58:45

where he could, every shade that is fly,

58:48

every pair of shades that is fly. Leonard

58:50

L. Aby has them. Nobody has better shades

58:52

than Leonard L. Aby, but I digress. Leonard

58:56

L. Aby like, yo, don't leave this.

58:59

This could end early. Frank Martin, let

59:02

me tell you how it's going to end early. If

59:05

you go in that ring with such bravery that

59:07

you think you're going to stand toe to

59:09

toe with Javante Davis or stalk him as opposed to using

59:12

your movement to avoid

59:18

getting hit by him. It could be a short night.

59:23

I don't know Frank Martin. I only watched the highlights

59:26

of his fights. I've watched Javante

59:28

Davis a lot over the years. The

59:31

brother is one of the top five fighters on the planet. And

59:37

he really doesn't seem

59:40

to like this guy. So it's going

59:42

to be real interesting to see what happens. I

59:45

wish Frank Martin luck. I think Javante Davis is

59:48

going to win this fight in all likelihood by

59:50

TKO, if

59:54

not KO, but I hope I'm wrong. I

1:00:00

like Frank Martin. I'm rooting for him and

1:00:04

I'm rooting for him to put forth a good showing.

1:00:06

I love tank Davis I don't want him to lose

1:00:08

but I'm looking forward to Frank Martin putting forth a

1:00:10

good showing. I just don't know if he can I'm

1:00:14

Very very very worried for him. I

1:00:17

must admit Somebody

1:00:20

I'm not worried about his canelo Alvarez With

1:00:24

him, I'm not gonna say I know annoyed I interviewed

1:00:26

him a few weeks ago. I like canelo But

1:00:31

I got to tell you when I

1:00:33

talk about this next guy I

1:00:35

can't help but think about canelo and

1:00:37

that next guy is unbeaten powerhouse

1:00:39

David Benavides He

1:00:42

was nicknamed a Mexican monster by Mike

1:00:44

Tyson, which any boxing aficionado knows. He's

1:00:46

getting in the ring Saturday night for

1:00:49

the light with heavyweight interim

1:00:52

crown against former champion

1:00:55

Alexander Vols

1:00:57

dig that's his name. That's what

1:00:59

they tell me his name is okay Alexander

1:01:02

vols dig if I pronounced it wrong.

1:01:04

I apologize. That's what your camp. That's

1:01:06

what everybody tells me your name is

1:01:08

Okay, the twelfth round bout the

1:01:10

twelfth round bout That

1:01:12

is gonna serve as a co-main event

1:01:14

to the WBA lightweight title between Davis

1:01:16

and Martin now Benavides This

1:01:18

brother is 28 and 0

1:01:20

with 24 knockouts and he's been

1:01:23

lobbying hard for a career defining showdown against

1:01:25

undisputed super middleweight champion of the world Saul

1:01:28

canelo Alvarez who I just finished

1:01:30

mentioning Benavides says he would not

1:01:32

rule out a return to his old weight

1:01:34

division for a fight with canelo Which by

1:01:36

the way would be at probably at 168 pounds,

1:01:38

but he has to win Saturday night first

1:01:44

This is David Benavides

1:01:46

talking to me Earlier

1:01:48

this morning on my day job first take on

1:01:50

ESPN. Listen to this. I definitely do think he's trying

1:01:52

to avoid me You know the whole boxing world that

1:01:54

this is a knows that this is a biggest fight

1:01:56

in boxing and this is

1:01:58

the fight That is deserved that we deserve to

1:02:00

give this to the fans. You know, I feel

1:02:02

like, you know, the ones that deserve this fight more, you

1:02:04

know, we should be giving it to the people because they're

1:02:06

the ones that pay the harder money to

1:02:09

watch these fights. So this is definitely the fight

1:02:11

that the whole boxing world is waiting for. And

1:02:13

hopefully we can get it made in the future.

1:02:15

And do you believe that Canelo is being truthful

1:02:17

when he's questioning whether or not you're marketable enough?

1:02:20

I mean, if I'm not marketable enough, why is

1:02:22

he asking $150 million for me? I

1:02:25

mean, the whole boxing world, this is the only thing

1:02:27

that they want to watch. Well, for Canelo saying, I

1:02:29

only bring 25 pounds in for

1:02:32

the fight, I don't have no value. It's just

1:02:34

because he's scared. He knows that as soon as

1:02:36

I get in the ring with him, all those

1:02:38

belts will be leaving with me, you know? And

1:02:40

I will defeat Canelo Alvarez and I will become

1:02:42

the undisputed champion at 168. So

1:02:45

do you believe, let me just be very direct,

1:02:47

are you saying that Canelo Alvarez is running from

1:02:49

you? Yeah, he definitely is running from me.

1:02:51

I think the whole world sees it now. He's running out

1:02:53

of excuses and he's running out of place to hide. And

1:02:55

do you believe he's somebody that you would knock out? I

1:02:57

definitely do believe in my heart 100%. I

1:03:00

can stop Canelo Alvarez. Damn.

1:03:03

We've seen many things throughout the years. What we have not

1:03:05

seen is so Canelo Alvarez

1:03:07

in more than 60 fights ever get knocked

1:03:09

out. It's never happened. But

1:03:13

let me ask y'all this question

1:03:15

rhetorically. When David

1:03:17

Benavidez says he will knock

1:03:20

out Canelo Alvarez, he will stop Canelo Alvarez.

1:03:24

Who's willing to bet their money against

1:03:26

him? Take your

1:03:28

time, I'll wait. Because to

1:03:30

bet your money against David Benavidez, what you

1:03:32

have to be saying is there's no way

1:03:34

in hell he

1:03:37

can hurt Canelo Alvarez. With

1:03:39

that thick ass neck of his, I

1:03:42

don't blame people for feeling that way, but I gotta tell you

1:03:44

something, I can't rule out anything with David Benavidez. 28

1:03:48

and 0, 24 knockouts. Demetrius

1:03:50

Andrade at the Super

1:03:52

Middleweight division, a brother was undefeated. This brother can

1:03:54

fight. Okay,

1:03:56

he can fight. He

1:03:59

can fight. So

1:04:01

much so that a lot of people avoided him

1:04:03

throughout the years. Benavita

1:04:06

stopped them at six corner

1:04:08

wouldn't let him come out for the seventh, beat

1:04:11

him up pretty good. And

1:04:14

Benavita's was supposed to be the smaller dude. Benavita's

1:04:18

is a monster. Mike

1:04:21

Tyson's right. The Mexican monster. This

1:04:23

brother is spectacular. Spectacular.

1:04:27

And I'm gonna tell you something else. I like

1:04:29

Caleb plant a lot. If

1:04:32

Caleb plant wasn't so good at

1:04:35

evading pressure and evading punches, even

1:04:37

though Canelo stopped them and

1:04:40

David Benavita's couldn't, he went the distance.

1:04:42

He had Caleb plant hurt. Caleb

1:04:45

just moved and got the hell

1:04:47

out of the way enough to survive. But

1:04:50

he had him hurt on several

1:04:52

occasions. The brother is tall. He's

1:04:54

long. He's got speed and power

1:04:56

in both hands. And most importantly,

1:04:58

the resume that warrants a fight

1:05:00

with Canelo Alvarez. I

1:05:03

love Canelo. I respect the heart of him. I

1:05:05

really appreciated his candor during his interview with me

1:05:07

where he was talking about shit. I fight him

1:05:09

right now. I fight both of them the same

1:05:11

day. I don't give a shit. That's what his

1:05:14

words I'm quoting, but

1:05:16

we know he didn't mean it when he

1:05:18

said fight him the same day. Cause that's

1:05:20

never going to happen. So you could talk that.

1:05:22

But secondly and most importantly, David Benavita's, as

1:05:26

far as I'm concerned, is

1:05:29

the best super middleweight in

1:05:31

the world outside of the

1:05:33

undisputed champion that

1:05:35

is Canelo Alvarez. He deserves a shot. And

1:05:37

I have to tell you, I

1:05:42

think I though if Canelo catches you, he

1:05:44

could hurt anybody. But

1:05:46

so can David Benavita's. I

1:05:49

don't know if I wouldn't pick David Benavita's to beat

1:05:51

that fight. He is longer. He is taller. He can't

1:05:53

use his jab. He does have the potential, even though

1:05:55

he walks right to you, he does have the potential

1:05:58

to keep, you know, to, to, to, You use the

1:06:00

jab to keep your weight. I

1:06:02

don't know. I might have to go with him, but

1:06:05

he is absolutely right. We

1:06:07

as boxing fans have to stop allowing this

1:06:10

to happen. This is

1:06:12

why the UFC is so popular.

1:06:14

The UFC is popular because Dana

1:06:16

white gives you the fights. You want

1:06:18

to see when you want to see them without making

1:06:20

you wait. It's the only reason because

1:06:23

I don't care what anybody says. We might

1:06:25

see guys getting choked out. You might have

1:06:27

MMA enthusiasts and stuff like that. Loves to

1:06:29

see somebody in the guillotine love to see

1:06:31

somebody tapping out and all that other stuff,

1:06:33

but nothing is more attractive than a knockout.

1:06:35

Nothing. And in

1:06:37

boxing, a big time, big time boxing

1:06:40

match. There's no more Epic

1:06:42

event in this country than

1:06:44

a big time boxing match. Remember

1:06:47

when Mayweather was like Pacquiao? Remember how much we was

1:06:49

looking forward to that event and it was five years

1:06:51

too late. Remember

1:06:53

Tyson's fights. Remember Hagler,

1:06:56

herns member

1:06:59

sugar Ray herns. Remember

1:07:02

Roy Jones Jr. before he got caught by

1:07:04

Tarver. I

1:07:08

mean the list goes on and on

1:07:10

and on. You're talking to listen to

1:07:13

her brother. Right now I go back

1:07:15

to the days of Salvador Sanchez, Alexis,

1:07:17

Aguelo, Aaron prior, Pappino, Quavas before herns

1:07:20

put him to sleep. Roberto Duran sugar

1:07:22

Ray versus herns. Hagler

1:07:27

greatest middleweight champion of all time. No disrespect to

1:07:29

be hot, Bernard Hopkins loving to death. Number

1:07:33

one Hagler beat John the beast, Mugabe. Remember

1:07:38

James Tony. Remember

1:07:42

Mustafa Mohammed. Remember

1:07:45

him. Remember Holyfield when he was a light

1:07:47

heavyweight. Remember

1:07:49

speaks Leon. I'm talking about Michael rather when he

1:07:51

was at the light heavyweight and he stupidly moved

1:07:53

up to fight Tyson, but it was a 13

1:07:56

million at that time.

1:07:58

Major, major doe. I'm

1:08:03

talking, that's where I go back to. Ernie

1:08:06

shavers, Ron,

1:08:08

loud George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Ken

1:08:11

Norton, of course the greatest

1:08:13

Muhammad Ali. This

1:08:18

kind of stuff I'm talking about. Hell

1:08:21

even Riddick bow, Riddick

1:08:24

bow and Linux Lewis. We never got to see that

1:08:26

fight because Riddick wasn't

1:08:28

the same and then ultimately got himself in some trouble.

1:08:32

We saw him in a trilogy against Holyfield.

1:08:34

We never got to see him in his

1:08:36

prime against Linux Lewis in his prime. I'm

1:08:41

tired of missing out on these fights

1:08:45

and I want the boxing community because y'all

1:08:47

cover it more than me. You cover it better than

1:08:49

me because you live it and breathe it and eat

1:08:51

it every day. Could you help a

1:08:53

brother out? How much help can I

1:08:55

give y'all to help put pressure

1:08:59

on these promoters to give us the damn fights

1:09:01

we want to see? I want Canelo versus Benavidez.

1:09:06

I don't want Benavidez moving up to

1:09:08

the light heavyweight division to fight. Vos

1:09:12

dig, who I expect him to beat by

1:09:14

the way, but if he beats that guy, then he's scheduled

1:09:16

to go up against better B.F. who's a monster. It's

1:09:20

a reason Canelo didn't fight that guy at the

1:09:22

light heavyweight division. He

1:09:25

didn't fight that guy. Better

1:09:28

B.F. is a monster and a natural light heavyweight.

1:09:30

I don't want Benavidez

1:09:33

fighting better B.F. I

1:09:35

want him fighting his natural weight

1:09:38

class super middleweight against Saul Canelo

1:09:40

Alvarez. That is the

1:09:42

fight we should all be demanding. That

1:09:45

brother has earned a shot. I love

1:09:47

Canelo and I understand

1:09:49

Canelo the businessman. He's like he had to go through a lot. I

1:09:51

had to fight through everybody before he got on the top of the

1:09:53

mountain where he could dictate terms. I

1:09:56

totally understand that and I'm not throwing no shade on

1:09:58

Canelo. I'm just saying. We

1:10:00

want to see this fight. We

1:10:03

deserve it. And

1:10:06

Canelo, especially if

1:10:09

Benavidez handles his business this weekend, Canelo,

1:10:16

we deserve to see that fight. I

1:10:18

don't want to see Benavidez

1:10:21

versus better be of until after he fights Canelo cause

1:10:25

fighting better be of it will take a lot out

1:10:28

of him. I

1:10:32

want to see him fight Canelo before that

1:10:34

fight happens. That's

1:10:36

just where I'm at with it. Y'all I'm

1:10:39

sorry. I had to get that off my

1:10:41

chest before I get on out of here for the

1:10:43

day. I got these tweets to read to y'all. Um,

1:10:46

so let's get right to it. Okay. Um,

1:10:50

at the coach's desk writes

1:10:52

in a seven game series, Stephen A could

1:10:54

the best team in a

1:10:57

college sport beat the worst team in a professional

1:10:59

sport at least once, at least

1:11:01

once it's possible it shouldn't happen

1:11:04

because people are in the pros. Obviously,

1:11:07

um, some

1:11:10

of the worst in the pros should be able to beat some of the best

1:11:12

in college. But

1:11:15

once if you're a great,

1:11:17

great team on a collegiate level and you're a horrific

1:11:19

team on a pro level, yeah, you

1:11:21

can win a game. I'd say so at

1:11:24

Jaco, Jacobo Zakei 23 J a C O B O

1:11:27

Z a K a Y 23 rights. Was

1:11:32

the moon landing real or fake? You know why I'm going

1:11:34

to say real? And I'm not going to even

1:11:36

joke about this. The moon landing was real. Did

1:11:39

we ever think we'd have wifi? Did

1:11:42

we ever think we'd have satellite television?

1:11:46

Did we ever believe those kinds

1:11:48

of things back in the days

1:11:50

in ancient times when we were

1:11:52

riding on horses or, or, or,

1:11:54

you know, or wooden wheels and stuff like that. Did we

1:11:56

ever think we'd be able to fly 34? 50,000

1:12:01

feet in the air across the globe. Do

1:12:03

you ever think we'd be able to do

1:12:05

that? Did we ever think that we'd be

1:12:07

able to send stuff up into space and

1:12:10

have people going up there for a freaking

1:12:12

field trip before returning to Earth and talking

1:12:14

about how great it was? Guys like 90-year-old

1:12:16

plus William Shatner, who played Captain

1:12:18

Kirk on Star Trek. We're losing power,

1:12:20

Captain. Remember that?

1:12:23

This kind of stuff is going on, so I'm

1:12:26

not gonna rule out the possibility that something like

1:12:28

that could happen. I'm really not gonna do that,

1:12:30

okay? I hear your question, but I'm just not

1:12:32

gonna do that, all right? Next

1:12:34

up, atmarves,

1:12:37

underscore said, underscore it. Babe

1:12:40

Ruth versus Barry Bonds in a home run

1:12:42

derby. Who you got? Barry Bonds all day,

1:12:44

every day. You know why? Because

1:12:47

Barry Bonds went against black and white

1:12:49

players. Now I understand Babe

1:12:51

Ruth was barnstorming all over the country, and I

1:12:53

get that part. But as far as I'm concerned,

1:12:55

those numbers that he has, as great as he

1:12:57

was, they're sort of tainted to some degree if

1:13:00

you didn't go against black players. That's

1:13:03

what I'm talking about. You

1:13:05

go against everybody, then I'll

1:13:07

give you credit against everybody. You have

1:13:10

a select group that you go against,

1:13:12

and other groups are ostracized. You ain't

1:13:14

getting that kind of credit. Plain

1:13:17

and simple. Next up, at

1:13:20

Stephen A.I. Smith, right?

1:13:22

I taking your job. I

1:13:25

think we should all fear that in the coming ages, because

1:13:28

as technology has advanced throughout the

1:13:30

years, the

1:13:32

human element has been replaced

1:13:34

by machines, computers, et

1:13:37

cetera. And society

1:13:39

overall has had to adapt on a

1:13:41

multitude of occasions, and since the new

1:13:44

rage is A.I., I

1:13:46

think there's no question that that's something that

1:13:48

we all have to be concerned about. Protect

1:13:50

your brand, own it, make

1:13:53

sure you own your name, and if somebody

1:13:55

wants to be able to use it, they

1:13:58

have to come through you for the purposes of. of

1:14:00

monetization. That's the best thing you

1:14:02

could do in preserving your

1:14:04

future because a lot of jobs

1:14:06

are going to be replaced by

1:14:09

AI in the future. And I don't think

1:14:11

anybody's immune to it, me personally.

1:14:13

And I find it to be quite stupid, to be

1:14:15

quite honest with you. Because if machines

1:14:17

and computers and stuff like that are replacing

1:14:20

humans, are the machines going to go out

1:14:22

and patronize products and brands

1:14:24

and things of that nature that fuel our

1:14:26

economy? Who's spending money? When

1:14:28

you go to a store, a supermarket, a restaurant, or

1:14:30

anything like that, you need people to spend money. How

1:14:32

can people spend money if they have nothing to spend

1:14:35

because they're unemployed? This is the

1:14:37

way, this is how you know the devil is alive

1:14:39

and well. Because it's

1:14:41

eradicating human souls everywhere we turn.

1:14:45

And machines are running the world and

1:14:48

going to continue to do so if these folks

1:14:50

have anything to say about it. So I think there's real

1:14:52

concern there. And I think we should all pay attention.

1:14:54

Last tweet right here, at Mr. Buckworth.

1:14:59

Stephen A, my question to you is, if

1:15:02

everyone in the world suddenly stopped sneezing forever,

1:15:04

how long do you think it would take

1:15:06

you to notice? It

1:15:09

would take me a while because I'm really not paying

1:15:11

attention to people sneezing. I'm paying attention

1:15:14

to whether or not I'm sneezing. It's

1:15:16

not like I walk around looking at people and go, did

1:15:18

you sneeze today? Did you sneeze today?

1:15:21

That's like asking people of your father today. You

1:15:23

pass gas. Or did you take a

1:15:25

dunk? Did you take a leak? Who thinks

1:15:27

about that when it comes to other people? They think about

1:15:29

it when it comes to themselves. So it

1:15:31

would take me a while to notice that I haven't

1:15:33

seen anybody sneeze in a while because I'm really not

1:15:35

paying attention on that level. I'm really

1:15:37

not giving it my attention. That's

1:15:41

just where I'm at with it. I hope you can

1:15:43

appreciate my position. That's it for today's edition

1:15:45

of the Stephen A Smith Show. It's time for me to get on out

1:15:47

of here. I got another game to

1:15:49

cover. But before I cover game four tomorrow night

1:15:52

in Dallas, Texas, I'll

1:15:54

be sure to come back here and do

1:15:56

another show leading into game four. So you'll

1:15:59

see me tomorrow. Until then, everybody, enjoy your

1:16:01

evening. Be safe. God bless. Peace

1:16:04

and love.