0:11

What's up, everybody. Welcome to the latest edition

0:13

of The Stephnate Smiths Show, coming at you as I love to do it a

0:15

very least three times a week

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over the digital airways of YouTube and of course

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anything, it's always I want to take a moment to thank my fans,

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my subscribers on YouTube.

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We've now eclipsed over seven hundred and two

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keep on coming. Of course you've been supporting me on iHeartRadio

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we returned to the audio

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stratosphere. Oh

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like I said, over the digital airways YouTube.

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If you want to continue to follow this show

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a button right there in the right hand corner and YouTube

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will be the latest member of the stephen A. Smith

1:06

Show family. There's a lot to get into today

1:08

the NBA Finals. Obviously,

1:11

some of the things that have transpired in the world,

1:13

pop culture, politics and beyond.

1:15

At WNBA, we can't

1:18

forget about that. There's a lot of stuff to get

1:20

into, but we're not going to do any of that before

1:22

I take a moment to give props

1:24

where props is due, you know, yesterday

1:29

on national television on ESPN's First Take,

1:31

My day job every weekday morning from ten

1:33

am to twelve noon on the airways of ESPN

1:36

First Take. Yesterday morning,

1:39

before we even started the show, we took a moment

1:41

to get props to my man,

1:43

Shannon Shop. Shannon Sharp

1:46

recently reached a multi year

1:49

agreement with ESPN

1:51

to stay on board and to continue

1:54

to contribute with First Take, as well as

1:56

doing other things. You can expect

1:58

to see him at the very least couple of days a

2:00

week on First Take, as is already

2:03

the case. But here's

2:05

the thing that I wanted to do. I just wanted to take a

2:07

moment to give props to him, the

2:09

man known as Club Shasha himself, the

2:12

man that has Nightcap with my man, o Cho Senko

2:14

and Gilbert Arenas, the man

2:16

that showed up from FS one

2:19

and joined me, and I just thought that

2:21

it would be the proper thing to do

2:24

for me to

2:26

just extend my gratitude. You

2:29

know, none of us went alone.

2:31

We went together. I don't give a

2:33

damn who you see in front of the camera, who in front of who

2:35

you see in front of the microphone. There's producers

2:37

and writers and everybody else

2:39

in between behind the scenes that

2:41

make things happen for me that

2:44

I always owe a debt of gratitude towards

2:46

as well, and the same as applicable

2:49

to him, but clearly

2:51

with me being the face of first take and

2:53

what have you, I'm

2:56

never shy about spreading the wealth

2:58

and sharing it because as well deserved.

3:01

When I think about our lineup, the

3:03

Ryan Clarks of the world, the Marcus Spears

3:05

of the world, the Kendrick Perkins, the Jay Williams,

3:07

the Tim Leglers, the Dan Olobski's, the mad

3:10

Dog Russo's demeanor comes, the Kimberlee

3:12

Martins, de Monica mcnutts and Andrea Carter's,

3:15

the Cheney's or Goomakay's of the world, and

3:17

of course the matriarch of the show, Molly

3:19

Kiram. There's so many people that do

3:21

such outstanding work for the show, but

3:25

Shannon Sharp is on another level. What

3:28

he's done for the show, what he's

3:30

done for me. I can't say enough

3:32

about this brother departed

3:35

from FS one. I

3:37

know some people have opened their mouth, are

3:40

rife with stupidity, not knowing any

3:42

of the facts, and saying, you know, stephen

3:44

A, what you're telling this business for? Why are you

3:47

telling that he was pushed out of FS one? Did

3:49

it ever occur to you? Because he wanted me to. He

3:53

didn't want to speak on it, but

3:55

he didn't want the truth being denied. He

3:59

didn't want folks not knowing

4:02

that he was pushed out, that

4:04

there was an absence of appreciation for

4:06

what he brought to the table. And one

4:08

of the reasons that I brought it up is that it's not

4:10

to throw shade on anybody, is

4:12

to give props where to do. I

4:14

don't deserve a whole bunch of props for bringing

4:16

Shannon Shop on board. Shannon Sharp came on

4:19

board because Shannon Sharp was an asset that I

4:21

knew would work tremendously well. For

4:23

first, take his gifts,

4:25

his skills, set, his hard work, his

4:28

dedication, and all of the stuff that came

4:30

with it is what earned that

4:33

opportunity. They didn't give him

4:35

anything other than recognition

4:38

for what tools and what assets

4:41

he brought to the table, and that brother

4:43

showed up. And from the day he

4:45

showed up, there's never been a shortage

4:47

of energy. There's never been a shortage of

4:49

passion, There's never been a shortage of knowledge,

4:52

and there damn sure hasn't been a shortage of commitment.

4:55

If anything, he elevated

4:57

it. And it wasn't just because he

4:59

was incentive to show what his worth

5:01

was. He was also kind enough

5:04

and thoughtful enough to want to help me.

5:07

And you don't always

5:09

find partners like that. You don't

5:12

always find people that dedicated and that

5:14

committed not just for doing something

5:16

for themselves, but for also doing something

5:18

for you. And that's what Shannon

5:20

Sharp did for me when he joined

5:23

First Take. He has never, not

5:25

one day has he cheated me in effort

5:28

and commitment and dedication and

5:30

content. He's also covered

5:32

for me for days that I had other assignments and I

5:34

needed him there holding it down. The

5:37

Brothers special in a lot of ways.

5:40

And one of the things that I will

5:43

say that I've never really said publicly before

5:46

is that you have to understand that a lot of us,

5:49

as black men, we go through a lot, and

5:51

there's a lot of challenges, and we got

5:53

to face them head on, and we got to pound

5:55

the pavement, and we've got to have some intestinal

5:58

resolve and that ability to wake up

6:00

the next day and to do what the hell we got to

6:02

do. All of that is true, but

6:04

I'd like y'all to consider something because

6:07

I was reading this article on Shannon

6:09

recently in a Hollywood Reporter, which was an

6:11

exceptional article on him,

6:14

and he talked about being this dude.

6:17

You've got a lisp, you're

6:19

a black man, you look

6:22

like the hulp for crying out loud. You've

6:25

got public speaking issues to work

6:27

on, and things of this nature at the time. Imagine

6:31

for one second, ladies and gentlemen, especially

6:33

being born and raised in the South, what

6:36

that brother has gone through. Think

6:39

about that for a second, Think about

6:42

the obstacles we all face, and then

6:44

imagine what he had to face. Thank

6:47

God, he was an incredible football player. He'll

6:49

tell you himself, he wasn't the greatest student in school

6:51

at the time. What he had to

6:53

learn. Tell you that his great brother, the great

6:55

Sterling Sharp, how he had to make him go

6:57

to this school and what have you, because and

7:00

and wasn't thinking about all of that, and his brother

7:02

made him prioritize those things,

7:05

think about what he had to go through, and

7:07

think about what he's had to go through in this industry.

7:11

Just for one second. I've told

7:14

everybody that has asked me about

7:16

my relationship with Shannon's shop. Respect

7:19

the man. All

7:21

he cares about is that

7:23

you respect him. Don't

7:25

disrespect him, respect

7:28

him for what he does. That's

7:30

it. He ain't asking for your

7:32

friendship. He ain't asking you to be a family member.

7:34

He ain't asking you to go out there and throw

7:37

flowers towards him all the damn time or

7:39

anything like that. All the man

7:42

has ever wanted and

7:44

has ever demanded his respect.

7:48

And the reason why our friendship has blossomed is because

7:50

he knows I respect him,

7:53

because I do respect him, but

7:55

also got love for him. He's

7:57

a good brother. He don't bar to

8:00

anybody. I'm telling you, Shannon

8:02

lived his eye. I think that he's a little weird for me. Them

8:05

damn dogs. He loves his dogs now, talks about

8:07

having their own room, talking about sleeping

8:09

with them, talking about if the dog's barking some

8:11

honey, she got her day's a number because

8:13

the dog is telling them that she ain't no good.

8:16

Shannon is different, Okay,

8:18

this flavors about him that I do

8:21

not vibe with. You understand when they come to them

8:23

damned dogs. Okay, But

8:27

he's a good brother, He

8:29

really really is, and he's

8:31

been good to me, and I got

8:33

a lot of love for him, and I'm

8:35

really really happy for him. He

8:38

deserves every penny

8:41

and every every nugget

8:43

of investment that ESPN has

8:46

agreed to place in him.

8:49

So I just want to say that, and I'm

8:51

just happy for him and happy he's

8:54

going to be a part of the team for years to come.

8:57

He deserves it, he really really

8:59

does. My man club Chay

9:01

Shehay in the house. Congrats, big boy,

9:04

well deserved. Let me move

9:07

on to the NBA Finals,

9:09

where the series shifts to Dallas tonight for Game three

9:11

with the Mavericks sitting in the two hole. The

9:13

Boston Celtics, obviously,

9:15

if you haven't been paying attention, you know they've handled

9:17

the MAVs on both ends of the court in Games

9:20

one and two pretty handily. I might add,

9:22

they've handled the MAVs and the change in scenery

9:24

doesn't necessarily get better for Dallas either, as

9:26

the Celtics have not lost the game on the road this

9:28

postseason. Kyrie Irving has been

9:31

a no show for Dallas, and he's their only chance

9:33

to get back in the series as far as I'm concerned, because

9:35

Luca's gonna be Luca. He just needs help

9:37

from Kyrie. And if Kyrie doesn't help it, ain't nobody else

9:39

gonna stand up and help them. That's the way I look at

9:41

it. And if Kyrie doesn't do anything,

9:44

it's curtains for the MAVs because history

9:46

is not on this side. Did y'all

9:48

know this is the ninth

9:50

time the Boston Celtics have won the first two

9:52

games of the NBA Finals. Do

9:56

you know what they've done

9:58

the previous eight times they've had a two lead

10:00

in the NBA Finals, They've

10:03

won and

10:05

have never been forced to a game seven, none

10:08

of those times. So let's keep

10:10

that in mind. Kyrie Irvin has

10:12

to show up. Kyrie Irving

10:14

has to figure it out. A lot

10:16

of one on one pressing a little

10:19

bit being a bit extra. But

10:21

let's also understand that we got to get the boss and Celtics

10:23

a little bit of credit because they've got size at every position.

10:26

Derek White is a legit six y five, so it's jew

10:28

Holliday. Jalen Brown's a legit six to

10:30

seven, Jason Tatum's a legit six '

10:32

nine, Porzingis is seven to three. Al

10:34

Horford is six to eleven. Every damn

10:36

place Kyrie turns, there's

10:39

a bigger, taller, longer body on

10:41

him. Not In the past. He's

10:43

been able to have his way

10:45

with an abundance of opponents, but

10:48

rarely are their opponents where

10:50

you have such defensive

10:53

prowess that you don't even have

10:55

to double or trap. You can simply

10:57

switch and make sure your body is in front of him at

10:59

all times. Jason Kidd

11:02

is gonna have to figure things out. He's

11:04

gonna have to figure things out. But I also

11:06

think that although primarily Kyrie

11:08

Irvin is the culprit when it comes to their offensive

11:11

woes in this series thus far, he

11:13

ain't the only culprit. Now

11:15

you've got a PJ. Washington, my

11:17

brother show up. You were making corner

11:20

threes against OKC, didn't

11:22

do it so much against Minnesota, but you didn't have to

11:24

because other people that stepped up. Kyrie had stepped

11:26

up his offensive powers in that series. We

11:29

know that, and Luca was Luca. There's Derek

11:31

Jones. I mean, you hit one three and then after

11:33

that, there's an apb out for you the rest of the damn game.

11:35

What's up? You got to step up, Gaffred,

11:38

You've got to be more of a presence. I'm not

11:40

gonna be critical. I'm gonna highlight the urgency

11:42

for Derek Lively, the rookie, but

11:44

I'm not gonna get on him about it. I was reminded

11:48

just yesterday when talking about

11:50

Derek Lively that he had lost

11:53

his mom right before

11:55

the playoffs. I had totally forgot he

11:57

lost his mom, Okay, and

12:00

I know that I said it. I know that I said it Monday,

12:02

and I know that, please don't get me wrong, but I

12:04

forgot at

12:07

the time that that's what

12:09

happened. So he loses his mom,

12:12

but there's no real break series

12:14

one and two, and then even into the conference

12:16

finals. His real break

12:19

was when they had the week off prior to

12:21

the start of the NBA Finals. That

12:24

means he had idle time. That

12:27

means he had ample time to think

12:29

about the fact that

12:31

with his mother passing away. Both

12:34

of his parents are gone, and

12:36

he has no siblings. You

12:38

talk about an individual that an old likelihood

12:41

is incredibly lonely and in a dark

12:43

place right now, it probably

12:45

was him. I lost my mother

12:47

in twenty seventeen. My man Tim

12:49

Legler was on TV with me Tuesday morning

12:52

talking about how he lost his mother a year ago. When

12:55

you lose your mama, it

12:58

weighs in your thoughts and in your heart and in your

13:01

mind all the time. And

13:04

the best way to deal with those things and to fight those

13:06

demons that inevitably come is

13:09

preoccupying your mind and your time. If

13:12

you don't have an opportunity to do that because you got

13:14

too much idle time on your hand, you can

13:16

go to a very dark place. I know I did,

13:20

and I was forty nine approaching

13:23

fifty.

13:26

This dude is twenty years old, twenty

13:31

so he's got to step up, he's

13:34

got to find a way to overcome, he's

13:36

got to deal with it. But in

13:38

the interest of fairness, I

13:40

just felt it was important to reiterate what

13:43

my point was about

13:46

him and to really really show

13:49

a heightened level of sensitivity on a part

13:51

of all of us. Because so many people don't remember

13:53

he just lost his mind right before the start of the playoffs.

13:57

Still in all the mass better get it done

13:59

and get three, because I don't

14:01

think they'll be a game five if they don't.

14:05

That's just where I'm at with it. Let me move

14:07

on to the next subject at hand, because it's important

14:09

that we bring this up and involves the Los Angeles

14:11

Lakers getting to them and their coaching

14:13

search. They were left hanging on Monday

14:15

by Yukon head coach Danny Hurley after he rejected

14:18

a six year, seventy million dollar contract offer from

14:20

the team. The deal would have made Hurley the

14:22

sixth highest paid coach in the league, which

14:24

clearly was not enough. And this wasn't

14:26

the first time the Lakers have been down this

14:28

row. Okay, just five years

14:30

ago, Tyron Leu and Monty Williams both

14:32

rejected offers from the team they believed

14:35

because they believed the offers were too low. So

14:37

where do the Lakers go from here? I've

14:40

got a few names for you, and I'll give

14:43

those to you in a second, but here's

14:45

where I'm at with this. You're the Los

14:47

Angeles Lakers is the second largest

14:49

market in the United States of America. It's

14:51

the highest taxed state in

14:53

the Union. Damn near thirteen percent

14:56

of your income. Okay, that

14:58

California sunshine,

15:01

all of that stuff. The Lakers

15:03

have to stop trying to live off of that. You

15:06

know so many times. One of my good

15:08

friends, one of the people that I talked to very

15:10

very often, is the guy by the name of Eric

15:12

Braden. He plays the character Victor

15:15

Newman on Young and the Wrestless. He's lived in

15:17

California for decades, obviously

15:19

filming that show Young and the Wrestless. And

15:22

what does he say? It's a weather tax.

15:24

He jokes about it all the time. The

15:27

problem is it's not a joke anymore. Too

15:29

many people in LA are

15:31

using that as an excuse. We've

15:33

got politicians as an excuse

15:35

to always try to raise taxes, and

15:38

we've got a Los Angeles Lakers squad looking

15:40

using it as an excuse to low ball

15:42

you. Danny Hurley is a reigning,

15:44

defending two time national champion.

15:48

He's universally recognized as the best

15:50

coach in college basketball.

15:53

You put it out there that you were going

15:55

after him, and not only were you going

15:57

after him, you were gonna make it according

16:00

to our very own Adrian woljer Narowski

16:02

for ESPN, You literally put

16:04

it out there that

16:07

it was going to be a major,

16:09

major offer. How is it a major

16:11

offer if it would have made him the sixth highest

16:13

paid coach? Hell,

16:16

the governor of Connecticut came

16:18

out publicly and stated, we're gonna

16:20

make sure that Danny Hurley is

16:22

the highest paid coach in college basketball.

16:26

Bill self at Kansas is making over ten

16:28

million, which means that he's

16:30

probably Danny Hurty is probably gonna get the eleven million

16:32

from Yukon. How could you think that's an

16:34

epic offer for

16:37

Danny Hurley when you were paying Phil

16:39

Jackson that more than a decade

16:41

ago, when you offered

16:44

Mike Krzyzewski eight million, damn

16:46

near twenty years ago. What

16:48

the hell is going on with the Lakers?

16:52

Are you that poor gd

16:54

Buss has support, She's got other owners

16:56

involved? What the hell is

16:59

this? How do you do that? Eric

17:02

Sposa just signed a contract for for fifteen million,

17:05

Ty Lue getting over fourteen million

17:07

for the other team in town with the Clippers,

17:13

Great Popovins getting seventeen a year, Steve

17:15

Kerr's getting seventeen million a year, what

17:18

the hell is going on? How

17:21

in God's name can you justify that if

17:23

you're the Lakers, I

17:26

mean my man, Shannon Sharp and Mike and Brian

17:28

Windrs and all of these guys I'm thinking

17:30

about Yukon stores, Connecticut,

17:33

La powerful. I can't

17:35

believe I didn't think off the top. Wait a minute,

17:38

this is the sixth highest paid salary your

17:40

offering. This

17:43

is bad. It makes the Lakers

17:45

look very bad. It makes it look like you got financial

17:47

issues. It

17:50

makes it look like you're ducks. Ain't in order. So

17:53

that's bad. Here's how you can

17:55

make it good. You

17:58

got some candidates that

18:00

I'm gonna throw out a JJ Reddick. A

18:02

lot of people hate on JJ Reddick. Think he arrogant,

18:05

Think he doesn't suffer fools much, and you

18:08

know his temperament. They wanted about that. Look,

18:11

I'm somebody that works with JJ Reddick. I

18:14

know him a little bit. I know he's

18:16

perceived that way by a lot of people. I

18:19

also know he's real, he's

18:22

authentic, he's not fake, he's not

18:24

phony. And my god,

18:27

this brother is a brilliant, smart

18:30

brother. JJ Reddick

18:33

I think has a future in the coaching profession.

18:36

And if the Lakers were to hire him, I

18:39

would do nothing but root for him. I'm not rooting

18:42

against him. I still don't

18:44

think it was right for Lebron James and

18:46

him to have a podcast together during the damn

18:48

season while Darvin here was still a coach and he was on

18:50

the hot seat. And Lebron James knew that. But that

18:52

ain't JJ Reddick's problem. That's the Lebron James

18:54

problem. No doubt Maverick

18:56

Carter came to Lebron James thought it was a good idea.

18:59

Because Maverick Carter, Lebron James man has a

19:01

brilliant mind and obviously he

19:03

likes to produce content in television,

19:05

in film. He's a visionary and it's

19:07

no knock against him. But Lebron

19:10

should have known better than doing that to Darbinham. That

19:12

is not JJ Reddick's problem. I

19:14

think JJ Reddick has a

19:17

chance to be a great

19:19

coach in the NBA someday, and

19:21

I would take a look at him. I'm not pooping

19:24

that, but

19:26

you know, we ain't

19:28

gonna mention coaching candidates without

19:30

me mentioning my man. Mark Jackson, Right, you

19:33

know that guy that starred at Saint John's

19:36

University, that was a Rookie of the Year for the New York Knicks

19:38

that played in Indiana those years, played for the Clippers

19:41

too, that ultimately became a coach and

19:43

coached the Golden State Warriors. You

19:45

know that brother that coached three seasons in Golden

19:47

State, took him to the playoffs twice,

19:50

finished his last season there fifty one and

19:52

thirty one on the year. His

19:54

last year is twenty and fourteen. We

19:57

are a decade later and this brother

19:59

can't get a coach job in the NBA,

20:01

and nobody would tell us why because it clearly

20:03

has nothing to do with his competency, his knowledge

20:05

about the game of basketball. And for the

20:07

record, I'm not apologizing for it to anybody.

20:10

Decisions have to be made, and the business decisions

20:12

made by ESPN and Walt Disney as

20:15

their business. But I miss my man Mark

20:17

Jackson. I miss my man

20:19

Mark Jackson calling games. He's a personal friend of mine.

20:21

I've known him for decades and he's an

20:23

outstanding basketball mind. And

20:26

to see him. Could I see him

20:28

coaching in a market like la

20:30

which, by the way, he lives out there, it would be a

20:32

beautiful thing, a beautiful

20:35

thing, and I'm

20:37

gonna always wish for Mark Jackson to get another

20:39

shot to be the coach. I want him

20:41

in one or two places. The Los Angeles Lakers are the New

20:43

York Knicks, and with the job that Tom Thibodeaux did, we

20:45

all know he doesn't deserve to be out of New York. So

20:49

if you're the Lakers, if you look for a coach, I wouldn't mind

20:51

Mark Jackson being interviews as a candidate. That

20:54

would be something that I think could

20:56

be a plus. But I'm also not

20:58

gonna leave out Jeff Van Gundy. Jeff

21:02

Van Gundy coach for eleven years in the NBA. Jeff

21:05

Van Gundy took the Knicks to the finals in ninety nine.

21:08

Jeff Van Gundy coach perennial playoff

21:10

teams. Jeff Van Cundy is another

21:12

brilliant basketball mind. There

21:15

are other candidates that you can interview. There

21:18

are all the candidates. You could give ten to eleven

21:20

million a year, make them a six highest paid coach,

21:23

and it's not throwing any shade on them.

21:25

If you're the Los Angeles Lakers, there's nothing wrong

21:27

with that. But you gotta

21:29

get it together. You certainly got to

21:31

be better than what we're looking at right now. There's

21:33

no way around it. It's a bad look for the Lakers, and

21:36

none of us need to be shy about that. Coming

21:39

up, Hunter Biden, the

21:41

son of President Joe Biden, has found guilty on

21:44

all three counts in this federal gun trial. I'll

21:46

get in and what it could mean for

21:48

the presidential election and why the hell

21:50

a guilty verdict showed up to begin with in

21:53

my opinion, But

21:55

first, things could not be looking any

21:57

better for the WNBA. I've got

21:59

some mistros or stats to break down for you.

22:02

Some of it might have to do with Caitlin Clark, some

22:05

of it might not. Stick

22:07

around and see what I'm talking about. That's coming up next

22:09

right here on the stephen A. Smithship over the digital

22:11

airwaves of YouTube and

22:13

I Heart Radio.

22:24

Okay, everybody, you know what Tom it is. It's Tom

22:26

for stephen A's weekly sports picks. That's

22:28

what it's Tom for. Okay, And man, I couldn't

22:30

be more excited right now because I'm making picks

22:33

for the greatest time of the year, the NBA

22:35

Finals. To me, that's the greatest time

22:37

of the year. Okay, the NBA Finals.

22:39

But not only that, I'm gonna make things even more

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23:32

look at my winning picks, because they usually are winning

23:34

picks, all right, Jalen Brown. Are the Boston Celtics

23:36

more or less than twenty one and a half

23:39

points? I'm

23:41

gonna say less, but not because of him.

23:44

I think the focal point will be getting Jason Tatum

23:46

a bit more involved. I think Jayson Tatum on the road will be a

23:48

bit more aggressive. The Boston Celtics are

23:50

undefeated on the road this postseason. I

23:52

think you'll see Jason Tatum trying to come

23:54

out of his doldrumps. Of course, Jrew Holliday, Jaylen

23:56

Brown, Derek White, all of these guys will get

23:58

this shots. Let's not forget about Porzingis, who's hobbled.

24:01

We don't know how healthy he'll be for this game. But

24:03

the bottom line is, I think it's gonna be about

24:05

Tatum more so than anybody else in this particular

24:07

game. I think that it's gonna be less

24:09

than twenty one and a half points for Jaylen

24:12

Brown. How about twenty to twenty one points, that's probably

24:14

what he'll score. Okay, let's get to the next one.

24:16

Jason Tatum, I just explain to you what that situation

24:18

is gonna be more or less than twenty five and a half

24:20

points. I'm gonna go

24:23

with more. Jason Tatum is gonna be

24:25

looking to be ultra aggressive. He knows

24:27

that he hasn't been himself in these first

24:29

two games. I think he

24:31

answers the call. Not in a spectacular

24:34

fash where he drops forty or fifty or something like

24:36

that, but could I see him getting twenty five to thirty

24:38

in this game, game three in a row in Dallas for the NBA

24:40

Finals. Yeah, I can see Jayson Tatum doing that. He's skilled

24:42

enough to pull that off. I'm gonna go with more

24:45

for Jason Tatum on this particular one. Next

24:47

one, Kyrie Irvin more or less than

24:49

twenty three and a half points? Hell, yes,

24:51

we're going with more. He better score more than twenty

24:53

three and a half points. He's Kyrie Irvin.

24:56

He's desperately needed. He's got to get

24:58

loose. This whole crowd, Dallas rufer, He's

25:00

got to get loose. Kyrie

25:02

Irvin has got to step up, y'all. He's

25:05

got to get it done. He's got to be big time,

25:07

make no mistake about it. And I think this is the

25:09

game he shows us. He reminds us who

25:11

the hell he is and what he's made up, because if he doesn't

25:14

and Luca continues not to have any help, Boston's

25:17

gonna be up three to zero and this series is

25:19

gonna be over, might be via a sweep.

25:22

So we can't sleep on any of that, right, We've

25:24

got to pay attention to all of that. Last, but

25:26

not least Luka Doncik more or less than

25:29

thirty two and a half points. The brothers

25:31

a superstar, y'all. He's Box

25:33

Office, his name is in bright Lights.

25:35

He knows he's the marquee, and he

25:37

answers the call. Chest contusion

25:40

doesn't matter, sore leg doesn't

25:42

matter, fatigued doesn't

25:44

matter. This brother does

25:46

it. Even last game he

25:49

was messed up, he had a triple double. He answers

25:51

the call again on his home turf, Luka

25:53

Doncik shows up, he answers the call, and

25:56

he's gonna score more than thirty two and a half

25:58

points this game. So you heard what I said.

26:00

Less on Brown, more on Tatum, more on Kyrie,

26:03

more on Dan Jack. That's where I'm at

26:05

with it, and I believe I'm right. We'll

26:08

find out come game three.

26:17

Welcome back to Steve Lee Smith Fiel right here over the digital

26:20

areas of YouTube, and of course iHeartRadio.

26:23

Before I get into my

26:25

next subject, I want to piggyback off of

26:27

where I left off in regards to the Los Angeles

26:29

Lakers. I'm not really

26:31

into conspiracy theories and stuff

26:34

like that, and I'm not trying to be now, but

26:36

I just want to throw something out out there

26:38

to y'all to consider. You did hear me

26:40

mention that ty lu got fourteen million? Right?

26:43

Remember that? You didn't hear me say that, didn't

26:45

you? I ruh?

26:49

If you're the Los Angeles Lakers, why would

26:51

you come to Danny Hurley

26:54

with just eleven million? Why

26:58

would you do that? Is

27:01

it because you didn't want to look like you caved,

27:04

so you make an offer that you know,

27:07

in all likelihood he'd probably reject.

27:09

And that way when you went the route of a JJ

27:12

Reddick, if

27:14

indeed that's what you choose to do, it doesn't

27:16

look like you just capitulated to Lebron James

27:19

that instead you had your own coaching search,

27:21

your own your own guy,

27:23

and you just threw that. Is it possible? What

27:28

did KG say? Kevin Garnett? Anything's

27:30

possible? Remember

27:34

that? Is it? I'm

27:38

just saying, as

27:40

I really sit back and think about

27:42

this and conjure up some thoughts

27:45

as to why arguably

27:48

the most storied franchise in basketball

27:51

annals the Boss and somethings

27:53

and now of Los Angeles Lakers, why

27:56

you would come to a guy that's

27:59

a raigning two time national

28:01

champion and offer

28:03

him a salary and a contract

28:07

that five other people get paid

28:09

more than him with. I'm

28:12

just wondering. I'm

28:15

just wondering. I

28:19

don't know how that makes any sense. Steve

28:22

Current seventeen million, Great Popper for seventeen

28:24

million, Eric e. Sposure fifteen sixteen

28:26

million, Ty lou At fourteen million,

28:30

Monty Williams at thirty thirteen million

28:34

in Detroit, Why

28:37

would you offer this

28:41

guy that you

28:45

had to know he'd probably turn it down. Just

28:50

the food for thought. It's food

28:52

for thought. Let me move on, okay,

28:55

because I want to highlight what can arguably stated

28:57

as a new golden era of women's professional basketball.

29:00

It's because the WNBA announced yesterday that the

29:02

first month of the season drew its highest attendance

29:04

since the league's second season in nineteen

29:06

ninety eight. In addition to that, the WNBA

29:09

is now seeing the best television ratings in

29:11

its history. The surgeon popularity

29:14

for the league can be directly tied to the new rookie

29:16

class led by Indiana's Kitlan Clark, Chicago's

29:18

Angel Reese, and Los Angeles'

29:21

Cameron Brink. All three

29:23

ladies drew big crowds playing in

29:25

college and are consistently trending

29:27

on social media. On top of

29:29

all of that, Get this what get this one, y'all. WNBA

29:32

merchandise sales rose two hundred

29:34

and thirty six percent from the

29:36

same period last year, with Clark, Rees, and Brink

29:39

jerseys ranking in the top five for jersey

29:41

sales during the first week of the season. Here's what I

29:43

love about this. The

29:46

fact that those three Clark,

29:48

Rees and Brink all have jerseys

29:50

ranking in the top five speaks

29:53

to what Andrew Rees said that Caitlin Clark

29:56

ain't the only person being watched. So

29:58

that is validation Angel Rees, and

30:00

we need to point that out. But

30:03

we all know when we talk about ratings, were talking about

30:05

Kaitlyn Clark, right, You

30:08

do know that, right? Because think

30:10

about it this way, the

30:12

operative word is median media.

30:15

N Keep this in mind, ladies and gentlemen.

30:18

Lebron James is making fifty million. Okay,

30:25

somebody else on the Lakers is making two. That's

30:30

twenty six. That's

30:33

twenty six. But

30:37

there's a huge discrepancy.

30:40

So if you attack it and you look

30:42

at the Lakers payroll and it's said fifty

30:44

two million, that's what you're

30:46

thinking about. Fifty two million. You ain't thinking about one

30:48

guy getting fifty

30:51

But it's a fact that can't be ignored. Either

30:55

recent break or no joke. They

30:57

got futures in this league. This

30:59

popular He's gonna come with that. But

31:04

the bottom line is Caitlin Clark's

31:06

the one. You know, the one with the twenty eight million

31:08

dollar endorsement due you

31:11

know, the one that highly

31:13

contributed to record ratings for the w NBA

31:16

Draft two point four four to six million to be exact.

31:19

You know the one that opened the season

31:22

and it was the largest open the season

31:24

double header ratings in WNBA

31:26

history. You know the

31:28

one that goes to Arena and there

31:31

was four thousand people there, but then she showed up it with

31:33

seventeen thousand. Know that, this

31:36

is why I made a big stink about

31:38

her not being on Team USA.

31:41

You want to sit up there and again I understand the merits.

31:43

I've had Hall of Famous calling me making the

31:45

argument on the part of Andrea Carter who

31:48

was on the show with me Monday and was talking to me about

31:50

y'o. It's

31:52

about merit. You gotta show up there. She'll be there four

31:54

years from now. I get that. I get that, I get that, But

31:58

you know what come to me when you care as much

32:00

about people being screwed. The

32:02

biggest screwover in the history of

32:05

Olympic competition is

32:08

a toss up between Isaiah Thomas

32:11

being denied entry.

32:15

Actually I say that's number one, when

32:17

he wasn't placed on the original Dream Team and John

32:19

Stockton was picked ahead of him just

32:21

because he wasn't liked, because everybody

32:24

knew his basketball credentis warranted. That. The

32:27

other side to that, ladies and gentlemen, was Roy

32:29

Jones Junior being robbed in the Olympics of

32:32

an Olympic gold medal. Remember that

32:34

that was it Highway

32:36

robberies. It's

32:39

not the first time, it won't

32:41

be the last. Politics

32:43

played decisions. Corporate America

32:46

plays decisions, Madison Avenue

32:48

and Marketing plays plays

32:50

roles in these decisions. Because

32:52

it's about the almighty dollar and

32:56

what's gonna fill those coffers. I'm

33:00

not sitting there and saying you replace Asia

33:03

Wilson with Katelyn Clark. I'm

33:06

saying you got twelve

33:08

folks on the roster. One of them couldn't

33:10

come off of this girl. And oh, by

33:12

the way, Chelsea Gray still

33:15

injured. Dianas ARROSSI you already got

33:17

about three gold medals. Sure

33:19

you could find a spot for Kaitlin Clark. Sure, just

33:23

asking, just

33:25

asking. Let me move on to this next subject

33:28

here, because I

33:30

had to touch on this. I

33:34

want to take a moment to

33:37

talk about professional soccer, or

33:40

football as it's known in Europe.

33:43

In an historic move, three

33:46

Valencia soccer fans were

33:48

sentenced to eight months

33:50

in prison after

33:52

pleading guilty to insulting Real

33:55

Madrid's forward Venincius Junior

33:58

with racial slur. It's

34:01

the first conviction for racism

34:03

related cases in professional soccer in

34:05

Spain. The fans were detained in

34:07

May twenty twenty three after a match between Real

34:11

Madrid and Valencia was temporarily

34:13

stopped due to racial slurs. The

34:15

incident sparked an outpouring of support

34:18

for Venincius, who months earlier

34:20

broke down in tears while talking about the

34:22

racist insults he endured in Spain.

34:25

After the conviction, let me

34:27

read to you what he tweeted.

34:31

Many asked me to ignore it. Many

34:33

others said that my fight was in vain.

34:35

Now I should just play football. But

34:37

as I've always said, I am not a

34:39

victim of racism. I am

34:41

a tormentor of racist

34:44

The first criminal conviction in the history of Spain

34:47

is not for me, It's for

34:50

all black people. May other

34:52

racists be afraid, ashamed

34:54

and hide in the shadows. Otherwise

34:57

I'll be here to collect. Thank

34:59

you to and rather

35:01

Madrid for helping with this historic

35:03

conviction. More to come

35:06

now. The fans whose names were not released were found

35:09

guilty of a crime against moral integrity

35:11

with the aggravating circumstance of

35:13

discrimination based on racist motives.

35:16

They will not be allowed to enter soccer stadiums

35:18

for two years and must pay for

35:20

all court proceedings.

35:29

I don't want to use the word happy

35:34

justice was served. You

35:37

have some despicable, disgusting human

35:40

beings all over the world,

35:43

and Venicius speaking

35:46

up and speaking out the

35:49

way that he did is admirable. He's

35:52

somebody we should all appreciate and admire.

35:55

I'm thankful for him. I'm

35:58

a bit conflicted on a couple of front.

36:02

Number one, I'm sad to

36:04

know that racism

36:07

extends far beyond the corridors

36:09

of America. Always knew it, of

36:11

course, but it's just sad

36:14

that somebody's over

36:16

in Spain and you're hearing about racist slurs.

36:23

But it goes a step further when he talked about

36:26

them going into hiding, and

36:29

they should be very afraid. And

36:32

that's a danger because when you're

36:34

allowed to hide, you're

36:37

allowed to disguise and

36:39

cover, which

36:41

means that your motives and

36:44

the conditions that exist within your heart

36:47

aren't compelled to change because

36:50

the devoid of exposure that

36:53

worries me. That

36:56

concerns me, and

36:58

I'll tell you why, because

37:00

I've encountered, obviously in an ordinate

37:03

amount of racist in my day. I

37:06

don't believe that every person that's white is racist.

37:10

I don't believe that

37:13

bigotry reigned supreme. I

37:15

think that a lot of people are

37:18

like that, but not most and not all. Having

37:21

said that, I

37:24

often think about what one

37:26

white racist looked

37:28

me in my face and told me

37:32

decades ago. The

37:34

world is changing some

37:37

of us will be quiet about it, but

37:41

that serves our benefit because

37:44

the longer we get to live in the shadows,

37:47

the longer we can do the things

37:50

that we want to do without

37:52

ever having to be accountable for it. He

37:56

looked at me on my face and told me that obviously

37:59

he was it with a few other white folks,

38:04

so that was something he could get away with. But

38:08

it always struck me. And

38:10

when he didn't realize is that I wasn't angry

38:12

about it. I appreciated

38:15

the heads up because

38:18

the more enlightened we are about

38:21

what lurks behind the shadows, the

38:23

more we're prepared to deal with it,

38:26

even when it isn't visible

38:29

enough for us to point

38:31

it out. It like elevates

38:34

our sixth sense, and

38:37

I don't mind that at all. Chance

38:41

favors the prepared mind.

38:45

If you're prepared for

38:48

what inevitably may come your way,

38:50

albeit by the few, not the many,

38:53

not most, you're

38:55

better equipped to deal with the adverse

38:58

circumstances it may create. Maintain

39:01

your composure and do what you can

39:04

to get through the day and live to fight another

39:06

moment. So

39:08

I don't know if I agree with him about pushing

39:11

folks into the shadows and

39:13

into hiding. I don't

39:15

know if that ultimately benefits black folks

39:18

in the long run, who

39:21

are destined to experience racism, but

39:24

I get that his heart was in the right place, and

39:28

I appreciate him saying that

39:30

this sentencing by the courts in Spain is

39:33

a victory for all black people because

39:36

he's acknowledging he wasn't just thinking about

39:38

himself. He was thinking

39:40

about us all and that

39:42

is always a beautiful thing. Coming

39:45

up, President Joe Biden's son, Hunters A.

39:47

Biden, found guilty of three felonies, not

39:49

one, not two, but three felonies. I'll

39:51

get into that in a moment. Don't go anywhere

39:53

more to Steven as Mitchell coming your way now.

40:00

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Guess what, y'all, it's really, really,

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41:12

back to Steven A. Smith Show right here over the digital airways

41:14

of YouTube and iHeartRadio. Let

41:17

me get it to I don't even consider this

41:20

politics, but in an essence, it is because

41:22

of what's going on in regard to

41:24

the President's sun Hunter Biden Please earlier,

41:27

earlier, Tuesday morning,

41:30

President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, was found guilty

41:32

of three felony counts tied

41:35

to a handgun purchase he made at

41:37

twenty eighteen while using narcotics.

41:40

The trial is the first involving the offspring

41:43

of a sitting president. The charges,

41:46

which include lying on a federal screening form

41:48

about drug use, lying to a gun

41:50

dealer, and possessing the gun,

41:52

could carry a maximum sentence of twenty

41:55

five years in prison. Now

41:58

that sentence is unlikely, as

42:00

Hunter Biden as a first time non violent

42:02

offender. As for President Biden,

42:04

who's running for reelection, you

42:07

know he's been candid aby his son struggles with addiction.

42:09

Of course, earlier, he told ABC

42:11

News he would not interfere in his son's

42:13

federal trial if convicted, and he would

42:16

not offer him a pardon. Hunter Biden

42:18

still faces a federal trial in September

42:20

for allegedly avoiding taxes in California.

42:23

By the way, Hunter could have resolved both the

42:25

gun and tax chargers without prison time,

42:28

but a plea deal with his attorneys fell apart

42:30

last summer. See, certain

42:32

things need to be said, So

42:35

I'm gonna say it. Okay, I'm

42:40

totally with President Biden and

42:43

saying, I'm not gonna part in my son.

42:46

If my son had

42:49

all his faculties in order, wasn't

42:52

inebriated, didn't have an addiction issue

42:54

or anything like that. Okay,

42:58

Dan, you just a slam ball, and I'm

43:01

not pardoning you at all. But if

43:04

my son was

43:06

an addict and

43:08

a recovering addict and prune to

43:15

dare I say questionable decisions

43:17

because of his addiction that

43:21

if I'm the president, I gotta admit, y'all, I'm

43:23

gonna parton him. I'm gonna part

43:25

hi under that first time non violent

43:28

offender. See that's the that's the

43:30

bullshit of politics, because

43:32

you know you saying that if you Joe Biden, because

43:35

that's politically expedient. Now,

43:38

no, no, I'm not apologizing for supporting

43:40

my son who's got an addiction. Now

43:44

again, you don't have an addiction and

43:47

you're just a lawless individual, then

43:49

my compassion for you is gonna dissipate

43:51

dramatically. But if you have an addiction,

43:54

whish he clearly had compassion

43:57

is order for the day. To me, I don't think

43:59

the president should be saying that. It

44:01

ain't like he gonna lose votes because of it. Independence

44:06

or hard leftists or progressives

44:08

ain't gonna vote against Joe Biden because

44:11

of son like that. Remember

44:15

remember when I came to the defense of Chris Cuomo

44:19

with the whole thing with his brother. I

44:21

was like, this, that's his brother. Your

44:25

brother says he's innocent, You believe him, you support

44:27

your brother. You gotta apologize for that. That

44:31

was my thinking. You're saying, so,

44:34

I mean, I think like that, you

44:36

got a child, Your child is

44:40

an addict cocaine,

44:43

crack, alcohol, I mean, damn

44:47

you know. Yeah, yeah, they might tease him. You might have people

44:49

on the right going off about Hunter Biden, right,

44:53

but they always showed him

44:55

being a bit inebriated, whether

44:57

it's drugs, alcohol, So clearly

45:00

he was not in his right state of mind. I

45:02

think that cause for compassion. Last

45:04

time I checked, I thought that's what this world was about. Didn't

45:08

we say compassion? Don't

45:10

we talk about that all the time. Don't we

45:12

talk about second chances? That's

45:15

where I'm coming from. So if

45:18

again, if he wasn't

45:21

addict, and the president

45:23

was open about his son's problems with addiction,

45:26

I think that caused for a little compassion on the part

45:28

of the president when it comes to his son. That's

45:31

what I think. Having

45:34

said that, are

45:36

we really surprised at what happened? Do

45:39

y'all know that Hunter

45:42

Biden's conviction. Do

45:44

y'all know that didn't really take place yesterday? They

45:47

didn't tell y'all, Oh, this is

45:49

a couple of weeks ago, that brother

45:51

was convicted before this, He ain't

45:54

get convicted Tuesday morning. He got

45:56

convicted the day Donald

45:58

Trump got convicted. The

46:01

day that happened, They're like, Oh, we're gonna get

46:03

his ass. You

46:06

can't argue that it's politicized

46:09

on one side, but then thinking they're gonna be

46:11

politicized on the other side. Why you

46:13

think the Republicans came out and

46:15

they apported the justice system. They

46:19

weren't applauding it a couple of weeks ago, they

46:21

say, they were saying it was rigged. So

46:25

now that Hunter body and got his okay, fairness,

46:29

fairness, fairness, because it's

46:31

all being politicized at this moment in time, just

46:35

like they found a way to

46:37

parlay that into trying to convince folks

46:40

that this might affect votes for Trump. They're

46:42

gonna find a way to do it as it pretends

46:44

to, how it might affect votes for body. By

46:47

the way, three weeks or less than three weeks before a debate

46:49

between him and Trump. It's

46:51

scheduled to take place about

46:54

three weeks and two days from now. They

46:57

full of no body. This

47:00

is what it is. Here's

47:02

the bad part. Politicization

47:07

of the justice system is

47:09

scary because

47:13

now we're not talking about what's

47:16

right and wrong, what's fair and

47:18

just. We're

47:20

talking about which

47:22

side has the power to

47:25

flex and manipulate

47:28

its muscle to invoke

47:31

the kind of pain, the

47:33

kind of punitive damage they

47:35

may be inclined to implement.

47:41

That's what we're talking about here. When

47:46

our system gets to that point. If

47:50

the politicians in trouble, what kind

47:52

of trouble you think the rest of us are in, think

47:56

about it. Calls

47:59

can be made, Minds can be manipulated

48:02

and influenced. Initially,

48:04

according to reports, the jury

48:06

was split fifty to fifty on convicting

48:08

Hunter Biden. Day one. Day

48:11

two, they came back e eleven to one

48:13

in favor of a conviction. Remember,

48:17

jury of your peers, it must

48:19

be unanimous

48:21

to convict. It

48:25

took them was it three days to get to

48:27

a conviction. We

48:33

don't know what happened. I'm not here to tell

48:35

you. I know what

48:38

I'm saying to you is that one

48:41

of the first thoughts that came to my mind right on

48:43

this show when Trump was

48:45

convicted on those thirty four felony

48:48

counts, all class E felonies,

48:51

which essentially are tabit more than

48:53

the misdemeanor that people believe will not equate

48:56

in their jail time. The

48:59

second that happened, I said, there's no way

49:01

Hunter Biden could get off, because if

49:03

Hunter Biden gets off after Trump

49:05

is convicted, it will be nothing

49:08

but chaos, because it would be further evidence

49:10

that in other in folks

49:12

minds that the system is rigged.

49:17

You almost had to convict Hunter Biden the

49:20

minute Trump was convicted. I'm

49:23

not telling you I got any inside information or

49:25

anything like that. I'm just talking to you about an average citizen

49:27

looking out there and seeing what I saw, who

49:31

didn't know that was coming, who

49:33

didn't know that was coming. Here's the last thing that's

49:35

coming. How much you want to make a bet that

49:38

President Biden changes his mind and does

49:41

pardon Hunter Biden while

49:45

also this

49:47

happening that Judge

49:50

in July. He

49:53

ain't gonna give Trump any jail time. Trump

49:57

is the present of GOP nominee. Who

49:59

will the official GOP nominee four

50:02

days later after the supposed July

50:04

eleventh court hearing sentencing

50:07

hearing, He's

50:10

gonna be the GOP nominee. He ain't

50:12

going to jail. In my opinion,

50:14

he's not going to jail. And

50:16

if he ain't going to jail, Hunter Biden ain't going

50:19

to jail. Nobody

50:21

goes to jail, but

50:23

taxpayer dollars are paid on all of this, and

50:27

it's supposed to be a felony, and it's supposed to be

50:29

a felony, and the gun charges and and

50:32

and while on narcotics and

50:34

all of this other stuff. Anybody going to

50:36

jail. The

50:40

suckers are us. The

50:46

suckers are us. Last

50:49

point before I get on out of here for today, gotta

50:52

move on to this. Can't end the show without touching

50:54

on this subject. I gotta quickly

50:57

touch on Sean pdd Combs. As

50:59

more organizations continue to separate

51:02

themselves from what can only

51:04

be termed now the disgraced music mogul,

51:07

The latest was Howard University and historically

51:09

Black College University in HBCU, whose

51:11

board of trustees voted unanimously

51:13

last week to revoke the honorary

51:16

degree given to him in twenty fourteen. The

51:18

university also made the decision to return

51:21

colmb's one million dollar contribution and

51:23

terminate a one million dollar pledge agreement

51:26

from the Shawn Combs Foundation. The

51:28

board of trustees issued this statement about

51:30

its decision. Quote, Mister Combs's

51:32

behavior as captain in a recently released

51:35

video is so fundamentally incompatible

51:37

with Howard University's core values and beliefs

51:40

that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold

51:42

the institution's highest honor. It

51:47

ain't about applauding anybody, including

51:49

Howard. It's about

51:51

recognizing the necessity of

51:53

this move. You disassociate

51:56

yourself from people who are

51:58

found to be guilty. I'm

52:00

not talking about the court of public, court of law. I'm

52:03

talking about what we saw a video. You cannot

52:06

associate yourself with somebody who would

52:08

do what

52:11

p did he did. I'm not here

52:13

to excoriate the man

52:16

and anything like that, but what he did

52:19

to his girlfriend, Cassie Venturro was

52:23

criminal. It was not only disgraceful, it was

52:25

criminal and

52:28

the LAPD basically said,

52:30

the only reason we couldn't prosecute is as is

52:32

because it's a statute

52:34

of limitation on that kind of stuff. And

52:37

it happened years ago. It

52:40

was vicious, it

52:43

was a lot, and

52:47

he said that his behavior on that

52:49

video was inexcusable, no excuses,

52:52

et cetera, et cetera. I'm gonna

52:54

go a step further. I've

52:57

seen no one in the hip hop

53:00

community come to his

53:02

defense at all,

53:06

even before the video came out. Before

53:10

the video came out, it was allegations

53:12

of sex trafficking, There was allegations

53:14

of assault, since allegations of

53:17

rape whatever, Nobody,

53:20

nobody. Just

53:24

the other day we talked about Will

53:26

Smith, We

53:28

talked about him with the whole Chris Rock incident.

53:32

But what did we never fail to

53:34

say that we've

53:36

never seen anything like it. Will

53:39

Smith is a good brother with an

53:41

exceptional reputation whose

53:44

behavior that night was incredibly uncharacteristic,

53:47

in a complete aberration from anything we've

53:49

known him to be. So

53:52

when his boy Charlie Mack and others talked about

53:55

Grace, you can understand

53:57

where they're coming from. When

54:00

you talk about the people he's employed, when you talk about

54:02

the things he's doing, when you talk about his love

54:04

for Martin Lawrence and vice versa. When you talk about

54:06

all of these things, there is a thousand

54:09

times more good than bad with

54:12

Will Smith. Nobody

54:16

says anything about Diddy. Nobody,

54:21

nobody. I

54:24

mean again, before the video

54:26

was exposed by CNN, before

54:29

any of us knew that happened, when

54:31

we just heard the allegations, when we

54:33

saw Homeland Security raid his homes

54:35

in Miami and Los Angeles, nobody

54:41

spoke up for him. And

54:45

now we not only

54:47

have Howard University

54:49

in HBCU disassociating

54:52

themselves from him and confiscating

54:55

an honorary doctorate they gave to him

54:58

figuratively speaking, of course, they

55:02

gave back the money. And

55:05

I'm here to tell you, even

55:08

though Howard's endowment is significant,

55:11

especially compared to any other HBCU

55:13

out there, but certainly nothing

55:15

in comparison to Ivy League

55:17

schools, a

55:20

million dollars is a million dollars, and

55:24

a million dollar commitment is a million dollar commitment.

55:28

And for them to say we

55:31

ain't messing with you, we want nothing to do with

55:33

you, you

55:40

know what it is. You

55:42

could call it bad, You could call it worse.

55:46

This is what I call it the

55:48

end, whether

55:52

he's in jail or not, whether

55:57

he tries to resurrect his

55:59

music career not, because there's always a way to make

56:01

money, especially with what he does for a

56:03

living. Here

56:06

is the reality. A

56:11

music mogul who

56:14

is a product, endorser and beyond now

56:20

finds himself with

56:23

folks on all levels

56:26

wanting absolutely positively nothing

56:28

to do with him. I

56:33

never thought of my wildest dreams that

56:35

that day would arrive for somebody's

56:39

brilliant. It's talented, it's

56:41

omnipotent, and

56:45

it's tenacious as

56:48

P Diddy, But

56:50

it has lesson

56:53

for us all Mind our manners,

56:56

mind our behavior, God, our names

56:58

and reputations, and

57:01

our families and our loved ones, with everything we

57:03

have, because you never

57:05

know when it can be gone. Just like that. That's

57:09

it for this edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show. I

57:11

gotta get on out of here. Game

57:14

three of the NBA Finals is tonight

57:16

in Dallas, Texas. I got some work to do, but

57:18

I'll be back in a couple of days. Until

57:21

then, Peace of love, everybody, God

57:24

bless. Stephen A. Smith Show Out