THE BIG PODCAST - NEW BIG Interview with Stephen A. Smith on Shannon Sharpe Scandal, Current Relationship With Lebron James, and NFL Draft
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Big Boys Neighborhood on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I've been waiting for this on Ladies and Gentlemen. We
got the voice of sports. We got Stephen A. Smith
in the neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
When you say, don't let something, don't let it mess
up your money, Shannon Sharp bro now and I know this, this,
this is your dog. And I love what Shannon Sharp
is doing. I love Club Shay say, I love everything.
But what did you think as Steven A. Smith, a comrade, associate, friend, brother,
black man, everything.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
It was important for me not to be selfish. I'm
not gonna of course, I've spoken to him. What do
you saying, I'm I tell you, but I feel about
Shannon Sharp the way I feel about Ryan Clark, the
whey I feel about Marcus Spears, the way I feel
about any of my teammates at ESPN. I mean, we
we have a great, great group of folks and it's
a genuine friendship with one another. And I got a
(00:53):
lot of love for Shannon and getting to know him.
I haven't known Shannon all of these years the way
that I've known the others. I've met him in past
and stuff like that. And then you know, we became friends. Once,
I went and got him and brought him on board
at ESPN. And I'm very proud that I brought him
on board because I think he did He's done an
exceptional job for us. His effort was contagious. He never
(01:14):
cheated us. He was He always came on the air,
always ready, always enthused about performing and doing his job
and making sure he contributed to the ratings, which he
did in a very profound fashion. And I'm incredibly grateful
to him for that. When I saw the story come out,
obviously I was alarmed. Like everybody else. It's nine fifty
eight on Monday morning. We got a show at ten o'clock,
(01:37):
and then the story comes out about the allegations against him.
That was very alarming. I didn't know until two minutes
before the show. And so when you dealing with something
like that, it takes on a life of its own.
And on one hand, you got to be very very
sensitive to him from the standpoint that he is profoundly
claiming his innocence. But then in the same breath you're
(02:00):
looking at the stuff his lawyers put out and you're like,
that ain't helping. And then you're looking at what you
know about Disney. See that's where I come because none
of these cats have worked for Disney as long as
I have, and as familiar and intimate about the inner
workings of Disney and how they think the way that
(02:21):
I am, And so I'm now imagining what Disney's going
to ultimately do. So although I was hopeful that it
ultimately would not lead to him being off the air,
I knew it wasn't gonna go down like that because
I know Disney right, And so you know, again, I
can't say all the things that I've heard, all of
the things that I know based on my conversations with
(02:44):
him and my conversations with the executives. What I do
know is that he has emphatically and profoundly proclaimed his
innocence from a legal and libel perspective in terms of,
you know, not assaulting or raping or doing anything like
that to anybody. He is emphatic that he is innocent
of those things. But the court of public opinion is
what the Disneys of the world and others concerned themselves with.
(03:08):
But most importantly, I'm his friend, right, and that man
he's helped me immensely. It ain't just me doing for him,
he's done for me as well in terms of his
performance and his dedication to his craft, and how he's
helped us in terms of the show itself and how
he helped us continue to explode. And I'm incredibly grateful
(03:28):
to him for that. And I know that he does
not trust easy, and that the connest conversations that he's
had with me he wouldn't have with just anybody. So
I'm gonna honor that, and I'm gonna make sure that
he knows and that everybody knows that no matter how
things go down, not to say that he would rely
on me, but if he ever chose to anything that
I can do for him as a friend, I will do.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Stephen A, we got so much more to cover, bro Alright,
we got more. Stephen A Smith in the neighborhood, Big
boys neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
This is big boy on demand.
Speaker 5 (04:01):
Ladies and gentlemen. He is here, stephen A Smith in
the neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Stephen A, have you had a conversation with lebron since
since we've seen the other incident?
Speaker 4 (04:11):
No?
Speaker 6 (04:13):
Would you if he asked, which he wouldn't, but if
he asked.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
Sure, why do you think that happened?
Speaker 4 (04:19):
Because we don't like each other, period. But I want
to emphasize this. I respect the hell out of him.
He's the second greatest player in the history of basketball.
He's a global iconic brand. What he has achieved in
his career is phenomenal. I will never lack respect for
him and his accomplishments. I believe Michael Jordan is the
(04:43):
greatest I've ever seen. I don't give a damn what
anybody says. I don't say that to throw shade on him.
I say that because as a basketball player, I.
Speaker 6 (04:52):
Believe Michael Jordan is to be revered.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
I see people respecting Lebron and being in awe of him.
I saw Michael Jordan feared, feared I'm talking about. It
was just it's next level, bro. I love the quote
from John Sally in the Last Dance documentary in docu
series where John Sally said the plan.
Speaker 6 (05:13):
For the Bad Boys Jordan rule was the first.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
The major plan was to get him before he went airborne,
because you know he's not human, right, That was the
thinking of Michael Jordan, a stone cold killer and annihilate you.
You know, he came to take your soul. He didn't
come just to beat you. He wanted to demoralize you
in such a way that you knew better than thinking
(05:37):
you could defeat him. And one of the moments that
I bring this up, I believe the year's nineteen ninety three.
They they're going for a three peat. I believe, so
I'm not. I don't remember because I wasn't coming the
NBA at that time. So the Knicks are projected to
be the team coming out of the East, Chicago's champions.
Speaker 6 (05:56):
Michael Jordan and the boys coming to town and Patrick
Ewing they.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Got they got Oak, and they got Starks, and they
got all of these cats right, and they ready and
Chicago comes to the Garden and they are getting blown
out of the building.
Speaker 6 (06:10):
They losing by thirty something.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Jordan gets hurt, twist his ankle or something like that,
has to be helped off the court, has to go
to the locker room.
Speaker 6 (06:18):
Game's over, it's fourth quarter, they.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Down thirty something. You all sudden here this noise. Jordan
comes walking out of the locker room and walks straight
to the scorer's table. Phil looks at him, like what
you're doing. Jordan's like nah, Jordan going back in limping
at all. He diving for loose balls and doing all
of that other stuff, and he looked at the Knicks.
I'm a Knicks fan, native New York, Hollis Queen, so
I run DMC in the career. I grew up with
(06:42):
jam Master Jay God rest of the s and Mam
late brother. They were best friends.
Speaker 6 (06:45):
We go back. I'm hyped about the Knicks.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
And I saw Jordan diving on the floor loose ball limping,
clearly wasn't himself, and he looked at them. He's like,
I ain't going away, y'all still got to come through me.
I'll see you later.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
And I said, ah.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Us is a damn You know, I'm sad because I'm like,
that best is gonna be standing in our way? Yes,
And sure enough he was, and he derailed them. New
York Knicks met him in the postseason, went up to nothing,
and then jordanum came back and one fourth straight when
Charles Smith had six different damn chances at a layup
and he kept getting blocked.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
It shot blocked.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
That that's that seats o'd don't get me started with
all still pets.
Speaker 6 (07:23):
But that's Jordan.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
What I'm saying to you is I don't see that,
and so because I don't see that along with the greatness,
the ten scoring titles, the six championships, unbleming, six NBA finals,
MVPs and everything they came with it, I don't have
Lebron as my goat. So that's that's one of the
reasons I believe, you know, we don't vibe. But there's
other things that I'm not gonna get into that I've
(07:47):
seen and how he has acted or whatever. And a
lot of people say, well, you know, that's that touches
on your credibilities.
Speaker 6 (07:54):
Even kiss my ass.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
It don't touch my credibility because you don't understand how
professional I am. Just because I don't like you doesn't
mean I don't respect you, and it doesn't mean I'm
not going to respect your greatness and your accomplishments. It
just that we'll never have dinner together or lunch together
or whatever anything like that. You keep it moving, I
keep on moving. But I'm a professional. If he wanted
to see me, I would do that, but I have
(08:16):
no desire to, I have no need to. I'm gonna
do my thing and let him do his thing. I think,
you know, he's the greatest of this generation. There's no
doubt about it, and he's been highly successful. But last
time I checked, I'm doing all right. I'm doing alright.
I don't need him any more than he needs me.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Steven A. We got so much more to cover, bro alright,
we got more. Stephen A. Smith in the Neighborhood, Big.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Boys Neighborhood, Big Boys Neighborhood on demand For more, subscribe
to our YouTube channel, big Boy TV, and check out
Radio Bigboy dot com.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Big Boy Neighborhood, Ladies and gentlemen. He is here, steven
A Smith in the Neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Was the comments about Briannie was it professional or was
it personal?
Speaker 6 (08:57):
Totally professional?
Speaker 4 (08:58):
I stand on that, and I told people that I
was not going to talk about it. I'm tired of
talking about it. Well, but I'm just answering your question.
You know, I'm here.
Speaker 6 (09:08):
I'm answering your question.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
Hold me accountable for what you know and what you see,
and hold me accountable for what I say. Don't make it.
And it's a lot of people out there doing excuse
my language, worries. You know that really bothers me. And
here's the reason why Briannie James is in high school.
I'm out here in La a Lot. I never went
to see every Kenyon because I knew if I walk in,
I'm at a point in time in my career where
(09:30):
this is what I do. I'm at the top of
the heap, God willing as long as it's gonna be.
Sure it's gonna be. But it's been here. I walk
into a high school gymnasium where his son is. Everybody
and their mother's gonna ask me what you think, and
I didn't feel that that was fair to that kid
at all. So I never went to watch him play.
Now one time, never went to watch them. He makes
the McDonald's All American team. My colleague Kendrick Perkins, a
(09:52):
former high school All American in two thousand and three
with Lebron, who's knowing Lebron for decades, says quote, I
ain't never seen no McDonald high school All American that
was averaging fourteen points a game. Questioning the legitimacy, I
say nothing. He's supposed to go to college. He's going
to USC Then unfortunately he had the heart ailment. Then
God he survived. He's okay, nothing but well wishes I
(10:13):
say nothing but that his pops comes out my son's
better than some NBA players right now.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
Strike one.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Can't do that, as the NBA players very disrespectful to
them to say something like that. Then Son's going to
enter the NBA draft. There are no collegiate credentials, but
cats come from high school to college, so that happens,
no problem.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
I say nothing.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
After that, Lebron says, if you want me draft my son,
Strike two and three. Now you're circumventing the merits. Now
you're saying, forget whether he's ready or not, do it
for me. How you think that's gonna fly? Now that
the average person out there, you know what they're thinking.
Nepotism happens in corporate America all the time, no problem.
Nepotism happens in sports coaches executives, fine, no problem, which
(10:57):
is why again we didn't say anything. But what we're
missing is that those fifteen roster spots on a team,
there's a lot of young brothers out there starving for it,
bust their tale, put in the work, produce the results
that don't have a daddy doing that. They're in a
position like that. We ignore all of it, all of it,
(11:18):
especially me. I say nothing. I can't tell you how
many agents and how many coaches and how many executives
said Steve name. When you don't say son, you ain't
say a damn thing like I ain't getting in all
of that, y'all. Nah, stuff happens in corporate America all
the time. Blah blah blah. Because Lebron earns it, he's underpaid.
Lebron's underpaid. Whatever Lebron's getting paid, he was about a
fifty million. He deserves more, okay, And the sacrifices that
(11:40):
he has made on behalf of this league. He deserves
every penny. And if guess what, he can get his
son into the league, ain't no problem, because the son's
still gonna have to earn it once he gets here.
Speaker 6 (11:48):
It's no big deal. Le Malone. These were my words.
It's all on tape. It's all on camera.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
I'm not telling you something I said privately, so all
on the record on the air opening night, Lebron and
BRONI are there. I am side at the Crypto dot
Com Arena like everybody else, clapping, leaving it alone. Lebron
deserves this.
Speaker 6 (12:08):
This is a good thing. It's all on tap.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
And then the struggles come, and then I go on
the air January twenty eighth. I believe because they had
gotten blown out by Philly and when he was on
a court it was like a minus thirty four minus
forty one ratio where he played in the first quarter
in JJ.
Speaker 6 (12:24):
Redigan then put him up against Tyrese Maxi for the
Philadelphis seventy six.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
I said, now, y'all done went too far, because now
you're exposing him and that was the problem. So when
you put him in that position, one of two things
are happening. You're highlighting that he's not ready, but in
the same breath, you're daring us to do our job.
Because when we say nothing, how we look, which is
(12:49):
why I finally spoke up. And when I finally spoke up,
it wasn't too Bronni. Everybody's been getting in me. He
attacked Lebron as a fall. That he's attacked him as
a fall. The yo, bro, it's the end of April.
That was two months ago. I stand by every damned syllable.
I said, I ain't backing up one inch even right.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
Now, stephen A.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
We got so much more to cover, bro, alright, we
got more. Stephen A Smith in the neighborhood, big.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
Boys, neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
This is big boy on demand, big boy.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Neighborhood ladies and gentlemen. He is here, Stephen A. Smith
in the neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
NFL draft man Rich is currently on our heads right now.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
What the hell happened at the NFL Draft.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
So as we're sitting here today with first round, second
round Chadour.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Well, Chador is the story. A guy like mel Kaiper Jr.
My colleague, a football guru, and a draft guru. The
best I'm telling you right now. I've been covering sports
for thirty plus years. You want to know about these
athletes and this skills. It's all he does and it's
all he has done for forty plus years. You understand
what I'm saying. He has Shad Door centers as the
(13:57):
best quarterback in the draft. Number one, he said. Understand
if he doesn't go number one, because cam Ward has
things you can't teach.
Speaker 6 (14:03):
The athleticism, the motor, the arm strength.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
We got that.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Not even going top ten. That happens dropping later on
in the first round. That happens talking about ninety seven,
ninety eight, ninety nine, one hundred picks and you didn't
pick a top twenty prospect at the most important position
in football. He doesn't get picked in the first three rounds. Nah,
when you was about this is about prime time, DNA sends,
(14:28):
that's what this is.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Even when you were watching this and you and you've
seen the dropping, the decline, you already knew.
Speaker 6 (14:33):
Oh well, I've been saying. I said it before.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
I said it before the draft. Did you think it
could happen?
Speaker 4 (14:38):
I didn't think this. It could happen like this, I thought, listen.
I was pissed off at the thought that he was
gonna en up a second round there. Because my I'm
a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I want to Pittsburg Steels draft
them at number twenty one. Now they drafted defensive tackle instead,
and I got that part because they got a bevy
of needs. But damn it, you need a quarterback. You
ain't had one. It's a big Ben Roethlisberger and his
last two years of Pittsburgh wasn't that.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Damn it?
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Pressove you got Mitchell Drabitski and an he Picket and Mason.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
Rudolph, and I don't want to see these people. I
need a quarterback with potential. I need I need a
cat that I can believe it.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
You know, I'm watching Shador Sanders and I'm like, Okay,
arm strength is good enough but not great. Motors good
enough but not Grey Rock Party. How that work out?
A couple of Super Bowl faeries, Kirk Cousins, How that
work out? I mean, I'm watching, I'm watching a few examples.
Now I'm sitting there. Jalen hurts athleticism but wasn't an
(15:29):
elite passer? Was that Alabama gets National Championship game?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Too?
Speaker 6 (15:33):
Got to come up in there?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
He ultimately stays there, model citizen, great guy, great character,
ultimately transitions and transfers to Oklahoma, takes them to the
college football players, gets drafted. He got drafted in the second round. Now,
think about what they're saying about shrd door Sanders accuracy,
poys got sacked ninety four times. So you're getting pummeled
because your offensive line sucks. You're getting pummeled so badly
(15:55):
that Dion Sanders said that it got to a point
in his first year at Colorado where he had to
start thinking about himself as a father, not a coach,
right because of what he was exposing his son to.
Because it was a protecting him because the offensive line
was so bad. This is how bad it was. What
does Shador Sanders do? He still stays in the pocket,
still flinging that football, which means he's not scared, which
(16:16):
means he's durable, which means he has poised. Then we
take into account his jeens. Deon Sanders elite cornerback, oh
by the way, played wide receiver. Oh by the way,
was a specialist, not only as a kickoff returner, but
a punt returner. This is Deon Sanders we're talking about,
who's also a football savant and showed so not just
(16:37):
as a football player, not just as an analyst on
CBS and then the NFL network, but then as a coach. Yes, sir,
and you down on this kid. Really, that's about Daddy,
that's about him. I'm not faulting Dion. But it's not
an accident that Dion, who wanted to coach, has never
coached in the National Football League. It's not an accident
that this man was an All American at Florida State.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
They didn't hire him.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Knowing that he could go out and get cats to
come to your program.
Speaker 6 (17:04):
You're still in pick them, okay?
Speaker 4 (17:05):
And he had to go to an HBCU like Jackson
State before you ultimately got the opportunity to be here
at Colorado.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
There's a lot of that.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Going on, and so there are certain things that happened
because the political landscape serves to influence you in a
very profound way, and that's what happens with these owners.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Steven, they different want to thank you for coming into
the neighborhood. For those out there, you can find the
entire this entire interview. It's right there for Big Boy TV,
our YouTube channel. As you're watching it, make sure that
you hit that subscribe button as well. Once again, Steven
Ah Smith, thank you for coming into the neighborhood.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
Big Boys.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Adie, you're finding a Big Boy from Big Boys Neighborhood
on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
Here's another in case you missed it, moment with us
to the neighborhood. Ice Cue.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Y'all put an offer out to Caitlin Clark, right, Yeah,
she was just gonna play this season and still could
have played w NBA or how about they had worked out.
Speaker 7 (17:58):
For our schedules, would the fever. We only had one
overlap and we was willing to move those games at
the time because we saw business wise, it would just
open up a lot of opportunities for the league sponsor wise,
it would you know, unlock millions of dollars. So we
had to go for it, and we didn't know if
(18:19):
she was up for the challenge or not. We made
the offer and was it like what was it? It
was five million a year for a couple of years
and some other concessions, but you know, at the end
of the day, it was really up to her.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
It was more.
Speaker 7 (18:33):
About the challenge, I think than the money, because you know,
she's still a college player and she got to cut
her teeth in the w NBA and try to cut
your teeth in both leagues.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
At the same time.
Speaker 7 (18:46):
Could be you know a little over now over there.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Thank you for listening. It is a big Big Boys neighborhood.
You could catch more of us right here on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Big Boy has left the building.
This is Big Boys Neighborhood on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I've been waiting for this on Ladies and Gentlemen. We
got the voice of sports. We got Stephen A. Smith
in the neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
When you say, don't let something, don't let it mess
up your money, Shannon Sharp bro now and I know this, this,
this is your dog. And I love what Shannon Sharp
is doing. I love Club Shay say, I love everything.
But what did you think as Steven A. Smith, a comrade, associate, friend, brother,
black man, everything.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
It was important for me not to be selfish. I'm
not gonna of course, I've spoken to him. What do
you saying, I'm I tell you, but I feel about
Shannon Sharp the way I feel about Ryan Clark, the
whey I feel about Marcus Spears, the way I feel
about any of my teammates at ESPN. I mean, we
we have a great, great group of folks and it's
a genuine friendship with one another. And I got a
(00:53):
lot of love for Shannon and getting to know him.
I haven't known Shannon all of these years the way
that I've known the others. I've met him in past
and stuff like that. And then you know, we became friends. Once,
I went and got him and brought him on board
at ESPN. And I'm very proud that I brought him
on board because I think he did He's done an
exceptional job for us. His effort was contagious. He never
(01:14):
cheated us. He was He always came on the air,
always ready, always enthused about performing and doing his job
and making sure he contributed to the ratings, which he
did in a very profound fashion. And I'm incredibly grateful
to him for that. When I saw the story come out,
obviously I was alarmed. Like everybody else. It's nine fifty
eight on Monday morning. We got a show at ten o'clock,
(01:37):
and then the story comes out about the allegations against him.
That was very alarming. I didn't know until two minutes
before the show. And so when you dealing with something
like that, it takes on a life of its own.
And on one hand, you got to be very very
sensitive to him from the standpoint that he is profoundly
claiming his innocence. But then in the same breath you're
(02:00):
looking at the stuff his lawyers put out and you're like,
that ain't helping. And then you're looking at what you
know about Disney. See that's where I come because none
of these cats have worked for Disney as long as
I have, and as familiar and intimate about the inner
workings of Disney and how they think the way that
(02:21):
I am, And so I'm now imagining what Disney's going
to ultimately do. So although I was hopeful that it
ultimately would not lead to him being off the air,
I knew it wasn't gonna go down like that because
I know Disney right, And so you know, again, I
can't say all the things that I've heard, all of
the things that I know based on my conversations with
(02:44):
him and my conversations with the executives. What I do
know is that he has emphatically and profoundly proclaimed his
innocence from a legal and libel perspective in terms of,
you know, not assaulting or raping or doing anything like
that to anybody. He is emphatic that he is innocent
of those things. But the court of public opinion is
what the Disneys of the world and others concerned themselves with.
(03:08):
But most importantly, I'm his friend, right, and that man
he's helped me immensely. It ain't just me doing for him,
he's done for me as well in terms of his
performance and his dedication to his craft, and how he's
helped us in terms of the show itself and how
he helped us continue to explode. And I'm incredibly grateful
(03:28):
to him for that. And I know that he does
not trust easy, and that the connest conversations that he's
had with me he wouldn't have with just anybody. So
I'm gonna honor that, and I'm gonna make sure that
he knows and that everybody knows that no matter how
things go down, not to say that he would rely
on me, but if he ever chose to anything that
I can do for him as a friend, I will do.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Stephen A, we got so much more to cover, bro Alright,
we got more. Stephen A Smith in the neighborhood, Big
boys neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
This is big boy on demand.
Speaker 5 (04:01):
Ladies and gentlemen. He is here, stephen A Smith in
the neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Stephen A, have you had a conversation with lebron since
since we've seen the other incident?
Speaker 4 (04:11):
No?
Speaker 6 (04:13):
Would you if he asked, which he wouldn't, but if
he asked.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
Sure, why do you think that happened?
Speaker 4 (04:19):
Because we don't like each other, period. But I want
to emphasize this. I respect the hell out of him.
He's the second greatest player in the history of basketball.
He's a global iconic brand. What he has achieved in
his career is phenomenal. I will never lack respect for
him and his accomplishments. I believe Michael Jordan is the
(04:43):
greatest I've ever seen. I don't give a damn what
anybody says. I don't say that to throw shade on him.
I say that because as a basketball player, I.
Speaker 6 (04:52):
Believe Michael Jordan is to be revered.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
I see people respecting Lebron and being in awe of him.
I saw Michael Jordan feared, feared I'm talking about. It
was just it's next level, bro. I love the quote
from John Sally in the Last Dance documentary in docu
series where John Sally said the plan.
Speaker 6 (05:13):
For the Bad Boys Jordan rule was the first.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
The major plan was to get him before he went airborne,
because you know he's not human, right, That was the
thinking of Michael Jordan, a stone cold killer and annihilate you.
You know, he came to take your soul. He didn't
come just to beat you. He wanted to demoralize you
in such a way that you knew better than thinking
(05:37):
you could defeat him. And one of the moments that
I bring this up, I believe the year's nineteen ninety three.
They they're going for a three peat. I believe, so
I'm not. I don't remember because I wasn't coming the
NBA at that time. So the Knicks are projected to
be the team coming out of the East, Chicago's champions.
Speaker 6 (05:56):
Michael Jordan and the boys coming to town and Patrick
Ewing they.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Got they got Oak, and they got Starks, and they
got all of these cats right, and they ready and
Chicago comes to the Garden and they are getting blown
out of the building.
Speaker 6 (06:10):
They losing by thirty something.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Jordan gets hurt, twist his ankle or something like that,
has to be helped off the court, has to go
to the locker room.
Speaker 6 (06:18):
Game's over, it's fourth quarter, they.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Down thirty something. You all sudden here this noise. Jordan
comes walking out of the locker room and walks straight
to the scorer's table. Phil looks at him, like what
you're doing. Jordan's like nah, Jordan going back in limping
at all. He diving for loose balls and doing all
of that other stuff, and he looked at the Knicks.
I'm a Knicks fan, native New York, Hollis Queen, so
I run DMC in the career. I grew up with
(06:42):
jam Master Jay God rest of the s and Mam
late brother. They were best friends.
Speaker 6 (06:45):
We go back. I'm hyped about the Knicks.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
And I saw Jordan diving on the floor loose ball limping,
clearly wasn't himself, and he looked at them. He's like,
I ain't going away, y'all still got to come through me.
I'll see you later.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
And I said, ah.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Us is a damn You know, I'm sad because I'm like,
that best is gonna be standing in our way? Yes,
And sure enough he was, and he derailed them. New
York Knicks met him in the postseason, went up to nothing,
and then jordanum came back and one fourth straight when
Charles Smith had six different damn chances at a layup
and he kept getting blocked.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
It shot blocked.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
That that's that seats o'd don't get me started with
all still pets.
Speaker 6 (07:23):
But that's Jordan.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
What I'm saying to you is I don't see that,
and so because I don't see that along with the greatness,
the ten scoring titles, the six championships, unbleming, six NBA finals,
MVPs and everything they came with it, I don't have
Lebron as my goat. So that's that's one of the
reasons I believe, you know, we don't vibe. But there's
other things that I'm not gonna get into that I've
(07:47):
seen and how he has acted or whatever. And a
lot of people say, well, you know, that's that touches
on your credibilities.
Speaker 6 (07:54):
Even kiss my ass.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
It don't touch my credibility because you don't understand how
professional I am. Just because I don't like you doesn't
mean I don't respect you, and it doesn't mean I'm
not going to respect your greatness and your accomplishments. It
just that we'll never have dinner together or lunch together
or whatever anything like that. You keep it moving, I
keep on moving. But I'm a professional. If he wanted
to see me, I would do that, but I have
(08:16):
no desire to, I have no need to. I'm gonna
do my thing and let him do his thing. I think,
you know, he's the greatest of this generation. There's no
doubt about it, and he's been highly successful. But last
time I checked, I'm doing all right. I'm doing alright.
I don't need him any more than he needs me.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Steven A. We got so much more to cover, bro alright,
we got more. Stephen A. Smith in the Neighborhood, Big.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Boys Neighborhood, Big Boys Neighborhood on demand For more, subscribe
to our YouTube channel, big Boy TV, and check out
Radio Bigboy dot com.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Big Boy Neighborhood, Ladies and gentlemen. He is here, steven
A Smith in the Neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Was the comments about Briannie was it professional or was
it personal?
Speaker 6 (08:57):
Totally professional?
Speaker 4 (08:58):
I stand on that, and I told people that I
was not going to talk about it. I'm tired of
talking about it. Well, but I'm just answering your question.
You know, I'm here.
Speaker 6 (09:08):
I'm answering your question.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
Hold me accountable for what you know and what you see,
and hold me accountable for what I say. Don't make it.
And it's a lot of people out there doing excuse
my language, worries. You know that really bothers me. And
here's the reason why Briannie James is in high school.
I'm out here in La a Lot. I never went
to see every Kenyon because I knew if I walk in,
I'm at a point in time in my career where
(09:30):
this is what I do. I'm at the top of
the heap, God willing as long as it's gonna be.
Sure it's gonna be. But it's been here. I walk
into a high school gymnasium where his son is. Everybody
and their mother's gonna ask me what you think, and
I didn't feel that that was fair to that kid
at all. So I never went to watch him play.
Now one time, never went to watch them. He makes
the McDonald's All American team. My colleague Kendrick Perkins, a
(09:52):
former high school All American in two thousand and three
with Lebron, who's knowing Lebron for decades, says quote, I
ain't never seen no McDonald high school All American that
was averaging fourteen points a game. Questioning the legitimacy, I
say nothing. He's supposed to go to college. He's going
to USC Then unfortunately he had the heart ailment. Then
God he survived. He's okay, nothing but well wishes I
(10:13):
say nothing but that his pops comes out my son's
better than some NBA players right now.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
Strike one.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Can't do that, as the NBA players very disrespectful to
them to say something like that. Then Son's going to
enter the NBA draft. There are no collegiate credentials, but
cats come from high school to college, so that happens,
no problem.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
I say nothing.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
After that, Lebron says, if you want me draft my son,
Strike two and three. Now you're circumventing the merits. Now
you're saying, forget whether he's ready or not, do it
for me. How you think that's gonna fly? Now that
the average person out there, you know what they're thinking.
Nepotism happens in corporate America all the time, no problem.
Nepotism happens in sports coaches executives, fine, no problem, which
(10:57):
is why again we didn't say anything. But what we're
missing is that those fifteen roster spots on a team,
there's a lot of young brothers out there starving for it,
bust their tale, put in the work, produce the results
that don't have a daddy doing that. They're in a
position like that. We ignore all of it, all of it,
(11:18):
especially me. I say nothing. I can't tell you how
many agents and how many coaches and how many executives
said Steve name. When you don't say son, you ain't
say a damn thing like I ain't getting in all
of that, y'all. Nah, stuff happens in corporate America all
the time. Blah blah blah. Because Lebron earns it, he's underpaid.
Lebron's underpaid. Whatever Lebron's getting paid, he was about a
fifty million. He deserves more, okay, And the sacrifices that
(11:40):
he has made on behalf of this league. He deserves
every penny. And if guess what, he can get his
son into the league, ain't no problem, because the son's
still gonna have to earn it once he gets here.
Speaker 6 (11:48):
It's no big deal. Le Malone. These were my words.
It's all on tape. It's all on camera.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
I'm not telling you something I said privately, so all
on the record on the air opening night, Lebron and
BRONI are there. I am side at the Crypto dot
Com Arena like everybody else, clapping, leaving it alone. Lebron
deserves this.
Speaker 6 (12:08):
This is a good thing. It's all on tap.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
And then the struggles come, and then I go on
the air January twenty eighth. I believe because they had
gotten blown out by Philly and when he was on
a court it was like a minus thirty four minus
forty one ratio where he played in the first quarter
in JJ.
Speaker 6 (12:24):
Redigan then put him up against Tyrese Maxi for the
Philadelphis seventy six.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
I said, now, y'all done went too far, because now
you're exposing him and that was the problem. So when
you put him in that position, one of two things
are happening. You're highlighting that he's not ready, but in
the same breath, you're daring us to do our job.
Because when we say nothing, how we look, which is
(12:49):
why I finally spoke up. And when I finally spoke up,
it wasn't too Bronni. Everybody's been getting in me. He
attacked Lebron as a fall. That he's attacked him as
a fall. The yo, bro, it's the end of April.
That was two months ago. I stand by every damned syllable.
I said, I ain't backing up one inch even right.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
Now, stephen A.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
We got so much more to cover, bro, alright, we
got more. Stephen A Smith in the neighborhood, big.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
Boys, neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
This is big boy on demand, big boy.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Neighborhood ladies and gentlemen. He is here, Stephen A. Smith
in the neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
NFL draft man Rich is currently on our heads right now.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
What the hell happened at the NFL Draft.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
So as we're sitting here today with first round, second
round Chadour.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Well, Chador is the story. A guy like mel Kaiper Jr.
My colleague, a football guru, and a draft guru. The
best I'm telling you right now. I've been covering sports
for thirty plus years. You want to know about these
athletes and this skills. It's all he does and it's
all he has done for forty plus years. You understand
what I'm saying. He has Shad Door centers as the
(13:57):
best quarterback in the draft. Number one, he said. Understand
if he doesn't go number one, because cam Ward has
things you can't teach.
Speaker 6 (14:03):
The athleticism, the motor, the arm strength.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
We got that.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Not even going top ten. That happens dropping later on
in the first round. That happens talking about ninety seven,
ninety eight, ninety nine, one hundred picks and you didn't
pick a top twenty prospect at the most important position
in football. He doesn't get picked in the first three rounds. Nah,
when you was about this is about prime time, DNA sends,
(14:28):
that's what this is.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Even when you were watching this and you and you've
seen the dropping, the decline, you already knew.
Speaker 6 (14:33):
Oh well, I've been saying. I said it before.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
I said it before the draft. Did you think it
could happen?
Speaker 4 (14:38):
I didn't think this. It could happen like this, I thought, listen.
I was pissed off at the thought that he was
gonna en up a second round there. Because my I'm
a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I want to Pittsburg Steels draft
them at number twenty one. Now they drafted defensive tackle instead,
and I got that part because they got a bevy
of needs. But damn it, you need a quarterback. You
ain't had one. It's a big Ben Roethlisberger and his
last two years of Pittsburgh wasn't that.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Damn it?
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Pressove you got Mitchell Drabitski and an he Picket and Mason.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
Rudolph, and I don't want to see these people. I
need a quarterback with potential. I need I need a
cat that I can believe it.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
You know, I'm watching Shador Sanders and I'm like, Okay,
arm strength is good enough but not great. Motors good
enough but not Grey Rock Party. How that work out?
A couple of Super Bowl faeries, Kirk Cousins, How that
work out? I mean, I'm watching, I'm watching a few examples.
Now I'm sitting there. Jalen hurts athleticism but wasn't an
(15:29):
elite passer? Was that Alabama gets National Championship game?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Too?
Speaker 6 (15:33):
Got to come up in there?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
He ultimately stays there, model citizen, great guy, great character,
ultimately transitions and transfers to Oklahoma, takes them to the
college football players, gets drafted. He got drafted in the second round. Now,
think about what they're saying about shrd door Sanders accuracy,
poys got sacked ninety four times. So you're getting pummeled
because your offensive line sucks. You're getting pummeled so badly
(15:55):
that Dion Sanders said that it got to a point
in his first year at Colorado where he had to
start thinking about himself as a father, not a coach,
right because of what he was exposing his son to.
Because it was a protecting him because the offensive line
was so bad. This is how bad it was. What
does Shador Sanders do? He still stays in the pocket,
still flinging that football, which means he's not scared, which
(16:16):
means he's durable, which means he has poised. Then we
take into account his jeens. Deon Sanders elite cornerback, oh
by the way, played wide receiver. Oh by the way,
was a specialist, not only as a kickoff returner, but
a punt returner. This is Deon Sanders we're talking about,
who's also a football savant and showed so not just
(16:37):
as a football player, not just as an analyst on
CBS and then the NFL network, but then as a coach. Yes, sir,
and you down on this kid. Really, that's about Daddy,
that's about him. I'm not faulting Dion. But it's not
an accident that Dion, who wanted to coach, has never
coached in the National Football League. It's not an accident
that this man was an All American at Florida State.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
They didn't hire him.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Knowing that he could go out and get cats to
come to your program.
Speaker 6 (17:04):
You're still in pick them, okay?
Speaker 4 (17:05):
And he had to go to an HBCU like Jackson
State before you ultimately got the opportunity to be here
at Colorado.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
There's a lot of that.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Going on, and so there are certain things that happened
because the political landscape serves to influence you in a
very profound way, and that's what happens with these owners.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Steven, they different want to thank you for coming into
the neighborhood. For those out there, you can find the
entire this entire interview. It's right there for Big Boy TV,
our YouTube channel. As you're watching it, make sure that
you hit that subscribe button as well. Once again, Steven
Ah Smith, thank you for coming into the neighborhood.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
Big Boys.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Adie, you're finding a Big Boy from Big Boys Neighborhood
on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
Here's another in case you missed it, moment with us
to the neighborhood. Ice Cue.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Y'all put an offer out to Caitlin Clark, right, Yeah,
she was just gonna play this season and still could
have played w NBA or how about they had worked out.
Speaker 7 (17:58):
For our schedules, would the fever. We only had one
overlap and we was willing to move those games at
the time because we saw business wise, it would just
open up a lot of opportunities for the league sponsor wise,
it would you know, unlock millions of dollars. So we
had to go for it, and we didn't know if
(18:19):
she was up for the challenge or not. We made
the offer and was it like what was it? It
was five million a year for a couple of years
and some other concessions, but you know, at the end
of the day, it was really up to her.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
It was more.
Speaker 7 (18:33):
About the challenge, I think than the money, because you know,
she's still a college player and she got to cut
her teeth in the w NBA and try to cut
your teeth in both leagues.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
At the same time.
Speaker 7 (18:46):
Could be you know a little over now over there.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Thank you for listening. It is a big Big Boys neighborhood.
You could catch more of us right here on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Big Boy has left the building.
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