Stephen A. Smith doesn’t care what people call him. Some call him a commentator. Others say he is a hot take artist.
He was on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday and said make no mistake. He is a reporter first.
“Yeah, I’m a personality, I’m a commentator and all this other stuff, but I’ve been covering sports for 30 years,” the First Take star said. “So when I sit up there and I say something, okay, if somebody want to say I’m wrong, okay, how am I wrong? Don’t tell me I lied. That means somebody else is lying because I don’t make shit up. I report. That’s what I do, and I have sources all over the place.”
Smith shared a story about a coach that blasted him once at a press conference in Philadelphia for a report that the coach publicly said was untrue. He said that as the coach left the podium, he shot Smith a wink and they had dinner that night.
He added that no one has to wonder when and how he gets his information. Anyone with common sense should be able to put it together.
“When I came off vacation, which you’re alluding to, I will remind you that I had been at the Errol Spence Jr/Terence Crawford fight. Did you see all of those folks that at that fight?” he said. “Athletes, coaches, GMs, the owners. Everybody was at the fight. You don’t think Stephen A spoke to anybody? You know, getting a Hennessy and Coke, chilling out. Got my girl, my family with me and I ain’t doing shit? Really? You don’t think for one second that me, who’s been known as being a reporter and an insider for the better part of 30 years, didn’t talk to anybody?”
Stephen A. Smith is not shy about his acumen. He knows how some people see him, but he says anyone in the business knows that he puts in the work to get real information.
“There’s a track record. Go look it up. Google me if you have to. You know, some people talk about reporting. I’ve actually done it.”
