As the holiday season ends, the crew at ESPN‘s First Take are finding cute and wholesome ways to celebrate the last few days of 2023 together. In the latest segment of the show, veteran analyst Stephen A. Smith revealed his New Year’s resolution for 2024, which is to be more outspoken against his team at the show. The veteran analyst jokingly pointed out how he was tired of the crew making him the center of their jokes and specifically mentioned Molly Qerim to be at the helm.
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“My New Year’s resolution is to be a bit more outspoken this time,” declared Stephen A. Smith in an animated but jolly manner. Speaking of being on the business end of jokes, SAS added, “I take a lot of nonsense from the people here at First Take. They do jokes on me all the time! And they sit up there and conspire against me. The people like Molly, instigating everything!”
Seems like SAS must have had enough of the banter he regularly faces from his colleagues at work. Starting next year, he promises to call his colleagues out and retaliate against them by getting over his ‘shyness.’ Adding to that note, SAS concluded, “I have taken enough! My New Year’s resolution is that I’m going to step up, and I’m going to retaliate, and I’m going to get rid of the shyness because I have feelings too!”
There are several instances wherein the First Take crew brutally roasted Stephen A. Smith on the show. For example, in August this year, Molly Qerim hilariously mocked Stephen A. for wearing a bright yellow outfit, and later in September, Qerim even joined forces with popular TV personality Steve Harvey to roast SAS for bouncing his first pitch at the Yankees Stadium.
However, to be fair to Molly Querim, and Steve Harvey, Smith is clearly someone who has played baseball before, and extensively too. Furthermore, the 56-year-old is very much in shape, especially relative to his age, as he has been working out, and recently even lost 32 pounds, as per the US Sun. So, the analyst really had no excuse for throwing such an embarrassing first pitch at the Yankees stadium. Since he did do so anyway, he needed to take the heat for it too, whether he liked it or not.
While SAS’s resolution found a mixed reaction from Molly Qerim, fellow analyst Shannon Sharpe wholeheartedly supported Smith on the same. Sharpe agreed that the crew took unnecessary shots at Stephen A. However, Sharpe tried to put himself out of this situation, claiming he had never made any sort of banter or joke out of the veteran analyst. Perhaps from next year on, we may expect Stephen A. Smith to dodge all of Molly Qerim’s shots and banter toward him on First Take.
Stephen A. Smith is quite outspoken, albeit on basketball matters
Stephen A. Smith’s analysis and opinions are not just limited to basketball but also include other affairs related to lifestyle and gossip. One of the best instances of his outspoken nature was when he called out Warriors head coach Steve Kerr’s ‘disgusting’ remark by recounting Kerr’s experience in broadcasting in the early 2000s. Speaking on First Take, SAS hit back at Kerr, saying, “We’re on a national television show, which you used to do Steve Kerr because he was calling games.”
Another instance of SAS using his outspoken nature to highlight an issue is to address the Draymond Green situation in the NBA. Since reports started emerging of Green undergoing therapy, trolls and detractors aren’t shying away from calling him ‘crazy.’
Supporting Paul George calling out Green’s naysayers, Smith hit back at the detractors on First Take, saying, “But for people to be talking about him like he’s crazy, Draymond Green is not crazy… I think it’s great that Paul George took the time to remind everybody this is a good brother, and he’s not some sick, demented individual that has a mental illness.”
Smith runs a separate YouTube channel called The Stephen A. Smith Show, where he speaks on various topics at his convenience. In this show, Smith picks on various contentious topics, including speaking about Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s marriage scandal, as well as Anthony Edwards’ situation of paying an IG model $100,000 to abort their child together.
The fact that his many channels of sports and entertainment have all been so successful is a testament to how charismatic Smith is. Fans across the globe can’t help but follow his often controversial takes that are often announced with a hilarious amount of theatrics behind them. Given the character he is, no matter what he talks about, it is very likely that fans will tune in whenever his show comes on. It will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future.
