Shaquille O’Neal Shines Light On $50 Billion Rivals’ Layoffs As Stephen A Smith Leaves Heartfelt Message For Colleagues

ESPN has been one of the best sports broadcasting networks for several decades. But they recently made headlines for some not-so-great news. The $50 billion worth company laid off 20 on-air talents. These 20 on-air talents include some of the biggest analysts, journalists, and commentators in the industry. Stephen A Smith, who is probably one of the biggest sports television personalities, was fortunate enough to survive the layoff. However, seeing some of his closest friends let go, Smith shared a goodbye video to the former colleagues. Shaquille O’Neal, who actually works as an analyst for ESPN’s rival, seemed to have resonated with the heartfelt message Smith delivered on his podcast.

ESPN’s decision of letting go of some high-profile personalities such as Jalen Rose, Max Kellerman, and Jeff Van Gundy, left everyone in shock. Several reports suggest that the firing of these 20 staff was motivated by ESPN’s aims towards “additional costs savings”. Associated with ESPN for more than two decades, Stephen A. Smith has worked closely alongside the employees who left. In an emotional podcast episode, the 55-year-old bid goodbye to all the 20 on-air talents.

Shaquille O’Neal shares a Stephen A. Smith reel

Stephen A. Smith took to his podcast “The Stephen A Smith Show” to express his feelings about the lay-off. Smith begins the message by acknowledging everyone’s successful stint with ESPN.

“ESPN laid off about 20 members of its on-air talent. Friends of mine actually, definitely respected colleagues who’d done a phenomenal job and deserved better. They deserved better from then the times we’re living in.”

Later, the analyst went on to recognize the efforts of some of his close friends. He gave a special shout-out to Jeff Van Gundy, Jalen Rose, Neil Everett, Ashley Brewer, Keyshawn Johnson, David Pollock, and Todd McShay.

Even though Shaq works as an analyst for Turner Sports, the rivals of ESPN, the former NBA star couldn’t help but re-share the video on his Instagram story. Take a look at the screenshot of the story on tragicpatek’s tweet.

Despite sharing Smith’s reel, Shaq believes only Brian Windhorst is untouchable at ESPN

Just a few hours before sharing Stephen A. Smith’s reel on his story, Shaq’s Instagram activity suggested that he believed Brian Windhorst to be the only irreplaceable ESPN analyst. The Big Aristotle re-shared a clip of kicks on his story that was captioned “Only 1 employee at ESPN is untouchable.” Look at NBA Celeb Update’s tweet for the screenshot of O’Neal’s story.

Windhorst has been one of the longest-tenured reporters at ESPN and is respected as one of the best in the industry. Windy has had a positive impact on the network, and it is almost certain that the 45-year-old is one of the most important personalities for ESPN.