The world of sports media has grown to value personality over experience or expertise. Different names have certainly benefitted from that change, but few talking heads have claimed more personal gain than Stephen A. Smith. Smith never played basketball at any level but is seen as a trusted voice by some. On the other hand, definitely filled to the brim with personality, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal are both former MVPs.
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The fact that the word of each of those men carries the same weight rubs people the wrong way. In fact, despite the generally positive relationship between Barkley and Smith, the two have begun to jaw at each other over disagreements both in and outside the industry.
In a recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, the ESPN star took offense to some of Barkley’s statements after the latter joked about Smith’s appearances on the serialized TV shows “Law and Order” and “General Hospital.” Chuck said that Smith was “starting to be too much.”
Smith responded by saying that Barkley was “a flaming hypocrite … do y’all have any idea how many commercials Charles Barkley does every year? Oh by the way, a cat that you work with … in Shaquille O’Neal, can we count the amount of endorsements he has? How often he’s seen everywhere? … Did you say that about him?”
However, this was not Stephen A.’s biggest issue. Smith recently received another re-up on his contract with ESPN. The 57-year-old is now in line to make $100 million for his regular appearances. Barkley brought this up, much to Smith’s indignation.
“When you’re making the money that you’re making, that you have been making for years, you can afford to turn down to turn down those opportunities,” insisted Smith, “Don’t bring up my new contract now, that was signed last month. You’ve been making that money for years.”
Also, as Smith went into, it’s not like Barkley hasn’t tried to get more screen time. Despite his statements that he “wants to be on TV less,” Chuck has been talking about his wish to run for governor of his home state of Alabama for years. Now, when Smith is making a jump to politics, Barkley’s own self-standards don’t apply.
Smith insisted that, despite a whole 10-minute segment about how disrespected he felt, he and Barkley are still good friends, to the point of brotherly trust. Smith remembered when Barkley had been blunt with him about the former’s beef with LeBron James before saying the exact same thing on live TV.
As Stephen A. continues to expand his presence, there will surely be more discussions of this ilk coming. However, it is likely a good starting point to hear it from a close friend rather than from the same base you’re trying to please.
