Back before he was picking fights with LeBron James, Stephen A. Smith had a show on ESPN called Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith where he would interview the leading sports stars of the day. Watching the show now feels like opening up a time capsule, complete with Stuart Scott “Booyah”. At the time, Smith was an up-and-coming star at the network, though he wasn’t quite the ubiquitous figure that he is now.
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SAS had Dwyane Wade on his show in 2006 when Wade was still early in his NBA career. The Miami Heat star was in his third season after being draft third in 2003, and Stephen A. wanted to know if he planned on getting his Heat to the Finals that year.
First though, he had to ask about D-Wade’s watch. The gaudy timepiece immediately caught his eye and had diamonds on top of diamonds, which led Stephen A. to question how someone that was making about three million a year could have such an expensive accessory.
“That rookie contract you signed, you’re not supposed to be able to make that much.”
Wade replied that the watch was a gift. Stephen A., connecting the dots, asked if it was “from the Diesel.” Shaquille O’Neal was Wade’s teammate at the time and was known for being quite generous. Wade didn’t elaborate, but he said that it wasn’t a gift from his backboard-shattering teammate.
Shaq was in the midst of a five-year, $101 million contract, so he certainly could have afforded it, whereas Wade was on a relatively modest four-year, $12 million rookie deal. Wade would eventually strike it big with a three year, 43 million dollar extension in 2007.
Stephen A. Smith and Dwyane Wade have both come a long way since their Quite Frankly conversation
After putting the watch talk behind them, Stephen A. put the pressure on Wade by asking, “Am I going to be in South Beach this June?” This ended up being the right question to ask, as Wade did indeed lead his Heat to the NBA title in June, putting up one of the greatest Finals performances of all-time to beat the Dallas Mavericks.
Fast forward to today and both men can buy just about any watch they want. Wade is a retired three-time NBA champ and Hall-of-Famer that made nearly $200 million from his NBA contracts alone. Stephen A. has become the face of ESPN, a status that was solidified when he agreed to a five-year, $100 million contract extension recently.
Stephen A. and D-Wade still cross paths every now and again, as they did last week when Wade commented on the feud between LeBron and Stephen A. on Carmelo Anthony’s 7PM in Brooklyn podcast and Smith questioned why LeBron wasn’t at Wade’s jersey retirement ceremony.
This clip was from a comparatively simpler time, back when people asked where the beef was and sports hosts talked to athletes with respect.
