It’s hard to imagine ESPN and Stephen A. Smith parting ways, but according to Dan Le Batard, that’s exactly what the boisterous First Take host is preparing for.
On Wednesday’s episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, Le Batard broached one of his favorite topics, Stephen A. Smith. While addressing Smith’s recent reaction to being called out by Marcellus Wiley for repeatedly piling on his former First Take co-host Max Kellerman, Le Batard noted how Smith is growing his personal brand by frequently talking about himself away from ESPN. According to Le Batard, it’s by design, with Smith bracing for his potential exit from ESPN.
“When in the middle of layoffs, he’s telling you, ‘I can be next,’ and then you watch on ESPN, the scroll for a daily infomercial where he’s telling you, ‘And you can catch me over here on The Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube where I have my own production company,’ and you’re treating ESPN, the power in sports as something that is a promotional vehicle for your other projects outside of sports…he’s clearly building a safety net right in front of your eyes.”
Shortly after watching ESPN undergo a significant round of layoffs over the summer, Smith boldly took to his personal podcast and claimed, “I could be next.” Considering his standing at ESPN, the declaration seemed farfetched, but Le Batard thinks Smith is actually setting up his career for the possibility that he could be next.
“If he’s telling you out loud, ‘I could be next,’ when everyone knows he’s untouchable, when every time you pull up ESPN.com, all you’ve got there are McAfee and Stephen A. Smith…and he’s telling you, ‘I could be next on the firings,’ it’s clear that unemotionally, rationally, he’s protecting the business and the brand of Stephen A. Smith in the event he gets let go by ESPN again,” Le Batard explained.
Le Batard proceeded to note how Dan Patrick was relegated to working out of his attic when he left ESPN. Similarly, Le Batard admitted his first two years without the backing of ESPN as he attempts to build Meadowlark Media has been a challenge. Smith, however, is already bracing for his departure. While he’s still at ESPN, Smith is building an independent platform to ensure he’ll be capable of holding his own should the First Take host ever exit the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
Smith has already dealt with the struggle of needing to survive without ESPN, having already been fired from the Disney-owned company in 2009. But the next time Smith leaves ESPN, either on his terms or theirs, he won’t have to knock on doors for new opportunities, because he’s already creating those through his own production company.
