Skip Bayless dishes on his relationship with Stephen A. Smith

Friday saw Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith going at it on First Take for the first time since Bayless’s departure from ESPN a decade ago.

The iconic debate duo picked up right where they left off, hitting on the classics from the “glory days,” including the Dallas Cowboys, New York Knicks, and of course, LeBron James.

Bayless’ return to the First Take studio came at a critical time in his media career. After sitting across from Shannone Sharpe on FS1’s Undisputed for several years, he ultimately drove Sharpe away from the network and saw his own time at Fox come to an end in 2024. After settling a lawsuit stemming from accusations of impropriety during his time at Fox, Bayless’s media presence has largely been relegated to his own podcast and cameo appearances with Gilbert Arenas.

For his part, Smith was happy to help out Bayless and bring him back, and explained why after the show.

“It doesn’t matter what has happened in my career on First Take on ESPN; the fact is it wouldn’t have happened without his support. Skip was fighting all those years, those couple of years I was gone, it was Skip that was fighting for me to be back,” Smith said.

“And when I got back and was restricted to radio by ESPN, it was Skip that was fighting to have me on First Take. And when we first started off, it was on Wednesdays, and I was limited to the first segment of hour number two of First Take on Wednesdays. And it was that, that ultimately materialized into me coming on for the whole show every Wednesday, and thereafter, ultimately, he fought for me to be on permanently.

Skip Bayless insists he was right about Tim Tebow… pic.twitter.com/SKsW7xFPZH

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 8, 2026

Bayless appeared on The Arena: Gridiron after Friday’s airing, and after sharing a laugh about how he went at it with Smith, he gave some insight into his relationship with Smith.

“So, the great thing about him is, he won’t let anybody get away with any of that stuff to his face, except me, because he knows I love him, and respect him, and always have his back,” Bayless explained. “So, he’ll let me push a little harder.”

Skip Bayless on his relationship with Stephen A. Smith

“He won’t let anybody get away with any of that stuff to his face except me, because he knows I love him, respect him, and will always have his back.” pic.twitter.com/N0PCAVJpHF

— The Arena: Gridiron (@ArenaGridiron) May 8, 2026

With the amount of reverence and respect that Smith clearly has for his old running mate, and Bayless proving that his takes are as hot as ever, it’s almost a guarantee that he’ll be back on set soon.