Less than three months into his tenure on First Take, Chris Russo found himself in a controversy with Draymond Green that required help from Stephen A. Smith.
Russo and Smith joined The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM Wednesday morning. And during the hour-long interview, Russo recalled an example to help explain just how great of a partner Smith is.
“A couple years ago, I got wordy, I got myself in trouble on the show where we were talking about Draymond Green of the Warriors,” Russo remembered. “And I used a term, just used it off the top of my head, didn’t think anything of it, that Laura Ingraham uses on Fox. The ‘shut up and dribble’ thing with LeBron… and JJ Redick was on. And JJ, he jumped on me pretty good.”
“People on Fox News talk about athletes that way.”
— Former NBA player @jj_redick snaps at sportscaster Chris Russo after he says Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green should be quiet and play. pic.twitter.com/EgRqLHXEAt
— The Recount (@therecount) May 4, 2022
During a discussion about Green on May 4, 2022, Russo said “shut up and play” on the heels of the Warriors forward getting ejected from Game 1 of their playoff series and flipping off fans while leaving the court in Game 2. Russo’s comment, however, drew immediate pushback from Redick, who said, “That has the same sort of connotations that the ‘shut up and dribble’ crowd has toward athletes and I have a real problem with that.” Redick later added, “The people on Fox News talk about athletes that way.” Laura Ingraham, of course, infamously told LeBron James to “Shut up and dribble” on Fox News in 2018.
“He put me on the defensive,” Russo said of Redick. “I laid low, but Stevie had my back. ‘JJ, that’s not what he meant.’ But that bothered a lot of the Chris Russo fans.”
In response to Russo’s “shut up and play” comment, Green went on his podcast and said it “definitely had a racist connotation.” While Russo insisted this had nothing to do with race during his initial debate with Redick, it undoubtedly wasn’t a great look.
“A month later, we had the Uvalde shooting,” Russo told Stern. “And Steve Kerr of the Warriors, the night before, did a postgame and stormed off the postgame, basically in tears, ‘This has got to stop. Gun control.’ This was Tuesday and I’m on Wednesday. So Molly Qerim goes to Stephen A. and basically Stephen A. said nothing for five seconds. He goes to me, because he wanted me to give my opinion on it to almost overcome the JJ Redick thing… I did about three minutes of it, we had 12 million hits on that.
“And Stephen A. did that on purpose because he knew the month before I got murdered with Redick, coming across as the ‘old fogey, Fox, doesn’t get it.’ This time, I went the other way with the gun control because most Republicans don’t believe in gun control and I do. And he gave me that forum to do that. That’s how good a partner Stephen A. is.”
“I know JJ Redick didn’t mean any harm,” Smith added. “But It took on a life of its own and there were accusations of racial insensitivity and all of this other stuff that was coming in Doggie’s direction. So my attitude was, first of all, it’s not true. Secondly, he’s my partner, I’m not gonna let you go at him like that.”
Smith also recalled a white individual coming to him after Quite Frankly was canceled in 2007 to say, ‘There were times, Stephen, that I didn’t feel invited.’
“I always remembered that,” Smith said. “I pride myself on being a fair-minded individual. And when you meet good people you meet good people, especially if they’re your teammate and you stand up for them. And you also recognize what they bring to the table. I knew with that issue (Uvalde shooting), it was relatively predictable what my position was. I wanted the audience to know, you need to hear from someone else.”
Nearly three years later, Russo and Smith are thriving together on First Take every Wednesday. It took a little time, but Smith undoubtedly helped ESPN’s cast of talent, and audience, realize Russo’s schtick is genuine.