You don’t have to tell Stephen A. Smith twice, he knows that Skip Bayless is an acquired taste.
While his former debate partner has since exited his role at FS1’s Undisputed and is reportedly starting a new one elsewhere with his rapper friend, Lil Wayne, Smith looks fondly on his time with Bayless. But in speaking with Cris Carter as the first guest on the former NFL wide receiver’s Fully Loaded podcast, Smith says their relationship is not what it used to be.
And it hasn’t been the same for a while. Smith called Bayless to tell him he was “flagrantly” wrong about Shannon Sharpe. He never heard back.
“We’ve only spoken once over the last year, a year and a half or so,” he tells Carter and his co-host Shawn Meaike. “We don’t speak much anymore. He got upset over something he thought I said to JJ Redick, and he went on his podcast and attacked me for about 45 minutes. And then I flew to California and approached him face-to-face, and we resolved that issue.
“I’m never gonna speak against him per se, but our relationship admittedly hasn’t been the same since that moment. But it doesn’t mean I don’t love him; it doesn’t mean that I wish anything negative upon him because I don’t. He’s just going in a different direction, that’s what he chose to do and it’s cool.”
Back to Sharpe.
“To address the elephant in the room… I understand why a lot of people can’t stand him,” continued Smith. “I’ve told Skip to his face, ‘You don’t say what you said about Troy Aikman.’ You don’t call Chris Bosh ‘Spice Bosh.’ You don’t come at (Cris Carter) like that…He’s arguing with you about a football point, so what you disagree? You don’t have to do that.
“And I thought he was wrong about Shannon. I thought what he did to Shannon was flagrantly wrong. And I called him, and he never reached back out. So, I stopped reaching out.”
In December 2022, Sharpe and Bayless let a debate about Tom Brady’s last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers boil over into a personal spat. After Sharpe called Bayless out for his unwillingness to criticize Brady, Bayless punched back by proclaiming that Brady was a better NFL player than Sharpe and that Sharpe was, in fact, jealous.
When Sharpe tried to check Bayless’ temper by reminding him that they had a real relationship while Brady is just an athlete they cover, Bayless snapped at Sharpe to put his glasses back on, clearly crossing a line.
With their on-air relationship turning tumultuous in the final months of their nearly seven years together, Sharpe ultimately reached a buyout agreement with Fox Sports which saw him depart the network after the 2023 NBA Finals. That opened the door for Sharpe to join Smith on ESPN’s First Take.
“I didn’t know Shannon that well,” says Smith. “But here’s what I do know, he’s a great football player. He’s a great damn football mind, too…Shannon Sharpe knows some football. He knows football, man. I’m telling you, he knows some football – and he articulates that, as well. But at his core, he’s a decent dude, who didn’t deserve that. And I’m thinking about myself in 2009 when ESPN let me go, and I didn’t have a brother on a top-rated show that happened to be the Executive Producer with the power to look out.
“Well, I was that now. And to see him out there and to know what he brings to the table, to know he had Club Shay Shay, to know what his aspirations were, I’m like, ‘Why wouldn’t I help the brother?’ And I’ll never forget ESPN was like, ‘You sure? You sure? I mean, he’s on the other side, you sure you want to do this?’ I said, ‘Absolutely. He will help the show. He’ll be an incredible asset to us.’ Michael Irvin, he’s at Fox. You know that’s my brother, you know how much I love ‘Playmaker.’ He signed a deal with Fox when I was supposed to get him back, but he had gotten himself into some issues that ultimately subsided and stuff like that…Because if I had my druthers, I would’ve had ’em both.
“I still dream of having them both again, (Cris Carter) too. I want it all because these are my brothers…But for me, personally, it’s one thing…he and I have a personal relationship. We’ve known each other for years. I didn’t know Shannon like that…”
But he did know Bayless like that.
While Smith and Bayless may have drifted apart, their friendship currently on hiatus, and their rivalry may have faded, their impact on the sports media landscape will long endure.
