If you’ve noticed Stephen A. Smith spreading himself a little thin lately, you’re not alone.
His ESPN colleagues have apparently noticed it, too.
Smith and Jay Williams traded barbs earlier Monday on First Take, initially clashing over Giannis Antetokounmpo before pivoting to a spirited debate about Tyrese Haliburton and whether winning a championship would make him an “overachiever.” It ended on decent terms, but Williams couldn’t resist one more jab, even if it wasn’t supposed to be on air.
As First Take prepares to officially relocate to its new Hudson Yards studio on June 23, Molly Qerim joked she might have to pack up Smith’s office herself since he’s rarely around. Heading to commercial, Williams delivered what a lot of us were already thinking.
“He’s only working nine thousand jobs,” the former Duke Blue Devils star quipped.
Wonder who he could be talking about. Smith has become the Marco Rubio of sports media, as he currently owns more titles than he knows what to do with. In addition to anchoring First Take, he’s building out his eponymous podcast network, preparing for a new daily SiriusXM radio show (which came as a surprise to the hosts he’s replacing), and injecting himself into the political news cycle with increasing regularity.
It’s no wonder Smith admitted on Friday’s First Take just how exhausted he is. So much so, he showed up to a nationally televised show in his pajamas, and then was checking his personal email live on air, which he later scolded ESPN for showing, never mind that the computer was sitting wide open in front of him while he clearly wasn’t engaged.
Then, that night, during Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Indiana, a fan captured him playing solitaire during live game action. Smith tried to brush it off as multitasking, saying he was passing the time during timeouts. That might have worked if the video hadn’t shown him scrolling during the live-action.
So yes, Stephen A. is tired (and so are we). But maybe it’s not just the travel schedule. Perhaps it’s what happens when you’re juggling First Take, a podcast network, a new SiriusXM show, political commentary, and nightly NBA coverage.
He’s only working 9,000 jobs.