At this point, everyone’s had their fill of Stephen A. Smith.
ESPN has made him the face of just about everything, from First Take and NBA Countdown to the NBA Finals, and you name it. And we’re not pretending we’re above it. We write about Stephen A. plenty. He drives traffic. He gets people talking. That’s why he’s on almost every marquee ESPN property.
But that ubiquity points to a bigger problem. When one personality dominates every platform and event, the impact fades. That’s exactly the critique Nick Wright made about ESPN’s NBA Finals coverage, feeling less like a marquee event and more like a run-of-the-mill broadcast.
And that’s because Stephen A. Smith is being used for all of the Worldwide Leader’s “big stuff.”
To be fair, Nick Wright was more diplomatic about ESPN’s NBA Finals coverage than Colin Cowherd, who called his old network’s NBA presentation underproduced and underwhelming. And to be fair to both Wright and Smith, Wright wasn’t trying to pin all the blame on Stephen A., but the shoe fits (and the criticism), too. It lines up with the bigger complaints about ESPN’s Finals coverage and the over-the-top way Smith tried to insert himself as the main character of this series.
Wright made a point about the importance of giving major events their own identity tied to specific contributors rather than relying on one personality for everything. He used Scott Van Pelt as an example of someone who has a clear signature event, which helps keep those moments feeling special.
And it’s why SVP gets more favorable coverage from his coverage of the NBA Finals.
“I think there’s real value for the Finals, for your major events, for your major contributors, for that to be their signature event,” said Wright. “And for that, I mean — you brought up Scott Van Pelt. Scott Van Pelt does an amazing job on his show. He also has a signature event, which is the golf he does for ESPN. That’s his thing each year is the major(s) tournaments on ESPN… I’ve voiced my frustration with some of the things Stephen A. has done. This is not about Stephen A. individually, but if you use Stephen A. for all of your big stuff… if everything is him, it doesn’t feel special. It dilutes it.”
Colin Cowherd offered a similar perspective on why it’s crucial to pick your moments carefully, whether you’re a broadcaster or a former president. On his eponymous podcast, he explained how former President Obama manages his influence by not overusing it.
Which is something that ESPN and Smith could take a beat from.
“It’s why former President Obama will not endorse every Democratic candidate or will not run to a microphone,” said Cowherd. “He doesn’t want to dilute his opinion. He’s the most popular Democrat, and his take is always, everybody’s always like, ‘Where’s Obama?’ Well, he doesn’t want to latch himself onto the crazy, lunatic-fringe wing of the left. He’s not going to endorse losing candidates. And you can’t have an opinion every time Trump offends you, because he offends you seven times a day. So, he makes it a 2-3 time a year, strong opinion.”
Cowherd was careful to stress that he texts Stephen A. regularly and holds no resentment toward ESPN. He has friends there and respects the network, even though he personally turned down an offer from them when they tried to lure him to return earlier this year. So his criticism isn’t coming from a place of resentment or disdain, it’s coming from someone who sees the Worldwide Leader treat the SEC Championship like the “effing Super Bowl,” while the NBA Finals feel “underproduced,” as we covered earlier.
The network clearly knows how to build hype; it just chooses to do it unevenly. Stephen A. isn’t part of ESPN’s college football coverage, even though he’ll be more involved with the NFL moving forward. And yet by putting him front and center for everything else, ESPN waters down the significance of its biggest moments.
That uneven approach is exactly what Nick Wright was getting at. And by leaning so heavily on one voice for every major event, ESPN dilutes the impact and robs those moments of their uniqueness. Until the network spreads the spotlight, its biggest shows will continue to feel less like must-watch events and more like the same old routine.
And maybe that comes down to finding the right role for Stephen A., but at this point, he’s proven to be bigger than the network itself.