Stephen A. Smith has been public about his battle with COVID-19 and his physical and mental health journeys the past year. On Thursday’s edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith detailed just how deeply his poor physical health threatened to derail his broadcasting career.
Smith was admitted to a hospital last winter with COVID and a few months later underwent surgery for double torn labrum. Since then, Smith lost 35 pounds in 10 months, brought his cholesterol down from over 300 to under 200, his insulin level down from 27 to two, and his body fat down from nearly 30 percent to less than 13 percent.
“I was in really bad shape. No focus,” the 56-year-old Smith explained. “I would be on TV at times and you get distracted, and you almost get to a point where you can’t hear. You’re damn near feeling like you’re having a mini stroke because everything goes to black for a few seconds.”
Smith also lacked energy and had such significant cardio issues that it was difficult to even begin exercising.
“The fatigue was persistent. And for almost a year, I could not run up the steps in my house without huffing and puffing. That is how serious it was. I couldn’t get on a treadmill and run at all for more than 60 seconds. I couldn’t walk for more than 10 minutes.”
Still, Smith derived motivation from how bad it felt to be in pain and struggle with basic mobility.
“Life is hell when you are in bad physical shape, in terms of your stamina, your cardio and all things in between. It’s bad,” Smith added. “Because you don’t know how you are going to respond day to day. Literally running 10 to 15 feet had me feeling like I ran three miles. That’s how bad it was.”
Looking forward in his career, Smith knew he could not develop personally or professionally without getting in better physical and mental shape.
“As I sit here before you today and I think about my future with the Stephen A. Smith show and what I’m striving to do. With what I’m doing on ESPN’s First Take … the list goes on and on in terms of my aspirations, my goals,” Smith said. “I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time because I’m in the best condition I’ve been in in 25 years. And I’m not going back. I’m not stopping.”
Now Smith works with a personal trainer doing six 30-45 minute cardio workouts per week in addition to lifting weights six times a week.
While he regrets how bad he let his health get, he appreciates the warning signs that snapped him out of his funk.
“I never showed up because I was on my grind and committed to working. Doing the best job I possibly could do, covering the NBA, being on TV until I had COVID,” Smith said. “It was a message being sent, I had to get my **** together.”