Stephen A. Smith’s agent says he will not run for president

Stephen A Smith wants everyone to think he could run for the Democratic nomination for president.

Whether he actually will do it is a whole other matter and one that won’t be resolved for another two years. In the meantime, Smith’s agent wants that conversation to die down.

In a Friday panel appearance at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, Endeavor president Mark Shapiro definitively ruled out Stephen A. 2028.

“He will not run for president,” Shapiro said. “He’s going to continue to entertain those conversations, but he will not run for president.”

For weeks, Smith has perpetuated rumors of a presidential run after hammering former Vice President Kamala Harris and her losing campaign throughout the fall and winter. In late January, Smith surprisingly popped up in the results from a poll asking voters who they wanted to be the Democratic nominee in 2028.

Since then, Smith has made multiple network television appearances in which he teased a run while continuing to troll the Democratic party. Smith has said it’s an embarrassment to our political system that a sports debate host is considered a legitimate candidate.

And yet, he has not fully denied the possibility, stating that if he were still a top option come primary season in 2027, he would have no choice but to consider it.

As part of his new contract at ESPN, which became official shortly before Shapiro spoke at Sloan, Smith will be granted continued leeway to discuss politics on his independent podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show, and as a guest on other platforms.

“He’ll appear across ESPN’s programming year-round, specifically the NBA and hopefully more of the NFL, but this deal will also allow him the opportunity to continue to fan out, if you will, across politics and news,” said Shapiro, who in a fun twist of fate used to run ESPN programming.

Unfortunately for Shapiro, he can run defense all he wants, but it does not appear that Smith intends to squelch out the Stephen A. 2028 rumors. Until 2027 comes around and Smith is not on that Democratic debate stage, the idea will persist.