Stephen A Smith Apologizes to John Wall

Stephen A Smith says he owes LA Clippers guard John Wall an apology. John Wall, a guard with the Los Angeles Clippers, has discussed his mental health struggles over the past two years. The five-time All-Star was in the worst phase of his life after losing his mother and grandmother around the same time he tore his Achilles tendon. This period also coincided with a global pandemic, which increased Wall’s difficulties.

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During the same time period, Wall was subject to criticism for his predicament with the Houston Rockets. The national media regularly misunderstood the situation and inaccurately portrayed the Wall. Stephen A. Smith promised during a recent ESPN programme to apologize to Wall for his role in this incident.

Smith stated, “I cannot wait to meet him.” “Because I and a few others owe that man an apology. I’m being honest. Because we were unaware. This is not to imply that anything unkind or vicious was said about him, but it is a reminder that you never know what other people are going through.”

Stephen A. Smith’s message was a vital reminder, especially in the realm of sports media, that these sportsmen are ordinary people with ordinary concerns. It might be overwhelming to be subjected to so much criticism in the midst of these personal concerns. Stephen A. Smith acknowledges this and anticipates apologizing to John Wall.

Featured Commentator, First Take Analyst, NBA Countdown

Since 2012, Stephen A. Smith has been a featured commentator on ESPN’s First Take, where he discusses and debates current sports matters, and an analyst on NBA Countdown, ESPN and ABC’s long-running NBA pregame show (since 2021). In addition, Smith hosts a number of SportsCenter specials throughout the year (since 2018). He previously anchored SportsCenter with Stephen A. Smith, a weekly NBA pregame show on Wednesdays during the NBA season. Smith is a regular contributor to the studio programming of the network surrounding major events.

Smith debuted Stephen A.’s World on ESPN+ in January 2021. The weeknight show goes beyond the sports headlines to provide the audience with an original and real perspective of the stories that matter. Smith provides viewers with his amusing perspective, as well as his extensive knowledge and unmatched relationships with some of the most powerful figures in sports, entertainment, and beyond. Stephen A. is co-executive producer of the programme with ESPN and his production firm, Mr. SAS Productions.

Smith and First Take performed at the 76ers Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Delaware, during Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week in September 2019. The city also appointed Smith, a graduate of an HBCU, as the event’s ambassador. The show attracted First Take’s greatest audience yet and was followed by a college fair that provided potential students with instant acceptance, scholarships, and much more.

Smith began hosting The Stephen A. Smith Show on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio in September 2014. The Stephen A. Smith Show relocated to ESPN’s SiriusXM channel in January 2017 and began airing simultaneously on ESPN-owned stations in New York (98.7FM) and Los Angeles (710AM) from 1-3 p.m. In January 2018, the programme expanded to the national ESPN Radio network and became accessible on ESPN Radio stations nationwide. The Stephen A. Smith Show joined the weekday ESPN Radio simulcast programme on ESPNEWS in August 2018, airing until January 2020.

Smith presented a two-hour, daily local show on ESPN Radio 98.9 FM in New York from 2011 to 2014. Beginning in 2011, he aired a local show on ESPN LA 710AM in Los Angeles that covered both coasts for one year.

From 2003 until 2008, Smith produced a number of contributions to ESPN. From 2005 through 2008, Smith presented The Stephen A. Smith Show on ESPN Radio. In addition, he hosted ESPN2’s Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith, a one-hour sports news, analysis, and interview programme, from 2005 to 2007. Smith joined ESPN in 2003 as an NBA Shootaround (now NBA Countdown) pregame programme commentator. He frequently appears on ESPN’s SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, First Take, Pardon the Interruptions, and Jim Rome is Burning as a guest host.

Additionally, Smith aired a morning programme on Fox Sports Radio. Most recently, Smith served as a general sports columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer for the past 16 years (1994-2010). Smith was a reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal, the Greensboro News and Record, and the New York Daily News before joining the Inquirer.

Smith obtained a basketball scholarship at Winston-Salem State University, a Historically Black University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from which he graduated in 1991.

On February 2, 2007, Smith made his acting debut on the ABC soap opera General Hospital in a cameo role as a television reporter. Later that year, he appeared in the Chris Rock film I Think I Love My Wife. In April 2016, Smith returned to General Hospital as Brick, a surveillance expert for the Mob.

Since 2014, he has appeared as “The Little Voice in Your Stomach” in a series of Oberto all-natural beef jerky advertisements, each time with sports personalities such as Richard Sherman, Louie Vito, and ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

Stephen A. Smith Biography

(Sports Television Personality and Commentator on ESPN’s ‘First Take’)

Stephen A. Smith is an American sports journalist, television and radio personality who is best known for his work as a pundit on ESPN’s ‘First Take’. Born in the Bronx, he grew up in Hollis, New York, and attended Thomas Edison High School for his high school education. After completing high school, he enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology, but after a year he dropped out and enrolled at Winston-Salem State University. His sports journalistic career began at the university, where he contributed to The News Argus, the school’s newspaper. Later, he worked as a sports journalist for prestigious magazines such the New York Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He began his television and radio career in the mid-2000s. Before becoming a regular analyst on the ESPN show ‘First Take,’ he had a sporadic history with the channel, appearing on numerous ESPN broadcasts. Currently, he is a feature writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer and the host of “The Stephen A. Smith Show” on the radio. He has been involved in numerous conflicts throughout the years due to his outspoken commentary style.

Childhood & Early Life

• Stephen A. Smith was born to middle-class African-American parents in the Bronx, New York City, on October 14, 1967, as the fifth of six children. Stephen grew up with an interest in athletics and began playing basketball at a young age due, in part, to the fact that his father was an exceptional baseball player. He was raised with four sisters and a brother, who passed away in 1992.
• Stephen graduated with honors from Thomas Edison High School in Queens, New York. Additionally, he was a talented basketball player who participated in the sport throughout high school.
• After graduating from high school, Stephen enrolled in the public Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. However, he obtained a basketball scholarship to attend Winston-Salem University, a historically black university in North Carolina, before he graduated from the academy. There, he joined the fraternity Omega Psi Phi, which was an African-American fraternity.
• He trained under basketball Hall of Fame coach Clarence Gaines and was a major component of the college basketball squad. In addition to being active on the field, he was also exercising his journalistic side by writing for The News Argus, the campus newspaper. In one of his pieces, he stated that their coach Gaines was no longer qualified to guide the squad owing to his persistent health problems. Consequently, he has always been recognised for his daring journalistic style.

Career

• Stephen began writing as a clerk in the sports department of the Winston-Salem Journal immediately following his college graduation. After a while, he began working for the New York Daily News, and he also temporarily worked for the Greensboro News & Record.
• In 1994, when he began working for The Philadelphia Inquirer, he experienced one of the most significant early career breakthroughs. Initially, he covered NBA games before being assigned to cover the Philadelphia 76ers. He eventually began contributing to the general sports column as well.
• In 2005, he transitioned from print to television and radio at the midpoint of the 2000s. On August 1, 2005, he began presenting his own hour-long show on ESPN named ‘Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith’. The show’s inaugural date was in 2005. The programme aired for two years before being cancelled in 2007. The format of the programme includes discussions on sports, politics, and current affairs.
• By that time, he was a semi-famous television sports celebrity, and he appeared as a guest on a few television sports commentary programmes, including ‘Jim Rome is Burning’ and ‘Pardon the Interruption.’
• In April 2005, he also began his radio career by anchoring a three-year programme on WEPN in New York. In April of 2008, he left the radio show to concentrate on his television journalistic career.
• In 2007, he parted ways with The Philadelphia Inquirer after a lengthy tenure as the paper’s primary sports columnist and was downgraded to general assignment correspondent. However, the connection remained strained until 2008, when Stephen began his own site. However, Stephen was reinstated to his prior post in 2010 on the condition that he remove all of his personal political opinions from his website.
• Stephen revealed in mid-2009 that he would be leaving ESPN permanently. ESPN stated that his departure was due to a lack of mutual understanding, while another source verified that the channel and Stephen attempted to negotiate but were unable to reach an agreement.
• Stephen replaced Steve Czaban as the anchor of the morning show on Fox Sports Radio in January 2010. Throughout the programme, Stephen accurately anticipated that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will join the Miami Heat in 2010. In 2011, he experienced yet another significant career triumph when he was hired as an FSR NBA Insider; thus, he terminated his morning radio show.
• His on-again, off-again connection with ESPN continued in the early 2010s, as ESPN announced in April 2012 that Stephen would rejoin the channel, this time for the show ‘First Take’. He was hired permanently to appear five days a week on the show. He was scheduled to participate in a different style of the show titled ‘Embrace Debate,’ in which he would debate the show’s other host, 
• He was well renowned for his forthright style of criticism, which put him in various problems. In 2014, during a debate on ‘First Take,’ while discussing the allegations against a football player, he stated that women can provoke domestic violence. Stephen was suspended by ESPN for a week as a result of this remark, which sparked a tremendous outcry.
• In March 2015, he made yet another provocative statement, this time about Chip Kelly, the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Stephen accused him of being racist in his selection of squad members. Stephen later stated that he never used the term “racist” in reference to Chip, when Chip refuted the charges.
• During the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, he further stirred up controversy by making a sexist remark about the players not wanting to “mess up their hair.” Stephen later clarified that it was a prank and issued a series of apologies via Twitter.
• Additionally, he began hosting boxing matches, and in 2019, when ESPN became the UFC’s television broadcaster, he became a UFC commentator. He provided more insight on the 2020 Academy Awards.
• In 2007, he made his acting debut with a guest appearance on ‘General Hospital’. He has also acted in fictional television programmes. He later stated that he agreed to act as a television reporter on an episode of the show because he was a longtime fan of the show. However, in 2016, he began portraying a recurrent character named Brick on the show, who made many appearances.
• He has also starred in numerous Oberto beef advertisements. In the advertisements, he featured with a number of prominent athletes.
• In 2007, he played the supporting part of Allan in the film ‘I Think I Love My Wife’ starring Chris Rock. The picture was unsuccessful at both the box office and on the critical scale.

Personal Life

Currently, Stephen A. Smith is unattached. He has not yet shared his private life publicly. However, he revealed in an interview that he was once engaged and had two kids.

He currently lives in North Jersey.

Stephen has refuted all allegations that he was ever a drug user. He stated that seeing drug addicts as a child prevented him from ever using drugs.