Full Show: Reality Check Kamala spent 1.5 billion dollars for election and Oprah charged her 2.5 million.

Published Nov 20, 2024, 11:00 PM

Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.

Stephen A. comments on prosecutors raiding music mogul Sean P. Diddy Combs’ jail cell. ESPN NBA Reporter/Writer Brian Windhorst joins the show to discuss the Boston Celtics ending the Cleveland Cavaliers’ fifteen-game winning streak, the flagrant foul by Golden State Warriors Draymond Green of Memphis Grizzlies Zach Edey, the Los Angeles Lakers’ six-game winning run with Dalton Knecht’s excellent play, and Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey calling out teammate Joel Embiid. He interviews 2X Super NFL Bowl Champion and 7X Pro Bowler Terrell Suggs about his decorated career with the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs and Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement consideration. Stephen A. also shares thoughts on the NFL's statement about its players mimicking Donald Trump’s dance moves during games, the Harris campaign paying Oprah Winfrey’s production company for their interview, and MSNBC “Morning Joe” hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough’s post-election meeting with Donald Trump.

On The Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith gives you his renowned point of view, breaking barriers beyond the world of sports, and tackling pertinent issues across entertainment, pop culture, society, business, and politics. Three times a week, you'll hear his LIVE unfiltered opinions on the day's biggest headlines as well as straight-shooting interviews with top celebrities, game-changers, and thought leaders across the societal arena. The Stephen A. Smith Show is sure to entertain, inform, and motivate anyone who tunes in.

Did you see Cleveland against Boston last night?

I did. Did you see what happened to the Baltimore Ravens this weekend? I did. Did you see people doing the Trump dance?

I ain't gonna be try to.

Do it, but I saw it.

Also saw that news about Oprah whiffy stuff. I got a whole bunch of stuff on my mind, whole bunch of stuff to touch about, and why not do it right here on the Stephen Nate Smith Show. Come on, let you boy, what's up? Everybody? Welcome to the latest edition of the Steveh Nate Smith Show, coming at you at the very least three times a week over the digital airways of YouTube and of course our heart radio. As always, I like to take a moment to just pause and thank my subscribers and followers and listeners because on YouTube, in the digital stratosphere, we've now exceeded nine hundred and twenty five thousand subscribers. We just continue to climb and climb every single day. Can't thank y'all enough. Couldn't happen without y'all. And of course we've achieved over three million downloads over the last few months or so. So again, the love and support that y'all have been given the show is only helping it grow. Thank you so much. Keep the love coming that I'm gonna keep on coming. To continue to like and follow the show, just click the bell and you'll get notified of all of our new content for the Steven A. Smith Show and you'll be the latest member of the stephen A. Smith Show family. And while you're doing that, make sure to grab a copy of my New York Times best selling book, Straight Shooter, A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes, now in paperback. Just go to Straight Shooter book dot com once again, that straight Shooter book dot Com to get yourself a copy. I hear it's a beautiful, motivating memoir that you can get. Is a nice Christmas gift. Just the thought, just a thought anyway, before I get into the NBA and the NFL, especially before I get into my man t Sizzle Terrell Suggs, a soon to be first ballot Hall of Famous far as I'm concerned in the National Football League, and you know, before I get into all of that, and of course Donald Trump and some of the stuff that's been going on with him in the NFL, I felt obliged to begin with the latest on Showing Diddy Combs, currently sitting in jail awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. P Diddy Combs and his legal team scored a victory yesterday when the judge overseeing the case said prosecutors are not allowed to use jail house notes. Taking during the raid of his cell, Comebs reportedly had nineteen pages of handwritten notes for his team, and the judge ruled those notes are subject to attorney client privilege. Combs' legal team scored another legal victory yesterday when the judge ruled the music mogul can appear in court without shackles around his legs. By the way, Combs is another bail hearing set for this Friday. I think when we see something like that, ladies and gentlemen, it just gives us an indication that you can't rule anything out. He's showing P Diddy Combs. He's worth over half a billion dollars. Obviously, he can afford the best lawyers, the best legal minds available are available to him. And when you look at something like this, allbit minute in the eyes of some he's still in jail Okay, doesn't appear to be getting out before a people or made something along those lines. And you see something like this, you're like, what's the big deal, So what he won the case? Well, take this into consideration. If you have law enforcement officials and prosecutors raiding your jail cell to take your private notes because they believe, somehow, some way you're making a concerted effort to influence potential witnesses against you, all right, and the judge rules that non admissible and they're not able to use that kind of stuff against you. That's very, very beneficial. Everybody else has to show up in court essentially with shackles on, but he doesn't. Now, some people will sit up there and say, okay, again, that's not a big, big victory. But image and perception does matter even in the court of law. Why because this jurors involved, and when you roll up in there looking like a prisoner, that hurts he still want. Perception doesn't escape reality, but sometimes in the minds of a few, it potentially can. And every time you hear something about p Diddy all right, and you hear about his denials and then you see him win one little victory after another, it does beg the question how much winning is he literally capable of doing against the Southern District of New York and beyond in terms of the cases that are being levied against them. I'm looking at stuff like this and I'm watching it with a fine tooth cone because i want to see how many small victories is he going to accumulate in an effort to ultimately get himself out of jail. Yes, he's in prison right now. He's in jail right now, Okay, right there in Brooklyn, New York. He doesn't appear to be getting out anytime soon. There is going to be a trial that's taking place this spring. We know all of that. But anytime you've got situations where evidence is considered non admissible and the prosecution can't use it against you, that makes it harder for you to accumulate the level of evidence to get at him about We heard about the sex trafficking. We saw the video, the damning video where he was beating up his former girlfriend, Cassie. We saw all of that. But in the end, when he's sitting there, he talked everybody bringing up a thousand bottles of baby oil, And you know, video tapes of you know, and and freak offs and all of this stuff. Keep in mind, Pete Diddy, no one heard him say excuse me, I'm innocent. It never happened to the courts. What they're saying is that it was consensual amongst adults. And because of that, as his lawyers intimated. When I was watching them on programs like News Nation or CNNA, what have you, what did you hear them say? You might find his behavior reprehensible, you might find it disgusting, you might find it a lot of things. The word we're concerned about is whether or not it was legal. And if it was legal, meaning consent, non forced, then all of a sudden, it gives you a reason to believe this possibility he could get off. Now, I'm not casting dispersions or any kind of judgment on anything involving p Diddy outside of that video. That video, that's evidence. We all saw that, and there's a discussion to be had about the statute of limitation on such a violent act against another human being, particularly a defenseless woman who happened to be his girlfriend. That is non debatable. We saw what we saw.

Everything else, everything else.

Speculative. They got their case he'll have an opportunity to his defense lawyers to present his at which time we'll be able to judge. A lot of times we're sitting back and we're assuming because somebody's in jail, they're automatically guilty even before the trial took place. Did he is saying something else? He's saying, hell no, he's not going out like that. He's not guilty. And when we see stuff like this happening, what other small victories will his defense team accumulate? That begs a legitimate question that I just asked. It is important to point out this is far from over and it's far from determined, no matter the tsunami of allegations and headlines that have rained down upon him. Just the thought, y'all, Just the thought. Now, let's get to the NBA, where the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers met the Boston Celtics last night, and don't look now, but the Lakers are just a half game out of the top spot in the Western Conference. Joining me now to break down the latest headlines around the league is my colleague at ESPN, Senior NBA reporter and writer for ESPN and Insider as well, does a phenomenal job at my day job ESPN, and one and only Brian Wintors is with yours truly at this moment in time. What's going on, Brian?

Everything's been good man.

I was in the Crypto dot com arena last night and the vibes around the Lakers are good.

I'll just leave it at that.

Well, it should be good if I drafted a rookie with the seventeenth overall pick, and I'm JJ Reddick, the new rookie head coach who was a sharpshooter in college and the pros, and I see a guy like this kid connect connecting on thirty seven points courtesy of nine threes. I'm very, very happy with my prospects. Talk to me about how the Lakers look now compared to how they looked last year. What are your thoughts about them?

Well, the thing about it is, you know, what's confronting Jj Reddick is the same thing that was confronting Darbnham.

He doesn't have a good defensive team.

It's essentially the same roster with the exception of Dalton Connect, and that difference has made a real difference. So basically, what Dalton Connect's ascension has meant and I mean into the starting lineup, not just to be a viable you know, you know offensive option is it Now JJ Reddick can play Cam Reddish, who is a defensive first player next to Dalton Connect, and you can get a much more well balanced perimeter. And that's what's happening right now in this six game win straight with the Lakers have done. They've got Cam Reddish out there, he's given him good defensive minutes. You got Dog Connect out there. You've got Lebron James playing a lot of point guard alongside Austin Reeves. Lebron's averaging nine assists a game. He had twelve assists against the Jazz last night. Now you've got a really much more potent perimeter. They still are twenty fifth defensively, stephen A. They still got to get better there. There's been an absolute dearth of information on Jared Vanderbilt. They said two weeks ago that there was an update coming. No updates come. I'm sure it's not good news.

Eventually.

What the hope is he can help them, but connect. Look, you were saying he's seventeenth pick, you know, and I know we heard for months from the scouts saying that this drafts was not very good. One of the worst drafts anybody could ever remember. The sixteenth pick is Jared McCain. I'd a duke who went to Philly. He's the leader for Rookie of the Year. The seventeenth pick was Dalton Connect. Obviously he's making an impact for the Lakers. Every drafter is good players. It looks like Philly and the Lakers hit in the mid teams.

I love Connect and I loved them if you remember, we were talking about it. And I love the pick from day one because I watched him during the NCAA tournament playing for Tennessee. I said, this brother's big time. I like him. He's got a lot of potential, and I thought the Lakers were a perfect landing spot for him because of his ability to shoot the basketball and how they struggled with that last year. I also liked the idea of him being in the lineup because guess what. Not only is he's going to make shots, but if he compromises you to some degree defensively, but you sacrifice it because of what he brings offensively, well, it ain't like D'Angelo Russell was giving you much defense or whatever. So I don't mind it at all. And Cam reddis by the way, can shoot. I don't understand why he isn't an even better shooter in the NBA. When considering coming out Duke, there was speculation that he could be get somebody at six eight, six nine who could shoot the basketball. Having said all of that, looking at the Western Conference, I watched OKC lose to San Antonio last night without when Biyanna Chris Paul played the sensational game from a leadership perspective, had a double double. But I'm looking at the rest of the Western Conference right now, nobody's really standing out so light of that, how much of a chance are you giving the Lakers at this moment in time to make some noise within the Western Conference.

Well, look, they're right there at number three.

And you know that was a stunning loss for the Thunder because Devin Vessel was also out of that game for the Spurs, basically the Spurs' best two players. I mean, Chris Paul on any Knike might be there. But the thing about the West is you got to bring it every night. That's one of the things when I talk to folks in the league right now, they're just like I can't believe how easy the East is and how brutal the West is. You know, I've been doing this over twenty years, Steven, that you've been doing it even longer than that. I've never seen the imbalance this bad. Where you know, Philadelphia, as bad as they are, they can look themselves in the mirror and say, we have two good weeks. We can be in seventh place, sixth place and mean it. And where if you in the West have two bad weeks, you can lose ground that might take you two months to make up if you're lucky. And so the Lakers have hit a bit of a soft portion of schedule. They've been awesome at home, which is great. You know, you win your home games. They get another home game later this week against the Magic, and that the balance will be eight home games, five road games, so you know they're about to go on the road. But they've hit a portion of schedule they can handle. They had New Orleans, they had San Antonio, they get Utah, but they won all those games. You gotta put those kind of wins together in the West, Like I know that this sounds crazy.

When you play the Jazz that now becomes a must win game in the West.

And I don't say must win because if you lose it, there's consequences. But when you play there's only a couple teams in the West that aren't really competitive. You have to pound those teams. When you face the New Orleans Pelicans when they're missing four or five guys, you have to win that game because there's gonna be other games where you may play great, you run into a bus saw and you lose. So you know, and none that we haven't even mentioned Anthony Davis yet. The reason the Lakers are.

MVP candidate League MVP pick out question.

And look, this is what you've been calling for for years. You wanted Ad to bring it every night. You wanted Ad to show vision offensively, you wanted him to play like an MVP. The dude is averaging thirty and ten, Yes he is, and he's bringing it every night. And that's the I mean. The ant sillary pieces are what make the Lakers go from like a six or seventh place team to a third place team. But I think none of it matters unless you got Ad playing this way. AD playing this way is a difference making entity in the NBA.

Right now, You know I look at that, and you're absolutely right. Right now, he's arguably the leading candidate for League MVP because he's been that sensation. Who can't take anything away from him. As we scoured the West before I go to the Eastern Conference, Dallas is the reigning Western Conference champions. They've got Klay Thompson, but they've they've been up and down, up and down. We know that Oklahoma City. I'm not worried about them, Windy because they were playing without Chet Holmgren. Obviously, Isaiah Hartstein he's not there because he got injured before the season even began. With those two there, I think that Oklahoma City is going to be a monster to beat. The other team I'm looking at is Phoenix because Kevin Durant has been out. When he was there, they were looking good. We'll see what we get from them. I guess the question for me is the Golden State Warriors, because they're right up there right now. They've gotten off to a strong start. Just ignore the blowout loss to Cleveland when they were down about forty in the first half. But nevertheless, once again, Draymond Green is a story because of him holding on to the leg of rookie Zach zach Edy. Obviously, their coach Del Jenkins had a problem with that. Draymond spoke out against him, accusing him of being too emotional. What are we to make of this latest incident with Draymond Green.

Draymond Green is an amazing character, stephen A.

I actually am looking forward to the day when Draymond is in the media. I would love I can't wait to do a show and a panel with Draymond.

I would love for the three of us. Let's do it on first take.

But like, let's set it up because he is so smart, he is so fascinating. I so much enjoy his viewpoint of the game, and he's willing to be so honest. And then when it comes to his own weaknesses like this, he's just not honest. It's it's kind of crazy. I guess it's sort of the the athlete thing. The guy is absolutely a difference making player his intelligence, and not only that, you look at the condition that he is in. Yes, he has extended his career because in season so much better shape than he was seven eight years.

He's a future Hall of Fame.

He's a future Hall of Fame, without ques.

Without question, without question, and and he's really a testament to somebody who can you know, he wasn't gifted with great at with with with you know, he wasn't gifted with like the body of so many other players. He's had to work to make his body this way, and he's done it. There's so many things about Draymond that are amazing, But he's got this long litany of losing his mind and making dirty plays.

And this is it.

This is a dirty play. This is a dirty play, however you want to rack it up. He's got so many of these moments in his career, and in so any of these moments, he defends it. And in many of these cases, his team defends it. Like I'll point out the night that he choked Rudy Gobert, the Warriors defended him. Now now after twenty four hours, they got their senses and realized that wasn't what they needed to do. But like, this is why I can't wait to be on his on a set with Draymond stephen A, because I think it's potentially tremendous conversation put out question and I think playing with I think being his teammate is kind of like that like ninety some percent of the time it's gonna be amazing and five percent of the time things are gonna get wild and could get uncomfortable.

Well, here's the deal. He admits he cost them a championship in twenty sixteen because he got suspended after Adam Silva gave him that stimulus pack. It gave Lebron and in that stimulus pack, it's suspended dur Raymond Green because they would have wanted they would have beat him. They would have beat him in five, because they had gone up three to one of that game, and that game four was in Cleveland. They were going back to the Oracle for Gay five. They'd have closed them out then, but they suspended him, and then Eguadala and Boga got hurt in the same and then it went seven games and Lebron James won a championship. Don't get me started with that. But also one could easily argue that last year he caused the Golden State Warriors a playoff birth the twenty eight and fifteen with the fifth best record in the league. No, okay, but they are game under five, three games under five hundred without them, he cost them a playoff. Berth so now I'm looking at it the other day. I thought the flag the upgrade, the flagrant one was the right call. I thought he could have easily been ejected from that game. That would have been the right call. But I didn't go as far as Kendrick Perkins did where he said that Draymond should have been suspended for several games. Wendy, how you feel about that?

No, I don't think so.

I think if he had been called for a flagrant two in that game, it would have been upheld on review. So he didn't get called for you know, he didn't get called for a flagrant at all. They upgraded it to a flagrant one. As you said the next day, Let's just put it that way. If the referee had seen the low angle, which we've all seen where he pinches his leg and trips him up, the referee would have called the flagrant two. And let's put this way, if they went to secaucus and the replace or they wouldn't have overturned that referee didn't make that call. They kind of got lucky. Draymond can say whatever he wants, but as as authentic and as appreciative as I am of his intelligence and how loquacious he is when he talks about the game, and I appreciate so much his willingness as an active player to discuss games that he's playing in at in real time, which I think is unique. You know, he just has a blind spot when he talks about his own dirty plays. He he can't come to a point where he can say, this is a dirty play, this is.

A dirty play, and you know, is it suspension worthy?

No?

Is it in the top five of his dirty plays all time? No, it was still a dirty play. But the Warriors are in the middle of a grand experiment right now, stephen A. They're playing twelve or thirteen guys, and they've had some injuries, so sometimes it's you know, a little bit less. They believe that they can play this way and win at the highest level. We've never seen a team play this way win at the highest level. I always go with the pat Riley line. I don't know if he stole from somebody else, but pat Riley famously said to me, when the games matter, you play eight and trust seven, and frankly, when they really really matter, sometimes you play seven and trust five.

Sometimes you trust four.

And so they're what they're betting on is that they can play this huge lineup with high intensity and it can work. Or do they get to January and say, you know, we're good but not great. Do we need to cash in some of these players? And that's what things were one of the big things we're watching in the NBA right now.

Well, Wendy, I'm gonna let you get off the hook because I got a few other questions to get to them. We're running out of time, but I want to let you know. I'm not gonna let you get away with it for future references where we're gonna talk with one another how you're pouring out how Steve Kerr is managing to play twelve to thirteen guys but couldn't play more than ten in the Olympics.

So I'm gonna let that slide right now.

I'm gonna let it slide that the NBA is not the Olympics.

I understand that is eight more minutes.

It's eight more minutes. Man, don't don't you get me started with that.

And it's single elimination.

I know, a single elimination. Did you go. I knew you would say that. I knew you would say that. But I'm gonna let it go because I got to transfer to the Eastern Conference because Joel Embiid is making news. Joel Embiid obviously took hiss had a local columnist in Philadelphia, Marcus Hayes and the Philadelphia Inquirer. I thought he crossed the line when he brought up his deceased brother and obviously his son to make a point about a critique he was throwing in Joel Embiid's direction. I thought that was crossing the line. But in the same breath that I called Marcus Hayes out for that, I also acknowledged that as a columnist, take that aside, and everything else he had said about Joel Embiid is in bounds, whether you agree or disagree. As a columnist, he has a licensed to editorialize and opine and give his opinion, and that was his opinion. I think he was buffered today to some degree, or last night rather when news came out by Cham's Sarania Our knew NBA inside the extraordinary that Tyrese Maxi during the team meeting called out Joel and b for his tardiness and how it was affecting the team. When you saw that story What was your reaction, What were your thoughts.

I saw a team that absolutely surrendered him back to back second half. They had played in Orlando, Orlando had been hot or as we talk about this right now that Orlando's on a sixty and win streak. They were up by ten in that game and they totally surrendered in the second half. They're up by nineteen on Miami and they surrendered in the second half. They outscored by thirty over the last two and a half quarters. When I see a team surrender like that, I do think there's an issue with the spirit and there needs to be a discussion. So the fact they a team meeting I think was appropriate. But ever gets said in that team meeting, you know, if it's you know, things that we're not going to see, like a player showing up late for something and holding each other accountable, I think that's good, but I don't think it goes to the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is that Joel Embiid doesn't look good on the court at all.

He looks terrible, and it's not just him.

By the way, Paul George is having a poor start to the season coming off that.

Knee injury he had. Kyle Lowry isn't playing very well.

Andre Drummond, who they really thought was going to be like a buffer for when Nabie couldn't play, he hasn't played very well. Eric Gordon has shot some of the worst of his career, and the other free agency brought in. It's not just in Bid but Embiid's the biggest defender and Stephen Ay.

This is one of the big things.

Joel Embi played limited minutes in the Olympics, but he looked good. There were times where his matchup wasn't that great, but he was a contributor to the He say, winning the gold medal, and that was in mid August sometime, and then in mid September the seventy six ers gave him a three year, one hundred and ninety million dollars contract. If there was an injury that happened in there, they don't give him the contract. I don't think, at least a major injury and then all of a sudden you look at the guy and he can't move, like to me, like all everything else is secondary of the fact that he can't move. Last year, when Joel Embi got the ball in the triple threat position, dribble passer shoot. You were in big time trouble because he could make that shot, He could put the ball in the court and get to the foul line or get to the basket, and he could distribute. The guy was averaging more points than minutes played. It was first time since World Chamberlain anybody did that. Right now, he can't even get to the foul line. You have no no free throws for the second time in his career the other night. So whatever Maxi and other people are doing to keep them accountable, that's all I think healthy, and I think it happens with almost all teams.

The hell thing is what we're really talking about.

And I got to tell you this why I've completely removed the seventy six is from the mix. And it's not just because they're two and eleven. It's because of what you said. And here's why I say this to you. When we look at the bosson Celvesis reigning defending NBA champions, they're playing without Porzingis and they're the second best team in the Eastern Conference. Why because they got two stars that are young thoroughbreds twenty eight and twenty and soon to be twenty seven years of age, respectively in Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum. You look at the Cleveland Cavaliers who were undefeated at fifteen and oh coming in the last night's game. You got Mobiley, you got Jared Allen, you got Darius Garland, you got Donovan Mitchell. Donovan Mitchell is like a senior citizen on the squad compared to most of the roster. So you got young cats who know how to move and run. How do you offset what are Joel and or Paul George at their best could potentially run at you by moving running, You're having fresh young legs.

Yeah, And that's the thing like if you're looking at a team like Milwaukee who's struggling, you're looking at a team like Philly who's struggling. The big difference is that Giannis is ballin Joannas is averaging thirty one to twelve. And so you say, well, okay, if they if they're supporting cast picks up or whatever, You've got the best player playing an MVP level. If Jowelle ain't playing an MVP level, the rest of the supporting cast doesn't matter.

With that being said, how legitimate of a threat. Do you believe the Cleveland Cavaliers are Kendrick Cluk has had as a top two team in the NBA. I think that's going a bit too far, but they are up there.

I saw what he said on first take, and I almost thought he misspoke. I saw Perk later in the day. I said, hey, did you mean what you said exactly that? He goes no, I said what I said. So I think the Cavs actually had a really impressive performance in Boston. They were missing four players, three of them are key defensive perimeter players. Boston had their the best three point shooting half in the first half in twenty five years. The Calves obviously had trouble with what the Boston was doing defensively, and there's gonna be some things that they're going to learn from that. The Calves were on the road and the game came down to the last minute. I think if this had been a Game one of a playoff series and the series was over, you would come out of this saying this is going to be a long series. And so I say they play again December. First, they could play again in the NBA Cup. They played two more times on the schedule, after that, and we could see him playing in the spring. And while I would favor Boston to win, I think it would be a long series, and you know, in a long series, anything can happen.

When I look at Cleveland also, I got to tell you what something else that's on my mind. Just a couple of questions for I'll let you get on out of here at number one, even though it might be a bit presumptuous because he did depart from Brooklyn go to the Golden State Warriors as assistant coach, obviously learned a lot under Steve Kerb before coming and taking this head coaching job in Cleveland. Kenny at instances performance as head coach in Cleveland. There's a clear discrepancy between him and JB. Bickers staff from last year. There is no doubt about that. And also it has me fantasizing to some degree or reflecting on what would the Brooklyn Nets with Kevin Durant Healthy and Kyrie Irvin Healthy have been with Kenny Atnitson as their coach instead of Steve Nash, who never had no head coaching experience whatsoever. Do you find yourself thinking about that.

I hadn't until now, but you know, the James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving failure is what I have called a basketball tragedy. It's not a real life tragedy, it's not life and death. But from a basketball standpoint, those three guys getting together on the same team in one of the major markets should have produced championships multiple at least one. And the fact that not only did they not, but they were largely a failure because they couldn't even play together or get along or whatever is a basketball tragedy. And when you add that layer to it, it certainly adds to that.

My New York Knicks has saved them for last What am I to make of them now? And I'm seeing Cleveland looking the way it's looking and knowing who Boston is, and that's without Porzingis knowing he's coming back before the playoffs.

I think the Knicks were always destined to have their best shot at this in the twenty five to twenty sixth season because they hollowed out their team to put these guys on it. And they just need to build out some support players. Obviously, they need more depthed big man. They need to rely less on Carl Towns as they're five man and that'll help with Mitchell Robinson. But they also need more ball handlers. You know, when they've done that trade, they took the ball handlers away, and now Jalen Brunson has to work a lot harder. You know, when you talk to scouts, they'll say, Jalen Brunson is playing the same number of minutes, but he looks more tired at the end of the games because he's got to do all the ball handling and they're pressuring him full court. They're trying to tire them out. They need some more supporting players. That said, I think they're gonna be right there at the end. I think there'll be a top four seed. They've got a top five offense in the league, which is what they wanted when they made this Town's trade. Their defense isn't where it needs to be. So I say give them two transaction cycles, give them the trade deadline, and give them next summer and see where they are next year.

By the way, I'm not.

Sure the Celtics can keep this team together. I'm not sure the Cats can keep this team together. I'm not sure what's gonna happen in Milwaukee. I'm not sure what's gonna happen in Philly. New York's got all their star players locked in, so it's a window. It's not just in twenty four to twenty five. You know, you know, make sure it, you know, respect the window.

They've got no regrets whatsoever with the Knicks giving up five first round picks from Bridges or giving up both Random and de Vincenzo for Call Anthony Towns.

Here's my view on the Bridges trade. You can't look at the Bridges trade as just a Bridges trade. You have to look at it as the Bridges trade and the fact that Jalen Brunson signed a contract that was nine figures below what he could have gotten, and if you look at the Bridges trade brought Jalen Brunson to do that, it has a totally different view on That's true, and the Town's trade was a risk, But in all honesty, I'm not so sure they could have gotten a better player for Julius Randall. Maybe they could have gotten players that fit better and contributed better to now, but in terms of overall talent, I think they did well.

They just need to build out their roster more.

Brian went Tooss, always appreciate your brother, I know you got work to do with NBA. To Dan and beyond, keep up the great work man, we're talking about. See you soon. Wow, My Knicks, My Knicks. I'm gonna try to hang on there, ladies and gentlemen. That last part that he talked about, how you can't look at bridges and just the five Picks. Look at the fact that they provoked Taylor Brunston to take non figures less than what he could have demanded. That means you could have some money down the line and spend other places to build those supplementary parks so the Knicks can finally win a championship, because that's where I'm interested in.

That's what I'm interested in.

Just to be clear, Just to be clear, coming up, the NFL says it won't find players for doing the Donald Trump dance. I'll get into that and some other political headlines that are mixed in with sports. You'll see where I'm going when I get there. But first, he was a dominant force of the Ravens defense alongside Ray Lewis and one and only Ed Reid. Now he's up for Hall of Fame consideration. We'll talk to t Sizzle himself, the man known as Terrell Suggs as well. Next right here on the Steven Ease Smiths Show that from one a minute. Okay, everybody, you know what time it is, right, It's time for Steven A Sports Picks. Do you know how great this time of year is for me? I mean we got the NFL on Sundays and Mondays, we got college football on Saturdays, and do we got NBA games every day in between? It couldn't possibly get any better? Or could it get? Ready? Because it's about two with Pride Picks, the largest fantasy sports platform in all over the land with over three million members. Okay, you see, with Pridepects, you choose two, three, or even up to six of your favorite players from any of the sports you love to watch, and then you pick more or less on that player's project the stats for the game. Choose Patrick Mahomes, Travis Hunter, and Jason Tatum all in the same entry, and then sit back, watch and chill and get this sign up with code sas and Prospects will give you fifty dollars instantly when you play your first five dollar lineup. You don't need to win your lineup to receive the fifty dollars bonus.

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All you have to do is play a five dollar lineup on prospects and you'll get fifty dollars instantly. Now, let's see the winning picks for today. I'll be picking for tomorrow's Thursday night football game with my Pittsburgh Steelers battling the Cleveland Browns. First up, Steelers receiver George Pickens going up against the Cleveland second deary more or less than fifty six and a half yards receiving is George Pickens? Have you seen how the brother has looked since Russell Wilson has become the starting quarterback. Please to answer this question is easily.

More, more and more and more.

It's George Pickts being connected from Russell Wilson. Okay, who throws the deep ball a little bit better than justin fields does. We're gonna go with more on this one. Next up, running back Najie Harris facing the Browns defense more or less than sixty eight and a half rushing yards. I respect Cleveland's defense, but I'm still going with more as the answer to this question as well, because I like the fact that Najie Harris has been playing well. I like the fact that he's doing so approaching the contract year. And I like the fact that he's done so as well, because you gotta consider he's feeding off of that cat, Jayalen Warren, who's been in the backfield with him. When Jalen Warren has been hurt the sixth the Steelers are winless. When he has been in the lineup, they're eight and oh, this is what this brother brings to the table. Okay, so I got to pay attention to that. We're gonna go with more on this question as well.

Next up, Cleveland star back.

Nick Chubb was out last year some of this year before coming back more or less than fifty two and a half yards rushing. I'm gonna go with more on this one as well. I know that he's going up against the Steelers defense, but fifty two and a half yards is really not that much for Nick Chubb. Nick Chubb can ball, Okay, Jamis Swiss gonna be back there flinging the football. You can get into play action as well. You gotta take those things into consideration. I think he'll have an opportunity to get more than fifty two and a half yards rushing. It might not be much more, but he'll get at least that much. I'm gonna go with more, is the answer to this question for Nick Chubb as well, and last but not least, Browns wide receiver Cedric Tillman facing the stealers defense more or less than forty four and a half yards receiving. I'm gonna go with more as well, because Jameis Winston is gonna be flinging the football. Now, you're gonna throw a couple of interceptions down. I'm predicting that it's gonna be a bit uncomfortable with him. I'm predicting that it's gonna steal his defense, gonna get at him. It's gonna get two of them. I'm predicting that as well. But it ain't gonna stop it from accumulating more than forty four and a half receiving yards. Okay, so I'm going with more just to recap George Pickers, Nick Chubb, naw she haris, Cedric Tillman more across the board. When you're talking about prospects, ain't that the word you wanna hear? Most? Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith Show. My next Guest is a seventh time NFL Pro bowler and a two time Super Bowl champion who played for the Baltimore Ravens for sixteen He for seventeen seasons, obviously, before moving on to the Cardinals and the Chiefs. He was considered one of the most menacing defenders of his era and a key part of the Ravens dominant defense for so many years, finishing his career with one hundred and thirty nine sacks, ranking eighth in NFL history. The one and only t Sizzle Terrell Sudds in the house?

What's up?

Big time Houses? How you doing, man? How's everything? Long time?

No? See, let's up Stephen A long time though.

See man, it's good to see you, bro. You're looking good, looking, like you're taking care of yourself and the whole bidding. Obviously your nominee for the Hall of Fame. How are you feeling about that? Right now? You hear those words you the Hall of Fame? Obviously everybody expects you to be a first ballot Hall of Fame. But what are your thoughts?

Man? Man?

I try not to think about it because it's given me so much anxiety. You know what I'm saying Jo got in on his first chance, ray got in on his first chance, ray Ed got in on his first chance, and now me and Marshall.

So it's very flattering. Man. I ain't gonna lie.

I'm feeling real anxious, like last year when I retired four years ago. It's not on your mind until you're actually on the list. And now, you know what I mean, The pressure is being the first ballot, I hope, you know what I mean. I think I got the resume to be first ballot, but you never know what the voters are thinking.

Like I still live with the to O thing, you know what I mean.

Yo, he had the numbers too, your caroll One's definitely a first ballot Hall of Famer, but it took him three times to get in.

And you know what I mean, I'm living with that kind of like fear, you know what I mean. You just want to get in. You don't want to be waiting, you know.

Let me say this to you, and certainly me and Too have had our differences and what have you, but make no mistake about it. He deserved to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. It should have never been a second or third ballot it was people hating on him and using stuff out off the field in terms of his personality. I'm gonna hear all of that stuff. That brother's one of the top three receives is in the history of the National Football League statistically, and he never should have gone past the first ballot. Is that simple. I could say the same for you in this regard, just so you know, I don't know if you notice it not about yourself. I'm looking at the NFL's all time sack leaders, Okay, Bruce Smith, Reggie White, Kevin Green, Julius Peppers, Chris Doleman, Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor, You, DeMarcus Ware and Richard Dent and John Randall tied. Okay, all of them are in the Hall of Fame, every one of them. Okay, every one of them. Saint, No way in hell you ain't going into the Hall of Fame. And oh, by the way, DeMarcus whare, Richard Dent, and John Randall all have less sacks than you, So you're definitely going into the Hall of Fame. I would add, that's right, and less riggs. And let's because you got to Here's what I would ask you when you say anxiety. Why does it mean so much to a player to ultimately be a Hall of Famer? Just put it in perspective. A lot of us who don't play think we know the obvious answer, but you give it to us. Why does it mean so much?

I think it's a it's the it's the pinnacle of appreciation. You know what I'm saying. You you get kind of football immortality being a part of a championship team, but your family, you know what I mean, your legacy kind of get football immortality by getting inducted into the Hall of Fame.

And like I said, you know what I mean, A lot of.

My constituents, a lot of my brothers, my teammates, they made it on their first ballot.

They made it on their first time in. I played with those guys.

And if you want to, I want to, like, at this point, being a Hall of Famer just wouldn't be enough for me. It's like, I really got my heart on set on being the first ballot, first ballot Hall of Famer, just like my brothers before me.

You know what I'm saying. And you know it's a big shout out to Ozzie.

Newsome, the man should probably be yeah, he should probably be the first person to go in the Hall of Fame twice had a player and as a GM. You know what I'm saying, because Ozzi's you know what I mean, reputation. I mean, his resume speaks for itself football wise and GM wise, like he very seldom ever misses. And you know his last draft he drafted Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews, So you know what I mean, it's like there's.

Nothing to say. And by the way, just like just a reminder to the orders you were in the Ravens. You were inducted into the Ravens ringer on in twenty twenty three. That meant the world to you, okay, And oh, by the way, just another statistic you might not even remember about yourself. Do you know that you're played in all sixteen games in the NFL season when there was a sixteen game NFL season, You're played in all sixteen games twelve times, and you played in fifteen games, and you played in fifteen of the sixteen games two additional times. So of your seventeen years in the National Football League, fourteen of those years you never missed more than one game. Twelve of those years you didn't miss a single game. Did you know that about yourself?

I did not know, but that goes to show you about that raven DNA. To be a raven, you have to love football. And you can't just love football when the lights is on, you know what I mean. You gotta love football when you're not playing, when you're at home, or even taking care of your body getting treatment, you know what I'm saying, And being in that locker room, being in that organization, that's one of the things that if you don't pick up on, you're not going to be successful there. You have to love football to be a raven. And I just loved football, man. I loved football. I love practicing. You can ask anybody I had the most fun at practice. I probably had more fun in practice than I did the games, you know what I'm saying.

So it was just you gotta love football, man, to be a raven.

All right, So so you know who you're talking to, and based on what you're saying, you know where I'm about to go. Considering what you just said, What the hell is wrong with your ravens now? I mean what I mean, I'm talking about this defense. I'm not talking about the office because we know it's an aberration. First, Lamar Jackson, Derek Henry and overboard. They don't do what they do. Okay, we understand that. What's up with this Ravens defense. I don't even recognize them, bro, I don't even reckon.

We've had a lot of we had a lot of changes on defense. You know what I'm saying. We losing Patrick Clean was big. Lo Losing Gino Stone was big. You know what I'm saying, losing and Jadeveon Clowney.

You know what I'm say.

You know the young kid coming on now? Oh, you know what I mean. I love what I seen last week. You know what I'm saying. I think the biggest thing we definitely need. You know, Marlin's getting up there in age, but he's still Marlin. He's still Marlin Humphrey. So I think we need another lockdown corner just you know, I mean, not taking away from Brandon Stevens. And you know the young guy, Niate Wagams, he's coming. You know what I'm saying. He's still a rookie, you know what I'm saying. And also, you know, this is Zach Gore's first time calling plays and One thing about football fans in general is that they're not patient.

They want to fix now. You know what I'm saying.

Zach's first time, you know, calling plays, and I just hope, you know, Harts kind of give him a chance to fix it, like work it out like everybody you know, shout out to Mike McDonald.

You know what I'm saying.

You know, he called He was an actual defensive coordinator for US last year, ended up getting a head coaching job. But he was also he'd been in the system kind of he'd been there. He was there with us when I was there, you know what I mean, So he kind of had a feel of how to kind of call plays, you know what I mean. Under the mentorship, I think he evidently knew he was going to be a coordinator and eventually inspired to be a head coach. I think Zach, you know, his roads, his road started a little different. He was a player first and gradually you know, I love that Zach's a defensive coordinator, and yes, I want to see a raven dominant defense what we're accustomed to seeing over there, but I also know that there's a lot more going on then what you and I are watching on TV and they still got time to give it fit, get it fixed. But I would say when we won the Super Bowl in twenty twelve, that wasn't our most dominant defense. It wasn't you know what I'm saying.

That wasn't like it wasn't.

So I don't think the fans need to like, oh, our defense, So we don't got to change like we still have to when we won it, we wasn't.

That wasn't our best defense.

I will say this to you though, I would say this to you know, t SiZ Patrick Queen. How the hell y'all let him a raven become a stealer? I mean, that's not the Raven. That's not the Ravens organization that I would know. So I'm not I'm not gonna throw that, but that is not That is not something that's common, bro.

That is not very common at all. That's not very common at all. I don't know, I don't know. That is a Patrick Queen question. You know what I'm saying. But you know, it wasn't just Hill, you know what I mean. We let a lot of people go that I think should have never left the building. Remember, we eventually, like we let the greatest safety ever walk out of the building.

The greatest safety.

Ever eventually went and played for another team. You know what I'm saying. So I don't think we should have ever let met Judan go. I don't think we should have ever let Sadarius go. I don't think we should ever let CJ. Mosley go.

But it happens.

And when stuff like that happened, people have to understand that us, as professional athletes, our window is only so big to kind of like set us up. And I think Patrick Queen understood the business side of it, and it was like, all right, I may this is the only chance I may get to get a bigger deal. I'm pretty sure they probably approached him about taking less than he was worth to play alongside Rokwan, who got the big deal.

You know what I'm saying.

You know, it's all numbers in business, and you know you gotta give you know what I mean, tools to win, you know what I mean. You can't spend all your cap on defense, which what we used to do.

You know, do you ever find yourself fantasizing about, damn, what would it have been like for us when I was playing and I had Ray Lewis and I had ed Reed and I had these cats playing if Lamar Jackson was our quarterback when we had that, when we thought just you ever find yourself fantasizing about that?

I do. I do, but I do.

But you know, I'm also appreciative for the teams that I had at that time. But to have, you know, MVP Jackson as your quarterback, like you can't you can't deny that, Like dang, can you imagine Lamar when you know the Ravens had a Lodi and Jared Johnson. You know what I'm saying, Ed Reed, Jim, you know what I mean. Yeah, we've been in Dynasty. Yeah nine times that of ten we'd have been in Dynasty. But you know what I mean, You just you just wonder. All you could do, I mean is just.

Wonder how do you feel about Lamar Jackson being as great as he is? I throw this stet at you. He is one and four lifetime now versus the Steelers. He's one in five straight up against Patrick Mahomes, against everybody else, t Sizzle, He's sixty five and eighteen, like seventy percent of his games he's won. The only problems he's had is against Patrick Mahomes.

And against the Steelers, well, Patrick Mahons, Patrick Mahons, Okay, And I think like majority of those games were in Arrowhead. That is a significant advantage, you know what I'm saying. I think they've only played Kansas City in Baltimore twice, but one of.

Them was the AFC Championship game last year.

On that Yeah, but that that wouldn't. That wasn't on Lamar, That wasn't.

It was.

It was a lot.

It was a lot that happened, and they Flyers got a hold onto the ball, got to run the football more as well.

True, true the football game, man, and you know, shout out to the Chiefs. They wouldn't want it, you know what I mean it. You gotta remember it was a time where, you know, when hardball first got there, we couldn't get past the Steelers, you know what I'm saying.

And then we couldn't get past the Patriots. It's just like stepping stone.

Not everybody is you know, Patrick Mahomes and can just come in and have winning records against everybody they're playing against, you know what I'm saying. So it was a lot win that game. But yeah, it's It's like, all right, it's Kate. Just beat on Lamar no more. You know what I'm saying, Like, all right, Lamar's won and four and I think the Steelers are like seven of their last eight against Baltimore or something crazy like that.

You know what I mean? Like, that's that's that's everybody that ain't just a quarterback. I got everybody. I got you.

Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. What do you miss most about playing?

The locker room? I don't miss hitting people.

You don't. You don't mis hitting people.

I don't miss hitting people. This body has ran its course, you know. I don't miss hitting people. I miss the locker room. Like just that, the camaraderie we had, the relationships we had, just the fun we had in our little boys club locker room.

That's what I miss the most. I get that.

That's the most question. That's that's that's the question I get asked the most, is what do I miss most? Do you miss playing? I'm like, no, I don't miss playing. I missed the locker room. And you know, I hear stories about stuff I used to do and say, and I'd be like, I didn't I didn't do that I like that. I almost don't believe it, but apparently the guy I am now it was a different person. And when I was wearing helmet and shoulder pass it. I guess that's all of us. But I definitely missed the locker room. And I definitely think Justin Tucker needs me in the locker room. Like right now, what would if.

If you were in the locker room right now, what would you be saying to the Baltimore Ravens like I would to.

Know this thing? We had this thing.

I'm pretty sure you remember you know the movie, Uh, Meet the Parent. They had the big circle of trust.

So we used to have a big.

Chalkboard and we was good at policing ourselves. So right now we have a big circle of trust. And probably the only person would be on in there is Derrick Henry. There Henry probably be Derrick Henry in the office the line. Probably the only people be in the circle of trust right now, you know what I mean. But everybody be kicked out, you know what I mean? And we all had to earn ourselves back in. The usually earn it back in by getting the wind, and you then shit worded by by beating your rivals, you know what I'm saying. So it's gonna come down to Pipe again. We gonna see them again. We're gonna see Cleveland again, you know what I mean. And we're gonna play it at the Botts, you know what I mean.

But I never mentioned this to you before, but I'll tell it to you now. First of all, when they call you t Sizzel, obviously you brought something to the game, something significant to the game. You also brought something significant to your interviews, like seeing you on TV you have said was damn near must see TV because you always had some shit to say, always always you still love it. Right, Who did you like talking to most on television in the media.

Definitely you skip uh, you know Smith, He's just to me. He's antagonists, you know what I mean. So it was like I'm giving it to you because you like everybody I don't like. So you know, you like the Patriots, you like the Steelers, you like the Cowboys. I'm like, nah, I'm all of them. So you definitely my number one phone, and and I like basically talking to the other team, you know what I mean. It's like, how can I get them kind of the play into my hands.

You know what I mean.

I used to get a lot of you know, slides and chips out of the Steelers because you know, they didn't want me harassing big Ben.

You know what I mean. But I'd be like, I'd be like, they scared of me. That's why they're always sliding. You know my way. You know what I'm saying. I used to say something to do trying to get singled up.

You remember that quote you gave about big Ben, right, God could have his soul, but his ass is mine. That's what you said. That's what an old time great quote you gave about big Ben Prothlisberger.

Right, absolutely. I just wanted to let him know, like, yo, hey, I respect your game. You know what I'm saying. I probably wouldn't be Sizzle if it wasn't for Big Ben. And you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know what I'm saying. But I'm coming for you. I'm letting them know. You know what I'm saying. And it was that that was when we used to get the hit and the Ravens still was raven Stiller. That's when the game was really fun.

You think the Ravens gonna win it this year or you fearful that they're gonna come up short again.

I think they will. This is the thing.

Everybody know, well, true football fans know that football between September and December is one thing. January football is a whole nother thing. Everybody get a clean slate. It don't matter if you lost to the Raiders in Week two, you know what I mean, and you blew out Dallas and week three, none of that matters, you know what I'm saying. When you get into January football, you have to produce, you have to play, and it's.

A one week season, you know what I'm saying.

And honestly, everybody knows a Baltimore team in January is dangerous. We're dangers. So I think we just got a weather the storm. Now play it out, you know what I mean. Definitely when the rest of our home game win the divisions, if we can, you know what I mean, and getting the January.

Once we get into January, then we could play our styles.

So so you got the Ravens coming out of AFC going to the Super Bowl. Who they playing against? Bro is it Detroit? Is it Philadelphia?

Detroit?

Detroit Lions? Like we were robbed last year? Of possibly the best Super Bowl possibly ever Detroit Baltimore in Vegas. But this year we get a chance to do it.

Now. Now just think.

Detroit Lions versus Baltimore Ravens in the big easy. Oh, we're gonna have two weeks down in the bin. And you know, the last on the Super Bowl was in New Orleans. Who got that thing done?

Y'all did, y'all?

Y'all did, but the lights listen, y'all almost lost it because y'all were doing y'all thing and then the lights went out, and then the lights went out of College. Kathol came back on y'all.

We was messing up the money, were messing up the money, the spread and all of that. They hit the switch on us and finish were finished. Put up fifty two on them. Like we were like, hey man, we're gonna score fifty two points. We're gonna sing Ray all right. By scoring fifty two, we probably would same Lions score, you know, fifty two to six.

But so you're telling me so so you're telling me that San Francisco's near comeback in the Super Bowl against y'all was a product of the damn electricity going out and stuff like that, and and that disrupted y'all.

Is that what it is?

Nah, I ain't gonna say that. Oh we like that fun with it because it never happened before, and it's never happened since. Right, Okay, let's just be on. It never happened before and it never happened since. But here we are blowing out San Francisco forty nine ers. You know what I'm saying, We up huge, the games put away at halftime, you know what I'm saying. Twenty eight come out from halftime, Jacobe takes it back.

You know what I'm saying. We like, oh, we're running away with this one.

Then we go three and out, right, that's when we go three and out, and then we finished score again. Then the lights cutoff on. Then the lights cut off, but they made a fantastic run. But there was just a daylight and the Dallas short you know what I mean. They say grenades and horseshoes.

There we go.

You can almost win with a grenade, you know what I mean. But wasn't No, wasn't nobody stopping at that raven.

That raven.

That was our year before I let you get on out of here, man, I'm gonna go through these names again, Bruce Smith, Reggie White, Kevin Green, Julius Peppers, Chris Doman, Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor, you, DeMarcus war and then Richard denn and John Randall or Todd NFL history all Tom sacks leaders. Ain't no discussion. As far as I'm cerned, You're gonna be a first ballot Hall of Fame.

Up do you believe?

Do you do you believe? Or where would you rank yourself amongst your contemporaries as a football player as a sack master? I know Bruce Smith had two hundred sacks, Reggie White had one hundred and ninety eight, Green had one hundred and sixty. Where do you see yourself amongst those names? Are you right where you belong? Or do you think that the numbers ain't the only thing you can measure by and that and that you should be high on the list?

No, I think it's fair. I think I'm right where I belong for the simple fact that I didn't realize I was as closed as I was until the last two years. Because every year that you don't win it, you know, the big one is kind of like like, yeah, you had some success but you didn't win a championship, you know what I'm saying. So like my main focus, you know, like especially when I got you know, to the to the NFL and before you know, I eventually retired, was I want as many rings as possible, you know what I'm saying. And uh so like I wasn't like I didn't know where I was until it was mentioned to me. Like, yo, you just went to eight, you know what I mean. I'm like, for real, like I didn't know. So I think it's fair. I think it's fair and all accepted, all accept it. And like you said, I don't just have sacks, right, you know what I mean. I got picks, I got touchdowns, force fungos, tackles for loss, I got anything. The resumes preloaded, what little baby say. You know I'm not the goat, but you know I definitely fit the descriptions.

Right.

Damn, my my resume said, you know, speaks for herself. So as long as I got you campaigning for.

Me, right, you ain't got you ain't got to worry about that. I'm damn suggle campaign. I shouldn't have to to be honest, first ballot is shriman easy ain't nothing even discussed. I'm gonna go to I'm gonna go to hell off if that doesn't happen. Before I let you get on out. Before I let you get on out of here, let me transition primetime. Deon Sanders, greatest cornerback in the history of football, coaching at Colorado doing a hell of a job. I love the fact that I see t O at his games. I see Warren Sap coaching his defensive line. I know that that's something you should be doing as far as I'm concerned. As well, I would ask you this, Deon Sanders, as a college coach or coaching somebody like the Dallas Cowboys or the Las Vegas Raiders, where should he be college?

You gotta understand why.

I think because of his influence and like he get to kind of influence, you know what I mean. This is you get coached by, like you just said, the greatest cornerback ever.

You know what I mean.

The impact I think that he can make the young players lives, you know, not just on the football field, but all you know, at the the professional level, it's a business, and I think the pressure on him to win could evidently like ruin what he's doing, especially what he's done at the coaching level, Like good college coaches don't always make good NFL coaches.

If you look at Nick.

Say, like he was a great college coach, but he wasn't that good in the NFL. And I'm pretty sure there's some others. But like I said, like you know, I just said it. You know, NFL football fans aren't patient, so they want you to win, and they want you to win now, you know what I mean.

I think the pressure.

I mean not that I don't think uh Dion could be successful and handle it, but I think if he has one or two down years, they're gonna be ready to get rid of him and he probably wouldn't get another chance at it again.

So I love what Prime's doing.

I just think like once he's achieved everything at the college level, then he can you know. I mean it's his decisions, you know, but I my opinion is I think, like do all of that like at the cobbage level.

You know what I'm saying.

He got you know, his son, he coaching both his sons, you know what I mean, Travis Hunter, they're finna be.

First round top ten picks.

You know what I'm saying I got primed as my coach of the year, I got Travis Hunter as my Heisman Trophy, but when I got you, Sanders is probably the first quarterback taking any upcoming NFL draft. Let me transition to my very last question real quick, cause I gotta get ready to get out of here. Ray Lewis has meant the world to you. Form a teammate, champion, went you two time champion with you, as well as the mentor, well, a mentor big brother. Uh, you're hearing his name. It's early. Adam Scheffer for ESPN reports that it's early, but he's being considered for a head coaching job down at Florida. I think it is a Florida Atlantic. I believe it is Florida Atlanta University. F A u uh what ray Lewis as the coach? I mean that brother don't play. I mean, I mean he's qualified in terms of his football mind, but I'm just I'm wondering about his temperament with the kids.

It's different.

It's gonna be a ten saying you can't have soft skin if Ray's gonna be your head coach or you're gonna let him coach your children. You're gonna have to trust them, you know what I'm saying. Man knows football, I mean, and he's gonna demand greatness, you know, demand greatness at all of us, you know, I mean after we want when our our season ended, you know, after a playoff game. One time, he called me like the next week, asked me if I'm working out. I said, no, Ray, I'm not working out. I'm actually on the couch, you know what I mean, Like ray Lewis and ray Lewis, and he's gonna demand greatness twenty four hours a day. So if they're gonna be good on defense, they're gonna play for Rosa's defense. I don't know how many points they're gonna score. You have to bring in an offensive mind. But uh, I think it'll work, especially you know he's from Florida, he's coaching in Florida.

I think it would work.

I mean, we had to get him time kind of like we gave prime time with the Jackson State.

But it ain't gonna be too much time.

I'll feel you the one and only t Saison himself to Ralph Suggs eligible for in shrin I'm meant this year, ladies and gentlemen. Soon to be first ballot Hall of Famer.

It better happen, It better happen.

It's good to see you, bro, man. I'm here anytime you need me, my man. It's so good to see you, bro. It's so good to talk to you. Thank you, brod all right, the one and only Terrell Suggs right here when Steven A. Smith show, love him, Damn Wright. He should be a first ballot Hall of Famer. The numbers are there, everything is there. There is no excuse. And by the way, he was beloved by folks inside and outside of the football community as well, so there's no excuse to hold anything back when it comes to him coming up. The NFL has no issue with players doing the Donald Trump dance to celebrate on the field. Plus, Oprah Winfrey's production company reportedly received nearly two point five million dollars from Kamala Harris campaign. I'll get into all of that with a little twist. It's a lot of things y'all gonna pay attention to enough, but your boy is here to bring into life. Stick around, don't go anywhere more to Steven Aiskim show in a minute, I want to take a second to make sure everybody knows we're smack dab in the middle of the NFL season, and with games being played Thursday night, Sunday night, and Monday night, I could be more excited. But what's even more exciting is that Prospects wants to help you cash in on all those big time games you see. Prospects is a daily fantasy app where you can pick two or more of your favorite players and then you simply select more or less on their projected stats for the game. Pick up player's passing yards, another's rushing yards, and another's total touchdowns. The list that's endless and a good news just keeps on coming because with Prospects, you can choose from any sport you love to watch, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, even MMA, all in the same entry. And now with prospects Live Square option, you'll be able to place mid gay picks on full game projections. Just look for the red live indicator on the upper left corner of active squares during games and then pick a players game projection after their game has started. And if you sign up now with code Says, Prospects will give you fifty dollars instantly when you play your first five dollar lineup. You don't need to win your lineup to receive a fifty. It's guaranteed. All you have to do is play a five dollard lineup on prospects and you'll get fifty dollars instantly. Pickball, pick less. It's really really that easy. Welcoming back to the Stephen A. Smith Show, the NFL says they have no issue with players doing this signature dance of President elect Donald Trump during their on field celebrations. Players like Nick Bosa from the Niners, rates tight End brought Bowers and Titans received at Calvin Ridley are just a few of the players that have mocked the President elects signature moves. Now, ladies and gentlemen, in case you haven't seen Donald Trump's signature move, even though he's the one doing it right there, right now at UFC three or nine Madison Square Garden this past weekend, one of, if not the greatest MMA fight in history. John Bones Jones did it after defeating Steve Amyochik in the third round there with Trump sitting ringside. You saw it right there. Let me tell you something. Here's why I'm pissed off that the NFL had to even issue a statement about it, because celebrations usually don't warrant that it doesn't require a response from the league. So why was it necessary this time? You know why? Because we got a bunch of people still living with their heads in the cloud, acting like they get to protest every little damn thing. This is America. Donald Trump won the election rather convincingly, I might add. Now, I didn't vote for him, and I've been on the record stating that I'm not backing up from that. I didn't vote for him because I don't think he's presidential. I don't think his behavior rather its presidential. I think the presidency is a statesmanship position. I think it's important to galvanized folks and to bring them together as opposed to contributing to divisiveness. But he won, and I have no problem accepting the fact that he won fair and square in romp like fact, I might add, and he's worthy of being the president of the United States. According to the voters. They have spoken. They spoke emphatically, not just in red states, but in blue states as well, in battleground states as well. He won. There's no debate, there's no controversy, there's no anything. He won convincingly. So to me, that says that the American people have made their choice. I got news for you. Football players are usually American people. So are basketball players, so are UFC fighters. They got a right to support who the hell they want without the league needing the sin and a response. I didn't see a response from the UFC. From the UFC, you know why, because Dan Dana White wouldn't entertain it. Dana White would not entertain that because you don't play that nonsense. He's gonna support who he's gonna support. He's not gonna apologize for it, as most American citizenship feel free to do.

And why am I to thought.

Because it was emblematic of the climate that we've been living in for years now, which is why I believe Donald Trump was really elected. Yeah, it was inflation that was an issue, the economy that was an issue.

The border that was an issue. But WoT culture cancel culture? Oh hell yes, that played the role where you got people.

Walking around wondering whether or not they're echoing the right pronoun, wondering whether or not that was going to cost them their job or be in PC because God forbid, your opinion is different than the average folk walking around in America. Lord knows what would happen to you. That's what America regressed to. And because of that, I believe it's a big reason why Donald Trump, on January twentieth, will be in augurted as the forty seventh President of the United States of America. I'll continue with that opinion in just a second, but I wanted to move on to this right here, because did y'all see this report that Vice President Kamala Harris paid Oprah Winfrey's production company nearly two and a half million dollars for her support during the campaign, And there's your reports said the Harris campaign shelled out one million dollars. However, two sources told The New York Times that Winfree's production company was actually paid closer than the two and a half million dollars. That number of pales of comparison to the estimated one point five billion dollars that Harris and a Democrat spent in their failed campaign to win the White House. Why would that piss me off? Why does Oprah Whitffrey we talk about, what the hell is your production company doing getting anything from the Harris campaign? This is the same Oprah Winfree that has donated to Corey Booker's campaign in the past. Remember Senator Carol Moseley Braun, Oprah Winfree donated to her campaign when she was running for the US Senate. Remember when Barack Obama won the presidency in two thousand and eight, they said at the time, reportedly that Oprah Winfrey's impact equated to more than one million votes in his favor over Hillary Rodham Clinton in.

A Democratic primary.

So here you are donating to Democrats all over the place, which by the way, Oprah Winfrey has done for decades. You given money, you given money. Think about this, Remember Stacy Abrams and Georgia. According to reports, Oprah Winfrey gave her over ten million dollars.

I've got the news right in front of me.

The donation's highlighting the things that she has done for candidate she has supported.

What's the theme here, ladies and gentlemen.

Oprah is usually doling out money, but now your production company is getting the peace, which is pennies to Oprah Winfrey. And she issues the statement talking about it wasn't to her, it was to her production team. And oh, by the way, they had to be paid end the story. That is not the end of the story. That is not the end of the story. The fact of the matter is your production company took when you have a history spanning decades of giving, not taking, is it possible that you would take it because you had to be sold on supporting Kamala Harris.

That the level of fervor that you have for all of those other candidates that you contributed to in the past far eclipsed the level of support that you really really felt towards her.

Why would I bring that up?

Play that sound for me again with what Oprah Winfrey said the day before the election on the campaign trail for Kamala Harris, Because you play that sound.

For me again, please to refresh everybody's memory. Play it again.

If we don't show up tomorrow, it is highly possible that we will not have the opportunity to.

Ever cast a ballot again.

And let me be very clear, if you do not make sure that the people in your life can get to the polls, that is a mistake. Deciding not to decide that is most definitely a vote to let other people control your future.

See that you see it.

Yes, she was trying to get people to go out to the polls, but we know who she wanted us to go to the polls to support. That was a scare tactic. Let's call it what it is. It was a scare tactic. We're suddenly going to be deprived of our right to vote if Donald Trump gets in the office instead of as kendnidate. No problem. Sounds like a very fervent, passionate argument in favor of Kamala Harris. What the hell you need to and a half million dollars for for your production company when you were billions? Take the time, await.

You see?

Bullshit is bullshit. I'm not in any way questioning the contributions.

That Oprah Winfrey has made to the Black community, to Black people, to our society as a whole. She is the epitome of the American dream. She is marvelous. The problem was she tried to convince us somebody else was marvelous without taking into consideration how her actions would look once we got a hold of this information, which now brings into question, how marvelous did you really think Kamala Harris was. That's why people have a problem trusting not just politicians, but celebrities who come out in the open to support them. Had you your Oprah, You're worth billions. It's a horrible look for you to take a penny for you or your production company if you really supported her. And oh, by the way, speaking of things that don't look good, did you really think I was going to forget about Morning Joe on MSNBC. Now, ladies and gentlemen, let me preface my comments by saying, I respect the hell out of Joe Scarborough and Mika Braziski. They've done a phenomenal job. I'm not here to cast any aspersions, but I am here in the interest of fairness, because if we're going to move forward, we have to be fair. I did not vote for Donald Trump. I am going to be fair to the forty seventh president of the United States. I'm simply saying I'm not gonna be hypocritical.

Morning Joe.

Do you remember some of the things they entertained about Donald Trump racist, along with other incendi everythings. When people were bringing up Donald Trump's name and mentioning Nazis and stuff like that. There was nothing said on that program to quell that momentum.

They were all in.

Donald Trump wins the election, and then they come on TV and they tell us that they've met with him at Mario Lago. I appreciate that, but could you tell us whether or not you told him to his face that you thought he was a racist, or that you apologized for calling him that that you thought his name should be associated with Nazis or anything like that, or that you retracted those statements to his face. Could you give us some information because I didn't hear that.

All we heard is that you're mad. That ain't good enough.

Why because of what you said on the air waves. See, here's what stephen A is about. If I say it publicly, I'm gonna own it. If there's a retraction that needs to be given, I'm gonna own that too, because that helps trust. And that's what we're lacking in today's day, which is why you have people looking at quote unquote legacy media. That's what they're talking about these days, and they're saying, yo, legacy media is dead. It's not because folks are stupid. It's not because journalists aren'tcompetent. It's not because pundits and commentators and journalists and editors and producers and all of this other stuff don't know what the hell they're doing. It's because we do, but we leave wiggle room for our intents to be questioned. And that is what I try, what I strive to avoid. You gonna know where the hell I stand. Come hell of hot water. And if I'm wrong, I'm a man up and own it. If I was wrong in a public platform, I'm gonna say I was wrong in a public platform. If I was bold enough to say it to you publicly or about you publicly, I'm gonna own it in private and in public. That's all I'm asking for. Morning Joe, Mika Brazinski, Morning Joe. That's all I'm asking for. Oh Brah, That's all I'm asking for. By the way, I could get into where the hell was Stacy Abrams, who ran for the gubernatorial race in Georgia years ago, lost and we really haven't heard from her since because she made she helped Biden get elected in twenty twenty, and for some strange reason, dipped from the spotlight. Don't think I didn't notice that either, And I'm not blaming her, I'm blaming the Democratic Party. What the hell happened with her? Nobody took care of her, Nobody looked out for her. These are legitimate questions, but I'll save that for another day. Just wanted y'all to know where I stand and the piggyback off of what sparked this conversation to applaud those NFL players who felt free enough and were bold enough to do their Trump dance. It ain't about Trump. It's about them reminding everybody this is America and we should be allowed to believe what we wanna believe, feel and what we wanna feel, and do what we wanna do with the reason without having to worry about being ostracized, demonized, and ultimately excoriated to the point where we got to go into hiding. Those days need to be over, and when it is, we'll know that we're geared back towards America being what it used to be and what it should be. Still, that's it for this edition that Stephen A. Smiths shall hope y'all enjoyed it. I just wanted to get that off my chest until next time. Everybody being loved,