What's up, everybody. Welcome to the latest edition of The Stephnate Smiths Show, coming at you as I love to do it a very least three times a week over the digital airways of YouTube and of course iHeartRadio. Before I get into anything, it's always I want to take a moment to thank my fans, my subscribers on YouTube. We've now eclipsed over seven hundred and two thousand subscribers, so I can't thank y'all enough for the love and support. Keep you coming, and I'm gonna keep on coming. Of course you've been supporting me on iHeartRadio as well. Our numbers continue to climb since we returned to the audio stratosphere. Oh my goodness, excuse me, because we didn't have that available to us for a few months. So thank y'all for the support on iHeart and beyond. Keep listening to us over the airways of iHeartMedia, and of course, like I said, over the digital airways YouTube. If you want to continue to follow this show and like the show, click on a button right there in the right hand corner and YouTube will be the latest member of the stephen A. Smith Show family. There's a lot to get into today the NBA Finals. Obviously, some of the things that have transpired in the world, pop culture, politics and beyond. At WNBA, we can't forget about that. There's a lot of stuff to get into, but we're not going to do any of that before I take a moment to give props where props is due, you know, yesterday on national television on ESPN's First Take, My day job every weekday morning from ten am to twelve noon on the airways of ESPN First Take. Yesterday morning, before we even started the show, we took a moment to get props to my man, Shannon Shop. Shannon Sharp recently reached a multi year agreement with ESPN to stay on board and to continue to contribute with First Take, as well as doing other things. You can expect to see him at the very least couple of days a week on First Take, as is already the case. But here's the thing that I wanted to do. I just wanted to take a moment to give props to him, the man known as Club Shasha himself, the man that has Nightcap with my man, o Cho Senko and Gilbert Arenas, the man that showed up from FS one and joined me, and I just thought that it would be the proper thing to do for me to just extend my gratitude. You know, none of us went alone. We went together. I don't give a damn who you see in front of the camera, who in front of who you see in front of the microphone. There's producers and writers and everybody else in between behind the scenes that make things happen for me that I always owe a debt of gratitude towards as well, and the same as applicable to him, but clearly with me being the face of first take and what have you, I'm never shy about spreading the wealth and sharing it because as well deserved. When I think about our lineup, the Ryan Clarks of the world, the Marcus Spears of the world, the Kendrick Perkins, the Jay Williams, the Tim Leglers, the Dan Olobski's, the mad Dog Russo's demeanor comes, the Kimberlee Martins, de Monica mcnutts and Andrea Carter's, the Cheney's or Goomakay's of the world, and of course the matriarch of the show, Molly Kiram. There's so many people that do such outstanding work for the show, but Shannon Sharp is on another level. What he's done for the show, what he's done for me. I can't say enough about this brother departed from FS one. I know some people have opened their mouth, are rife with stupidity, not knowing any of the facts, and saying, you know, stephen A, what you're telling this business for? Why are you telling that he was pushed out of FS one? Did it ever occur to you? Because he wanted me to. He didn't want to speak on it, but he didn't want the truth being denied. He didn't want folks not knowing that he was pushed out, that there was an absence of appreciation for what he brought to the table. And one of the reasons that I brought it up is that it's not to throw shade on anybody, is to give props where to do. I don't deserve a whole bunch of props for bringing Shannon Shop on board. Shannon Sharp came on board because Shannon Sharp was an asset that I knew would work tremendously well. For first, take his gifts, his skills, set, his hard work, his dedication, and all of the stuff that came with it is what earned that opportunity. They didn't give him anything other than recognition for what tools and what assets he brought to the table, and that brother showed up. And from the day he showed up, there's never been a shortage of energy. There's never been a shortage of passion, There's never been a shortage of knowledge, and there damn sure hasn't been a shortage of commitment. If anything, he elevated it. And it wasn't just because he was incentive to show what his worth was. He was also kind enough and thoughtful enough to want to help me. And you don't always find partners like that. You don't always find people that dedicated and that committed not just for doing something for themselves, but for also doing something for you. And that's what Shannon Sharp did for me when he joined First Take. He has never, not one day has he cheated me in effort and commitment and dedication and content. He's also covered for me for days that I had other assignments and I needed him there holding it down. The Brothers special in a lot of ways. And one of the things that I will say that I've never really said publicly before is that you have to understand that a lot of us, as black men, we go through a lot, and there's a lot of challenges, and we got to face them head on, and we got to pound the pavement, and we've got to have some intestinal resolve and that ability to wake up the next day and to do what the hell we got to do. All of that is true, but I'd like y'all to consider something because I was reading this article on Shannon recently in a Hollywood Reporter, which was an exceptional article on him, and he talked about being this dude. You've got a lisp, you're a black man, you look like the hulp for crying out loud. You've got public speaking issues to work on, and things of this nature at the time. Imagine for one second, ladies and gentlemen, especially being born and raised in the South, what that brother has gone through. Think about that for a second, Think about the obstacles we all face, and then imagine what he had to face. Thank God, he was an incredible football player. He'll tell you himself, he wasn't the greatest student in school at the time. What he had to learn. Tell you that his great brother, the great Sterling Sharp, how he had to make him go to this school and what have you, because and and wasn't thinking about all of that, and his brother made him prioritize those things, think about what he had to go through, and think about what he's had to go through in this industry. Just for one second. I've told everybody that has asked me about my relationship with Shannon's shop. Respect the man. All he cares about is that you respect him. Don't disrespect him, respect him for what he does. That's it. He ain't asking for your friendship. He ain't asking you to be a family member. He ain't asking you to go out there and throw flowers towards him all the damn time or anything like that. All the man has ever wanted and has ever demanded his respect. And the reason why our friendship has blossomed is because he knows I respect him, because I do respect him, but also got love for him. He's a good brother. He don't bar to anybody. I'm telling you, Shannon lived his eye. I think that he's a little weird for me. Them damn dogs. He loves his dogs now, talks about having their own room, talking about sleeping with them, talking about if the dog's barking some honey, she got her day's a number because the dog is telling them that she ain't no good. Shannon is different, Okay, this flavors about him that I do not vibe with. You understand when they come to them damned dogs. Okay, But he's a good brother, He really really is, and he's been good to me, and I got a lot of love for him, and I'm really really happy for him. He deserves every penny and every every nugget of investment that ESPN has agreed to place in him. So I just want to say that, and I'm just happy for him and happy he's going to be a part of the team for years to come. He deserves it, he really really does. My man club Chay Shehay in the house. Congrats, big boy, well deserved. Let me move on to the NBA Finals, where the series shifts to Dallas tonight for Game three with the Mavericks sitting in the two hole. The Boston Celtics, obviously, if you haven't been paying attention, you know they've handled the MAVs on both ends of the court in Games one and two pretty handily. I might add, they've handled the MAVs and the change in scenery doesn't necessarily get better for Dallas either, as the Celtics have not lost the game on the road this postseason. Kyrie Irving has been a no show for Dallas, and he's their only chance to get back in the series as far as I'm concerned, because Luca's gonna be Luca. He just needs help from Kyrie. And if Kyrie doesn't help it, ain't nobody else gonna stand up and help them. That's the way I look at it. And if Kyrie doesn't do anything, it's curtains for the MAVs because history is not on this side. Did y'all know this is the ninth time the Boston Celtics have won the first two games of the NBA Finals. Do you know what they've done the previous eight times they've had a two lead in the NBA Finals, They've won and have never been forced to a game seven, none of those times. So let's keep that in mind. Kyrie Irvin has to show up. Kyrie Irving has to figure it out. A lot of one on one pressing a little bit being a bit extra. But let's also understand that we got to get the boss and Celtics a little bit of credit because they've got size at every position. Derek White is a legit six y five, so it's jew Holliday. Jalen Brown's a legit six to seven, Jason Tatum's a legit six ' nine, Porzingis is seven to three. Al Horford is six to eleven. Every damn place Kyrie turns, there's a bigger, taller, longer body on him. Not In the past. He's been able to have his way with an abundance of opponents, but rarely are their opponents where you have such defensive prowess that you don't even have to double or trap. You can simply switch and make sure your body is in front of him at all times. Jason Kidd is gonna have to figure things out. He's gonna have to figure things out. But I also think that although primarily Kyrie Irvin is the culprit when it comes to their offensive woes in this series thus far, he ain't the only culprit. Now you've got a PJ. Washington, my brother show up. You were making corner threes against OKC, didn't do it so much against Minnesota, but you didn't have to because other people that stepped up. Kyrie had stepped up his offensive powers in that series. We know that, and Luca was Luca. There's Derek Jones. I mean, you hit one three and then after that, there's an apb out for you the rest of the damn game. What's up? You got to step up, Gaffred, You've got to be more of a presence. I'm not gonna be critical. I'm gonna highlight the urgency for Derek Lively, the rookie, but I'm not gonna get on him about it. I was reminded just yesterday when talking about Derek Lively that he had lost his mom right before the playoffs. I had totally forgot he lost his mom, Okay, and I know that I said it. I know that I said it Monday, and I know that, please don't get me wrong, but I forgot at the time that that's what happened. So he loses his mom, but there's no real break series one and two, and then even into the conference finals. His real break was when they had the week off prior to the start of the NBA Finals. That means he had idle time. That means he had ample time to think about the fact that with his mother passing away. Both of his parents are gone, and he has no siblings. You talk about an individual that an old likelihood is incredibly lonely and in a dark place right now, it probably was him. I lost my mother in twenty seventeen. My man Tim Legler was on TV with me Tuesday morning talking about how he lost his mother a year ago. When you lose your mama, it weighs in your thoughts and in your heart and in your mind all the time. And the best way to deal with those things and to fight those demons that inevitably come is preoccupying your mind and your time. If you don't have an opportunity to do that because you got too much idle time on your hand, you can go to a very dark place. I know I did, and I was forty nine approaching fifty. This dude is twenty years old, twenty so he's got to step up, he's got to find a way to overcome, he's got to deal with it. But in the interest of fairness, I just felt it was important to reiterate what my point was about him and to really really show a heightened level of sensitivity on a part of all of us. Because so many people don't remember he just lost his mind right before the start of the playoffs. Still in all the mass better get it done and get three, because I don't think they'll be a game five if they don't. That's just where I'm at with it. Let me move on to the next subject at hand, because it's important that we bring this up and involves the Los Angeles Lakers getting to them and their coaching search. They were left hanging on Monday by Yukon head coach Danny Hurley after he rejected a six year, seventy million dollar contract offer from the team. The deal would have made Hurley the sixth highest paid coach in the league, which clearly was not enough. And this wasn't the first time the Lakers have been down this row. Okay, just five years ago, Tyron Leu and Monty Williams both rejected offers from the team they believed because they believed the offers were too low. So where do the Lakers go from here? I've got a few names for you, and I'll give those to you in a second, but here's where I'm at with this. You're the Los Angeles Lakers is the second largest market in the United States of America. It's the highest taxed state in the Union. Damn near thirteen percent of your income. Okay, that California sunshine, all of that stuff. The Lakers have to stop trying to live off of that. You know so many times. One of my good friends, one of the people that I talked to very very often, is the guy by the name of Eric Braden. He plays the character Victor Newman on Young and the Wrestless. He's lived in California for decades, obviously filming that show Young and the Wrestless. And what does he say? It's a weather tax. He jokes about it all the time. The problem is it's not a joke anymore. Too many people in LA are using that as an excuse. We've got politicians as an excuse to always try to raise taxes, and we've got a Los Angeles Lakers squad looking using it as an excuse to low ball you. Danny Hurley is a reigning, defending two time national champion. He's universally recognized as the best coach in college basketball. You put it out there that you were going after him, and not only were you going after him, you were gonna make it according to our very own Adrian woljer Narowski for ESPN, You literally put it out there that it was going to be a major, major offer. How is it a major offer if it would have made him the sixth highest paid coach? Hell, the governor of Connecticut came out publicly and stated, we're gonna make sure that Danny Hurley is the highest paid coach in college basketball. Bill self at Kansas is making over ten million, which means that he's probably Danny Hurty is probably gonna get the eleven million from Yukon. How could you think that's an epic offer for Danny Hurley when you were paying Phil Jackson that more than a decade ago, when you offered Mike Krzyzewski eight million, damn near twenty years ago. What the hell is going on with the Lakers? Are you that poor gd Buss has support, She's got other owners involved? What the hell is this? How do you do that? Eric Sposa just signed a contract for for fifteen million, Ty Lue getting over fourteen million for the other team in town with the Clippers, Great Popovins getting seventeen a year, Steve Kerr's getting seventeen million a year, what the hell is going on? How in God's name can you justify that if you're the Lakers, I mean my man, Shannon Sharp and Mike and Brian Windrs and all of these guys I'm thinking about Yukon stores, Connecticut, La powerful. I can't believe I didn't think off the top. Wait a minute, this is the sixth highest paid salary your offering. This is bad. It makes the Lakers look very bad. It makes it look like you got financial issues. It makes it look like you're ducks. Ain't in order. So that's bad. Here's how you can make it good. You got some candidates that I'm gonna throw out a JJ Reddick. A lot of people hate on JJ Reddick. Think he arrogant, Think he doesn't suffer fools much, and you know his temperament. They wanted about that. Look, I'm somebody that works with JJ Reddick. I know him a little bit. I know he's perceived that way by a lot of people. I also know he's real, he's authentic, he's not fake, he's not phony. And my god, this brother is a brilliant, smart brother. JJ Reddick I think has a future in the coaching profession. And if the Lakers were to hire him, I would do nothing but root for him. I'm not rooting against him. I still don't think it was right for Lebron James and him to have a podcast together during the damn season while Darvin here was still a coach and he was on the hot seat. And Lebron James knew that. But that ain't JJ Reddick's problem. That's the Lebron James problem. No doubt Maverick Carter came to Lebron James thought it was a good idea. Because Maverick Carter, Lebron James man has a brilliant mind and obviously he likes to produce content in television, in film. He's a visionary and it's no knock against him. But Lebron should have known better than doing that to Darbinham. That is not JJ Reddick's problem. I think JJ Reddick has a chance to be a great coach in the NBA someday, and I would take a look at him. I'm not pooping that, but you know, we ain't gonna mention coaching candidates without me mentioning my man. Mark Jackson, Right, you know that guy that starred at Saint John's University, that was a Rookie of the Year for the New York Knicks that played in Indiana those years, played for the Clippers too, that ultimately became a coach and coached the Golden State Warriors. You know that brother that coached three seasons in Golden State, took him to the playoffs twice, finished his last season there fifty one and thirty one on the year. His last year is twenty and fourteen. We are a decade later and this brother can't get a coach job in the NBA, and nobody would tell us why because it clearly has nothing to do with his competency, his knowledge about the game of basketball. And for the record, I'm not apologizing for it to anybody. Decisions have to be made, and the business decisions made by ESPN and Walt Disney as their business. But I miss my man Mark Jackson. I miss my man Mark Jackson calling games. He's a personal friend of mine. I've known him for decades and he's an outstanding basketball mind. And to see him. Could I see him coaching in a market like la which, by the way, he lives out there, it would be a beautiful thing, a beautiful thing, and I'm gonna always wish for Mark Jackson to get another shot to be the coach. I want him in one or two places. The Los Angeles Lakers are the New York Knicks, and with the job that Tom Thibodeaux did, we all know he doesn't deserve to be out of New York. So if you're the Lakers, if you look for a coach, I wouldn't mind Mark Jackson being interviews as a candidate. That would be something that I think could be a plus. But I'm also not gonna leave out Jeff Van Gundy. Jeff Van Gundy coach for eleven years in the NBA. Jeff Van Gundy took the Knicks to the finals in ninety nine. Jeff Van Gundy coach perennial playoff teams. Jeff Van Cundy is another brilliant basketball mind. There are other candidates that you can interview. There are all the candidates. You could give ten to eleven million a year, make them a six highest paid coach, and it's not throwing any shade on them. If you're the Los Angeles Lakers, there's nothing wrong with that. But you gotta get it together. You certainly got to be better than what we're looking at right now. There's no way around it. It's a bad look for the Lakers, and none of us need to be shy about that. Coming up, Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has found guilty on all three counts in this federal gun trial. I'll get in and what it could mean for the presidential election and why the hell a guilty verdict showed up to begin with in my opinion, But first, things could not be looking any better for the WNBA. I've got some mistros or stats to break down for you. Some of it might have to do with Caitlin Clark, some of it might not. Stick around and see what I'm talking about. That's coming up next right here on the stephen A. Smithship over the digital airwaves of YouTube and I Heart Radio. Okay, everybody, you know what Tom it is. It's Tom for stephen A's weekly sports picks. That's what it's Tom for. Okay, And man, I couldn't be more excited right now because I'm making picks for the greatest time of the year, the NBA Finals. To me, that's the greatest time of the year. Okay, the NBA Finals. But not only that, I'm gonna make things even more exciting. And how am I gonna do that? By using Prize Picks. Of course, that's how you do it, that's right. Prize Picks is a skill based, real money daily fantasy sports game where you select two or more players and predict if they'll have more or less than their staff projections for the game. And it's not only about the NBA Finals. Oh hell no, it's not just about that. You can play across any sport. You are a fan of the WNBA, Minor League, Baseball, National Hockey League, Tennis, even MMA. Okay, And if you go to Prospects dot com right now and use promo code says you receive a one hundred percent deposit bonus up to one hundred dollars. You heard me, right now, Go to Prospects dot com right now. I'm gonna repeat myself. Go to Prospects dot com typing my initials sas for a first down deposit match up to one hundred dollars. And if you visit the app today you'll be able to check out my picks. You won't miss that, all right. So now let's look at my winning picks, because they usually are winning picks, all right, Jalen Brown. Are the Boston Celtics more or less than twenty one and a half points? I'm gonna say less, but not because of him. I think the focal point will be getting Jason Tatum a bit more involved. I think Jayson Tatum on the road will be a bit more aggressive. The Boston Celtics are undefeated on the road this postseason. I think you'll see Jason Tatum trying to come out of his doldrumps. Of course, Jrew Holliday, Jaylen Brown, Derek White, all of these guys will get this shots. Let's not forget about Porzingis, who's hobbled. We don't know how healthy he'll be for this game. But the bottom line is, I think it's gonna be about Tatum more so than anybody else in this particular game. I think that it's gonna be less than twenty one and a half points for Jaylen Brown. How about twenty to twenty one points, that's probably what he'll score. Okay, let's get to the next one. Jason Tatum, I just explain to you what that situation is gonna be more or less than twenty five and a half points. I'm gonna go with more. Jason Tatum is gonna be looking to be ultra aggressive. He knows that he hasn't been himself in these first two games. I think he answers the call. Not in a spectacular fash where he drops forty or fifty or something like that, but could I see him getting twenty five to thirty in this game, game three in a row in Dallas for the NBA Finals. Yeah, I can see Jayson Tatum doing that. He's skilled enough to pull that off. I'm gonna go with more for Jason Tatum on this particular one. Next one, Kyrie Irvin more or less than twenty three and a half points? Hell, yes, we're going with more. He better score more than twenty three and a half points. He's Kyrie Irvin. He's desperately needed. He's got to get loose. This whole crowd, Dallas rufer, He's got to get loose. Kyrie Irvin has got to step up, y'all. He's got to get it done. He's got to be big time, make no mistake about it. And I think this is the game he shows us. He reminds us who the hell he is and what he's made up, because if he doesn't and Luca continues not to have any help, Boston's gonna be up three to zero and this series is gonna be over, might be via a sweep. So we can't sleep on any of that, right, We've got to pay attention to all of that. Last, but not least Luka Doncik more or less than thirty two and a half points. The brothers a superstar, y'all. He's Box Office, his name is in bright Lights. He knows he's the marquee, and he answers the call. Chest contusion doesn't matter, sore leg doesn't matter, fatigued doesn't matter. This brother does it. Even last game he was messed up, he had a triple double. He answers the call again on his home turf, Luka Doncik shows up, he answers the call, and he's gonna score more than thirty two and a half points this game. So you heard what I said. Less on Brown, more on Tatum, more on Kyrie, more on Dan Jack. That's where I'm at with it, and I believe I'm right. We'll find out come game three. Welcome back to Steve Lee Smith Fiel right here over the digital areas of YouTube, and of course iHeartRadio. Before I get into my next subject, I want to piggyback off of where I left off in regards to the Los Angeles Lakers. I'm not really into conspiracy theories and stuff like that, and I'm not trying to be now, but I just want to throw something out out there to y'all to consider. You did hear me mention that ty lu got fourteen million? Right? Remember that? You didn't hear me say that, didn't you? I ruh? If you're the Los Angeles Lakers, why would you come to Danny Hurley with just eleven million? Why would you do that? Is it because you didn't want to look like you caved, so you make an offer that you know, in all likelihood he'd probably reject. And that way when you went the route of a JJ Reddick, if indeed that's what you choose to do, it doesn't look like you just capitulated to Lebron James that instead you had your own coaching search, your own your own guy, and you just threw that. Is it possible? What did KG say? Kevin Garnett? Anything's possible? Remember that? Is it? I'm just saying, as I really sit back and think about this and conjure up some thoughts as to why arguably the most storied franchise in basketball annals the Boss and somethings and now of Los Angeles Lakers, why you would come to a guy that's a raigning two time national champion and offer him a salary and a contract that five other people get paid more than him with. I'm just wondering. I'm just wondering. I don't know how that makes any sense. Steve Current seventeen million, Great Popper for seventeen million, Eric e. Sposure fifteen sixteen million, Ty lou At fourteen million, Monty Williams at thirty thirteen million in Detroit, Why would you offer this guy that you had to know he'd probably turn it down. Just the food for thought. It's food for thought. Let me move on, okay, because I want to highlight what can arguably stated as a new golden era of women's professional basketball. It's because the WNBA announced yesterday that the first month of the season drew its highest attendance since the league's second season in nineteen ninety eight. In addition to that, the WNBA is now seeing the best television ratings in its history. The surgeon popularity for the league can be directly tied to the new rookie class led by Indiana's Kitlan Clark, Chicago's Angel Reese, and Los Angeles' Cameron Brink. All three ladies drew big crowds playing in college and are consistently trending on social media. On top of all of that, Get this what get this one, y'all. WNBA merchandise sales rose two hundred and thirty six percent from the same period last year, with Clark, Rees, and Brink jerseys ranking in the top five for jersey sales during the first week of the season. Here's what I love about this. The fact that those three Clark, Rees and Brink all have jerseys ranking in the top five speaks to what Andrew Rees said that Caitlin Clark ain't the only person being watched. So that is validation Angel Rees, and we need to point that out. But we all know when we talk about ratings, were talking about Kaitlyn Clark, right, You do know that, right? Because think about it this way, the operative word is median media. N Keep this in mind, ladies and gentlemen. Lebron James is making fifty million. Okay, somebody else on the Lakers is making two. That's twenty six. That's twenty six. But there's a huge discrepancy. So if you attack it and you look at the Lakers payroll and it's said fifty two million, that's what you're thinking about. Fifty two million. You ain't thinking about one guy getting fifty But it's a fact that can't be ignored. Either recent break or no joke. They got futures in this league. This popular He's gonna come with that. But the bottom line is Caitlin Clark's the one. You know, the one with the twenty eight million dollar endorsement due you know, the one that highly contributed to record ratings for the w NBA Draft two point four four to six million to be exact. You know the one that opened the season and it was the largest open the season double header ratings in WNBA history. You know the one that goes to Arena and there was four thousand people there, but then she showed up it with seventeen thousand. Know that, this is why I made a big stink about her not being on Team USA. You want to sit up there and again I understand the merits. I've had Hall of Famous calling me making the argument on the part of Andrea Carter who was on the show with me Monday and was talking to me about y'o. It's about merit. You gotta show up there. She'll be there four years from now. I get that. I get that, I get that, But you know what come to me when you care as much about people being screwed. The biggest screwover in the history of Olympic competition is a toss up between Isaiah Thomas being denied entry. Actually I say that's number one, when he wasn't placed on the original Dream Team and John Stockton was picked ahead of him just because he wasn't liked, because everybody knew his basketball credentis warranted. That. The other side to that, ladies and gentlemen, was Roy Jones Junior being robbed in the Olympics of an Olympic gold medal. Remember that that was it Highway robberies. It's not the first time, it won't be the last. Politics played decisions. Corporate America plays decisions, Madison Avenue and Marketing plays plays roles in these decisions. Because it's about the almighty dollar and what's gonna fill those coffers. I'm not sitting there and saying you replace Asia Wilson with Katelyn Clark. I'm saying you got twelve folks on the roster. One of them couldn't come off of this girl. And oh, by the way, Chelsea Gray still injured. Dianas ARROSSI you already got about three gold medals. Sure you could find a spot for Kaitlin Clark. Sure, just asking, just asking. Let me move on to this next subject here, because I had to touch on this. I want to take a moment to talk about professional soccer, or football as it's known in Europe. In an historic move, three Valencia soccer fans were sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to insulting Real Madrid's forward Venincius Junior with racial slur. It's the first conviction for racism related cases in professional soccer in Spain. The fans were detained in May twenty twenty three after a match between Real Madrid and Valencia was temporarily stopped due to racial slurs. The incident sparked an outpouring of support for Venincius, who months earlier broke down in tears while talking about the racist insults he endured in Spain. After the conviction, let me read to you what he tweeted. Many asked me to ignore it. Many others said that my fight was in vain. Now I should just play football. But as I've always said, I am not a victim of racism. I am a tormentor of racist The first criminal conviction in the history of Spain is not for me, It's for all black people. May other racists be afraid, ashamed and hide in the shadows. Otherwise I'll be here to collect. Thank you to and rather Madrid for helping with this historic conviction. More to come now. The fans whose names were not released were found guilty of a crime against moral integrity with the aggravating circumstance of discrimination based on racist motives. They will not be allowed to enter soccer stadiums for two years and must pay for all court proceedings. I don't want to use the word happy justice was served. You have some despicable, disgusting human beings all over the world, and Venicius speaking up and speaking out the way that he did is admirable. He's somebody we should all appreciate and admire. I'm thankful for him. I'm a bit conflicted on a couple of front. Number one, I'm sad to know that racism extends far beyond the corridors of America. Always knew it, of course, but it's just sad that somebody's over in Spain and you're hearing about racist slurs. But it goes a step further when he talked about them going into hiding, and they should be very afraid. And that's a danger because when you're allowed to hide, you're allowed to disguise and cover, which means that your motives and the conditions that exist within your heart aren't compelled to change because the devoid of exposure that worries me. That concerns me, and I'll tell you why, because I've encountered, obviously in an ordinate amount of racist in my day. I don't believe that every person that's white is racist. I don't believe that bigotry reigned supreme. I think that a lot of people are like that, but not most and not all. Having said that, I often think about what one white racist looked me in my face and told me decades ago. The world is changing some of us will be quiet about it, but that serves our benefit because the longer we get to live in the shadows, the longer we can do the things that we want to do without ever having to be accountable for it. He looked at me on my face and told me that obviously he was it with a few other white folks, so that was something he could get away with. But it always struck me. And when he didn't realize is that I wasn't angry about it. I appreciated the heads up because the more enlightened we are about what lurks behind the shadows, the more we're prepared to deal with it, even when it isn't visible enough for us to point it out. It like elevates our sixth sense, and I don't mind that at all. Chance favors the prepared mind. If you're prepared for what inevitably may come your way, albeit by the few, not the many, not most, you're better equipped to deal with the adverse circumstances it may create. Maintain your composure and do what you can to get through the day and live to fight another moment. So I don't know if I agree with him about pushing folks into the shadows and into hiding. I don't know if that ultimately benefits black folks in the long run, who are destined to experience racism, but I get that his heart was in the right place, and I appreciate him saying that this sentencing by the courts in Spain is a victory for all black people because he's acknowledging he wasn't just thinking about himself. He was thinking about us all and that is always a beautiful thing. Coming up, President Joe Biden's son, Hunters A. Biden, found guilty of three felonies, not one, not two, but three felonies. I'll get into that in a moment. Don't go anywhere more to Steven as Mitchell coming your way now. I just want to take a moment to make sure everyone knows my favorite time of the year is happening right now, y'all. D NBA Finals It's in full swing. And how do I make them even more exciting than they already are. I play Prospects, of course, so I can cash in all the big game action you see. Prospects is a daily fantasy sports app where you can select two or more of your favorite players and then choose more or less on their projected stats for the game. But Prospects is not just basketball, no, no, no, no no. It has choices for every sports fanatic. You can pick players from the WNBAT, NHL, Tennis, or even golf, all in the same entry. Okay, I make my picks and submit early, all in less than just sixty seconds or right, and get this, Prispects will match your first deposit of up to one hundred dollars. Or say that again, Prospects will match your first deposit of up to one hundred dollars. That's right, So go to Prospects dot com and use the code sas that's my initialis of course, for a first deposit match of up to one hundred dollars, that's code. That's a yes. When you go to prize pits dot com, pick more pick less. Guess what, y'all, it's really, really, really that easy. Welcome back to Steven A. Smith Show right here over the digital airways of YouTube and iHeartRadio. Let me get it to I don't even consider this politics, but in an essence, it is because of what's going on in regard to the President's sun Hunter Biden Please earlier, earlier, Tuesday morning, President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, was found guilty of three felony counts tied to a handgun purchase he made at twenty eighteen while using narcotics. The trial is the first involving the offspring of a sitting president. The charges, which include lying on a federal screening form about drug use, lying to a gun dealer, and possessing the gun, could carry a maximum sentence of twenty five years in prison. Now that sentence is unlikely, as Hunter Biden as a first time non violent offender. As for President Biden, who's running for reelection, you know he's been candid aby his son struggles with addiction. Of course, earlier, he told ABC News he would not interfere in his son's federal trial if convicted, and he would not offer him a pardon. Hunter Biden still faces a federal trial in September for allegedly avoiding taxes in California. By the way, Hunter could have resolved both the gun and tax chargers without prison time, but a plea deal with his attorneys fell apart last summer. See, certain things need to be said, So I'm gonna say it. Okay, I'm totally with President Biden and saying, I'm not gonna part in my son. If my son had all his faculties in order, wasn't inebriated, didn't have an addiction issue or anything like that. Okay, Dan, you just a slam ball, and I'm not pardoning you at all. But if my son was an addict and a recovering addict and prune to dare I say questionable decisions because of his addiction that if I'm the president, I gotta admit, y'all, I'm gonna parton him. I'm gonna part hi under that first time non violent offender. See that's the that's the bullshit of politics, because you know you saying that if you Joe Biden, because that's politically expedient. Now, no, no, I'm not apologizing for supporting my son who's got an addiction. Now again, you don't have an addiction and you're just a lawless individual, then my compassion for you is gonna dissipate dramatically. But if you have an addiction, whish he clearly had compassion is order for the day. To me, I don't think the president should be saying that. It ain't like he gonna lose votes because of it. Independence or hard leftists or progressives ain't gonna vote against Joe Biden because of son like that. Remember remember when I came to the defense of Chris Cuomo with the whole thing with his brother. I was like, this, that's his brother. Your brother says he's innocent, You believe him, you support your brother. You gotta apologize for that. That was my thinking. You're saying, so, I mean, I think like that, you got a child, Your child is an addict cocaine, crack, alcohol, I mean, damn you know. Yeah, yeah, they might tease him. You might have people on the right going off about Hunter Biden, right, but they always showed him being a bit inebriated, whether it's drugs, alcohol, So clearly he was not in his right state of mind. I think that cause for compassion. Last time I checked, I thought that's what this world was about. Didn't we say compassion? Don't we talk about that all the time. Don't we talk about second chances? That's where I'm coming from. So if again, if he wasn't addict, and the president was open about his son's problems with addiction, I think that caused for a little compassion on the part of the president when it comes to his son. That's what I think. Having said that, are we really surprised at what happened? Do y'all know that Hunter Biden's conviction. Do y'all know that didn't really take place yesterday? They didn't tell y'all, Oh, this is a couple of weeks ago, that brother was convicted before this, He ain't get convicted Tuesday morning. He got convicted the day Donald Trump got convicted. The day that happened, They're like, Oh, we're gonna get his ass. You can't argue that it's politicized on one side, but then thinking they're gonna be politicized on the other side. Why you think the Republicans came out and they apported the justice system. They weren't applauding it a couple of weeks ago, they say, they were saying it was rigged. So now that Hunter body and got his okay, fairness, fairness, fairness, because it's all being politicized at this moment in time, just like they found a way to parlay that into trying to convince folks that this might affect votes for Trump. They're gonna find a way to do it as it pretends to, how it might affect votes for body. By the way, three weeks or less than three weeks before a debate between him and Trump. It's scheduled to take place about three weeks and two days from now. They full of no body. This is what it is. Here's the bad part. Politicization of the justice system is scary because now we're not talking about what's right and wrong, what's fair and just. We're talking about which side has the power to flex and manipulate its muscle to invoke the kind of pain, the kind of punitive damage they may be inclined to implement. That's what we're talking about here. When our system gets to that point. If the politicians in trouble, what kind of trouble you think the rest of us are in, think about it. Calls can be made, Minds can be manipulated and influenced. Initially, according to reports, the jury was split fifty to fifty on convicting Hunter Biden. Day one. Day two, they came back e eleven to one in favor of a conviction. Remember, jury of your peers, it must be unanimous to convict. It took them was it three days to get to a conviction. We don't know what happened. I'm not here to tell you. I know what I'm saying to you is that one of the first thoughts that came to my mind right on this show when Trump was convicted on those thirty four felony counts, all class E felonies, which essentially are tabit more than the misdemeanor that people believe will not equate in their jail time. The second that happened, I said, there's no way Hunter Biden could get off, because if Hunter Biden gets off after Trump is convicted, it will be nothing but chaos, because it would be further evidence that in other in folks minds that the system is rigged. You almost had to convict Hunter Biden the minute Trump was convicted. I'm not telling you I got any inside information or anything like that. I'm just talking to you about an average citizen looking out there and seeing what I saw, who didn't know that was coming, who didn't know that was coming. Here's the last thing that's coming. How much you want to make a bet that President Biden changes his mind and does pardon Hunter Biden while also this happening that Judge in July. He ain't gonna give Trump any jail time. Trump is the present of GOP nominee. Who will the official GOP nominee four days later after the supposed July eleventh court hearing sentencing hearing, He's gonna be the GOP nominee. He ain't going to jail. In my opinion, he's not going to jail. And if he ain't going to jail, Hunter Biden ain't going to jail. Nobody goes to jail, but taxpayer dollars are paid on all of this, and it's supposed to be a felony, and it's supposed to be a felony, and the gun charges and and and while on narcotics and all of this other stuff. Anybody going to jail. The suckers are us. The suckers are us. Last point before I get on out of here for today, gotta move on to this. Can't end the show without touching on this subject. I gotta quickly touch on Sean pdd Combs. As more organizations continue to separate themselves from what can only be termed now the disgraced music mogul, The latest was Howard University and historically Black College University in HBCU, whose board of trustees voted unanimously last week to revoke the honorary degree given to him in twenty fourteen. The university also made the decision to return colmb's one million dollar contribution and terminate a one million dollar pledge agreement from the Shawn Combs Foundation. The board of trustees issued this statement about its decision. Quote, Mister Combs's behavior as captain in a recently released video is so fundamentally incompatible with Howard University's core values and beliefs that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold the institution's highest honor. It ain't about applauding anybody, including Howard. It's about recognizing the necessity of this move. You disassociate yourself from people who are found to be guilty. I'm not talking about the court of public, court of law. I'm talking about what we saw a video. You cannot associate yourself with somebody who would do what p did he did. I'm not here to excoriate the man and anything like that, but what he did to his girlfriend, Cassie Venturro was criminal. It was not only disgraceful, it was criminal and the LAPD basically said, the only reason we couldn't prosecute is as is because it's a statute of limitation on that kind of stuff. And it happened years ago. It was vicious, it was a lot, and he said that his behavior on that video was inexcusable, no excuses, et cetera, et cetera. I'm gonna go a step further. I've seen no one in the hip hop community come to his defense at all, even before the video came out. Before the video came out, it was allegations of sex trafficking, There was allegations of assault, since allegations of rape whatever, Nobody, nobody. Just the other day we talked about Will Smith, We talked about him with the whole Chris Rock incident. But what did we never fail to say that we've never seen anything like it. Will Smith is a good brother with an exceptional reputation whose behavior that night was incredibly uncharacteristic, in a complete aberration from anything we've known him to be. So when his boy Charlie Mack and others talked about Grace, you can understand where they're coming from. When you talk about the people he's employed, when you talk about the things he's doing, when you talk about his love for Martin Lawrence and vice versa. When you talk about all of these things, there is a thousand times more good than bad with Will Smith. Nobody says anything about Diddy. Nobody, nobody. I mean again, before the video was exposed by CNN, before any of us knew that happened, when we just heard the allegations, when we saw Homeland Security raid his homes in Miami and Los Angeles, nobody spoke up for him. And now we not only have Howard University in HBCU disassociating themselves from him and confiscating an honorary doctorate they gave to him figuratively speaking, of course, they gave back the money. And I'm here to tell you, even though Howard's endowment is significant, especially compared to any other HBCU out there, but certainly nothing in comparison to Ivy League schools, a million dollars is a million dollars, and a million dollar commitment is a million dollar commitment. And for them to say we ain't messing with you, we want nothing to do with you, you know what it is. You could call it bad, You could call it worse. This is what I call it the end, whether he's in jail or not, whether he tries to resurrect his music career not, because there's always a way to make money, especially with what he does for a living. Here is the reality. A music mogul who is a product, endorser and beyond now finds himself with folks on all levels wanting absolutely positively nothing to do with him. I never thought of my wildest dreams that that day would arrive for somebody's brilliant. It's talented, it's omnipotent, and it's tenacious as P Diddy, But it has lesson for us all Mind our manners, mind our behavior, God, our names and reputations, and our families and our loved ones, with everything we have, because you never know when it can be gone. Just like that. That's it for this edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show. I gotta get on out of here. Game three of the NBA Finals is tonight in Dallas, Texas. I got some work to do, but I'll be back in a couple of days. Until then, Peace of love, everybody, God bless. Stephen A. Smith Show Out