Stephen A. Smith built sports empire off confidence and criticism, responds to public spats with Jasmine Crockett, Alexis Ohanian, Lebron James, accepts being under heat, but not afraid of the fire

**SPEAKER_1** (0:03)
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**Ryan Clark** (0:29)
Stephen A. Smith is a man of many layers and many opinions. It's also probably why he has so many jobs. First takes $100 million man doesn't shy away from confrontation, and this sit down was no different. But he's more than just his perceived media beefs. We started by tackling health and family with Stephen A. He dove into why he isn't married, his love for his daughters, and his complicated relationship with his father, who in his opinion didn't do what he needed him to do as a man. He also tells us about the health scare that changed his life. Oh yeah, but wait, back to confrontation. He addressed why he and LeBron don't really like each other. He also told us the question he was just about to ask Alexis Ohanian. And he shares his true feelings about what Jasmine Crockett isn't doing for her constituents. Oh, and by the way, he actually does think he could win a presidential election.
By the time this was over, he had earned his name because Stephen A is truly a straight shooter. Me and Chan tap in with the man himself right now. Hey, man, to kick things off, we gotta say thank you to our partner and for our sponsorships with Jack Daniels. And we love working with them for the F1 races here in the States.

**Channing Crowder** (1:45)
Bruh, they had us in Miami. Now we in Austin with Jack Daniels and McLaren. And they're sending us out to Vegas with them. Man, I love Jack Daniels and McLaren. They're in their third year. I don't be here for the 30th year.

**Ryan Clark** (1:56)
And from the Pivot and our Jack Daniels family, congratulations to McLaren on your second consecutive Constructors Championship.

**Channing Crowder** (2:03)
RC., you know the taste of that Jack? But it is smooth. It's all get up the number one selling whiskey in the world. But it's been around 159 years. They know what they're doing.

**Ryan Clark** (2:14)
Hey, bro. And with 159 years, we got our own special bottle. Do you know Jack Daniels was a real man? And listen, he started doing this back in 1866 I mean, speaking of real men, real dudes, we got our dog Stephen A here today too. My dog.

**Stephen A. Smith** (2:34)
What up, baby? What up, dog?

**Channing Crowder** (2:35)
Come in with the solo cup. You good, baby?

**Stephen A. Smith** (2:38)
Good to see y'all, man.

**Channing Crowder** (2:39)
Yes, sir.

**Ryan Clark** (2:39)
How y'all doing? Ain't nothing in this solo cup of water.

**Stephen A. Smith** (2:42)
Ginger ale. That's all right.

**Ryan Clark** (2:44)
We ain't gonna get many days off, man.

**Stephen A. Smith** (2:46)
Exactly, exactly.

**Ryan Clark** (2:47)
I got something for you, though, man. A little housewarming gift. A little special pivot bottle of Jack. You know what I mean? Little Jack Daniels.

**Stephen A. Smith** (2:54)
Thank you very much.

**Ryan Clark** (2:55)
Yes, sir.

**Stephen A. Smith** (2:56)
Thank you very much. I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it.

**Ryan Clark** (2:58)
Hey, put it in that nice bar over there.

**Stephen A. Smith** (3:20)
How y'all doing, man?

**Ryan Clark** (3:21)
Man, good, man. Welcome to The Pivot. This is round two, right? First round, we were just starting, and you was a whole different Stephen A than.

**Stephen A. Smith** (3:29)
Was I?

**Ryan Clark** (3:30)
You a new Stephen A now. We got 16 jobs. And the Channing Crowder, Ryan Clark, Freddie T's across the pond with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Stephen, and this is just being real, bro. How are you dealing with the amount of work you're doing?

**Stephen A. Smith** (3:46)
I don't mind it at all. I think that the hard part is what you don't see off the air.
Wanting to air means I can do it in my sleep. I don't care if I'm talking sports, I don't care if I'm talking pop culture, entertainment, social commentary, politics or whatever. It's what I do. And, you know, you read, you study, you try to be edified and have an idea of what you're talking about, but more importantly, what people want to know about. And doing your homework in that regard, and it's a lot, but it's the job. Hell, I couldn't play. I better know how to do something. You know what I'm saying? So, I be damn. I be damn if I don't know how to do something. I think the hard part, however, is that once I signed a contract with ESPN, it also opened a floodgates for me to do a deal with Sirius XM. And a lot of people look at me with the Sirius XM deal, and they think I'm doing a radio show. It's not really that. I own the show. I split the profits. And so, it's a business. And I'm trying to build a production company. I'm trying to build, eventually, a podcast network, a YouTube channel, a media company. I'm trying to do these kinds of things. And so, when you have to, when you reach that realization, it's one thing for somebody to own a business, and that's what they're doing. It's another thing entirely when you're on camera, and you're in front of the camera, and you have to do that job every day. And then, you got to transition from that to doing business. It's like, oh, my lord, I'm talking to advertisers and sponsors. Oh, my goodness, I got 22 in terms of independent contractors, freelancers, employees. I got 22 people working under me, and everybody want to raise. Everybody, everybody want this.