← The Stephen A. Smith Show
The Stephen A. Smith Show
Full Show: Caitlin Clark Effect | NBA Free Agency & Trade Talk | Warns about Mamdani’s progressive agenda.
01:04:42
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
Stephen A. Smith
Foreign welcome to the latest edition of the Stephen A. Smith show. Coming at you at the very least three times a week over the digital airwaves or YouTube. And of course, iheartradio. Can't thank y' all for the love and support enough. Because I always pause to pay homage to that to all of you out there who've supported this show. Obviously, millions of Downloads courtesy of iHeartRadio, not to mention YouTube Subscribe Base that has now eclipsed 1.26 million in support of this show. Can't thank y' all for the love and support enough. Keep it coming. And I'm gonna keep on coming to continue to like and follow the show. Just click the bell to get notified for all of our newest content and you too shall consider yourself the latest member of the Stephen A. Smith show family. And while doing that, please make sure to pick up 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 straightshooterbook.com to get yourself a copy that straight. Shoot a book.com to get yourself a copy. You know, there's a lot of things that I'm going to get into today. You know, Trump and his big beautiful bill. Zoran Mamdani, the new Democratic nominee for the mayor's position in New York City. In all likelihood, I'm gonna get into all of that and. But make no mistake, even while I'm sitting here on vacation, since you're not gonna see much of me this summer because I'm off the airwaves of ESPN and beyond on a break. Finally, there are some people that have been talking a lot of about me. And you know, I, I just, you know, I'm, I'm gonna address it. I'm gonna address it. I mean, I've been really nice. I don't think people realize how nice I have been and I'm gonna be nice today. But I think it's necessary for me to say a couple of things before, before today's show ends. Just, just gonna throw it out there. I'm gonna leave it at that. Okay. But first thing I'm gonna do is get into President Trump and what the hell is going on in the nation's capital. Trump's big beautiful bill. That's where we're gonna get started. As we quickly approach his self imposed deadline of July 4, when he would like to sign a bill into law. It was a marathon weekend on Capitol Hill where Republicans suffered some setbacks, including one GOP senator announcing he will not seek reelection after opposing the package over its Medicaid health care cuts. An all night session to consider an endless stream of proposed amendments to the package in what's called a voterama, was abruptly postponed, but it's now underway. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by the year 2034 if the bill becomes law. The group also said the package would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over a decade. There's a couple of things that we need to consider here, ladies and gentlemen, as we discuss this. Okay. And I'm just looking at some of my notes because I think it's important to bring this stuff up, what Trump is trying to do and what the Republicans who support the big, beautiful bill. Cuz I mean, this is Trump. So obviously the bill has to be big. It has to be beautiful. Okay, this is drunk we're talking about here, right? What they're doing is kicking the can down the road. That's what they're doing. Let's call it what it is. Because when you talk about curbing spending and what have you, I mean, is it really. If it's adding $3.3 trillion to the budget, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, is that what it's doing? We all know what the priority is. We all know why Trump has emphasized, has absolutely, positively emphasized against this bill being passed. Because the whole objective is to make sure that the tax cuts he instituted in 2017 remains in play, and that upon its expiration that all of a sudden people are spending more in taxes and have less in their pocket, then all of a sudden we're going to be talking about inflation and other things. He doesn't want that because that could compromise the Republicans, the GOP with the midterms. Come on, y' all. We know this. And I'm just looking at some of my notes from here, right? Because I'm looking at what. And I categorized it two ways. One is what the GOP says about the big, beautiful bill, and the other is what the Democrats are saying about the big beautiful bill. Okay, if you're a member of the gop, what's the objective here? Quote, the one big beautiful bill will implement President Trump's Make America Great Again agenda by delivering the largest tax cut in American history, the largest border security investment in history, and the largest deficit reduction in nearly 30 years. That was a quote by Donald Trump just a few weeks ago. Okay? So we have to remember all of that, all right? That's number one. Okay. Because very important. We can't just ignore this kind of stuff because we got to quote the president. Right. I'd say we do. Here was what the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson said at that particular moment in time. Today, the House has passed the generational nation, shaping legislation that reduces spending, permanently lowers taxes for families and job creators, secures the border, unleashes American energy dominance, restores peace through strength and makes government work more efficiently and effectively for all Americans. This is what they're talking about and what they're going to do. Extension of 2017 tax cuts new tax breaks SALT deduction increase state and local tax that's what SALT stands for. Deduction cap is raised from 10,000 to 40,000 for married couples earning up to $500,000. Addressing concerns from representatives in high tax states like New York and like New Jersey. And also the big beautiful bill is supposed to be something that supports small businesses. Why? Because the same provisions such as the reinstatement of immediate R and D expensing and increased pass through deductions aim to bolster small businesses and domestic manufacturing. This is what they're saying. This is the GOP now, their interpretation of it. Work requirements. The bill imposes work requirements for Medicaid recipients, a move Republicans argue we'll reduce fraud and ensure aid research reaches the truly needed among amongst other things like eligibility verification, coverage restrictions, all of that stuff. That's what the Republicans say. Now let's go to what the Democrats have to say about the big beautiful bill. According to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Okay, this is when it was passed by the House. Cause remember the Senate still got approved and all this other stuff. But this is at the time, it's weeks ago, he said. We believe it's one big ugly bill that that's going to hurt the American people, hurt children, hurt families, hurt veterans, hurt seniors, cut health care, cut nutritional assistance, explode the debt. That's what Hakeem Jeffries said at the time. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer what did he say? This is not one big beautiful bill. It's ugly. There's nothing beautiful about stripping away people's health care, forcing kids to go hungry, denying communities the resources they need and increasing poverty. They get specific health care cuts. The bill imposes work requirements for Medicaid recipients and reduces federal Medicaid payments to states, potentially leading to millions losing coverage. Point number two, tax benefits for the wealthy. Democrats argue that the bill extends tax cuts primarily benefiting high income earners and corporations while offering Minimal relief to working and middle class Americans. What else do they talk about? Increased deficit. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill could add 2.3 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade. Now the next thing you know, they up to 3.3 trillion doll trillion dollars. So let's keep that in mind. Okay? Number four, social program reductions. The legislation includes significant cuts to snap. That's food assistance and other safety net programs, which Democrats believe will exacerbate poverty and hunger. Last but not least, restrictions on Reproductive and LGBTQ + Health Care. The bill prohibits Medicaid from covering gender affirming care and services provided by clinics that offer abortions. Aligning with conservative social policies. That last part right there, you're gonna have some people that's up in the air about that. And I'll tell you where you're gonna lose that argument. If you're the Democrats, you're gonna lose that argument is that if you are of the mindset that you know what, we support stuff without parental guidance and without parental interference, when you're trying to sit up there and provoke and promote children being able to make decisions for themselves, parents ain't gonna go for that. Prince ain't gonna go for that. So you need to do everything that you can. Even though that's not gonna happen under Trump's administration, you need to do everything you can to separate yourself from that issue. Tell you that right now. Cause you're gonna lose. You're gonna lose. Now, having said all of that to get back to the Republicans and this representative from North Carolina who's not going to run again, the Senate, I believe. Let's understand something here. When you have GOP members talking about they're going to have 600,000 plus members of their constituency that are going to be without health care in a matter of years. That's what's going on in North Carolina. That's why that senator won't support the big beautiful bill as presently constructed. That's what's going on. But the fact that millions upon millions of people are in danger of losing their health care, ladies and gentlemen, we've got ourselves a problem. Because the GOP swore to us that that wasn't happening. The GOP swore to us that that wasn't a concern that we had. Donald Trump swore that wasn't a concern we were going to have. And now members of his own party are jumping ship. And if this continues, all you need is one or two more officials to go against them, then the Republicans ain't gonna be able to get it through the. They're not gonna even get. They're not gonna get the bill to the President's desk. Now. Trump's giving them a July 4th deadline. It's July 1st tomorrow. So they better do something. They better do. They better do something. But I'm going to tell you something right now. No matter which way you slice it, the desolate and the disenfranchised are in more danger now than they were before. There seems to be some inconsistencies and some untruths being told by our elected officials. Clearly, millions of people are going to have their health care compromised. And I'm thinking about all of this, and I'm saying, what in the hell is going on? I can't believe it myself. But I tell you, something better be done. Something's going to have to be done, because if they don't fix this quick, fast and in a hurry, the Republicans are going to be in trouble during the midterms, and Trump knows it. And if the Republicans lose the midterms in the House, in the Senate, where the Democrats get a majority, he's not going to be able to get anything passed, and he knows it. I'm just looking at some of these things here, some of the things that the Republicans swore up and down, and it is getting alarming. Talk about the cost of Medicaid up 78%. Medicare up 75%. Social Security up 73%. Democrats are saying, americans, these are the Republicans that send me these notes. Democrats are saying, Americans will die with that massive increase in spending. Senate Republicans are right, saying we need to cut it. But the bottom line is they're trying to jumpstart the economy. See, in the end, what Trump believes at his heart of hearts is that everything is stirred by the economy. As long as the economy is flowing, people ain't worried about it. So what Medicare cost and Medicare Medicaid costs and all of this other stuff comes into fold. If you have a flourishing economy, then ultimately people will be able to afford to spend, and as a result, they'll be able to take better care of themselves in the process. That's what he's thinking. Whether I'm buying that, I'm not sure. I'm gonna listen to more and more, because what I really, really want to hear more about is these assertions that millions are gonna lose health insurance. That's what I want to find out about. That's what we all need to be looking at right now. I got bigger things to talk about, bigger moving forward, though. And one of the other things that I need to talk about is this man, Mr. Mamdani, because I think it's necessary. He's coming up next. He's the Democratic candidate for mayor in New York City. But here's the question. Even with everything we just discussed about the big beautiful bill and what both sides are saying and how even folks on the GOP side are in danger of they're fearful that millions of Americans are going to lose their health care insurance. Even with all of that being said with Mamdani as the Democratic candidate for me in New York City, the question still needs to be asked, even as we throw shade on the GOP right now because of the way things are going with this big, beautiful bill, whether or not this could be the worst possible outcome for Democrats having an avowed Democratic social list on the verge of becoming mayor of the largest city in the United States. We got to get into that. I'm also going to get into Giannis potentially being a New York Nick. I'll touch on that later on in the show too, but not before I get to this. That's up next right here on the Stephen A. Smith show over the Digital Airways of YouTube and of course I heart radio. Back with more in a minute. All right everybody, listen up. With all the big time sports action that's happening each and every day, the Stephen A. Smith show wants to make sure you are taking advantage of it all. That's why we partnered with Prize Picks the best place to win Cash while watching sports the app is really easy to use. You know, to create a lineup, all you have to do is pick more or less on a few player stats, choose from any of your favorite players all in the same entry, then sit back and watch. The list is endless. You can play prospects in over 40 states, including California and Texas. Best of all, Prize Picks will give you 50 in lineups. When you play your first five dollar lineup, win or lose, you'll get 50 bucks in lineups. Just use promo code SAS and download Prize Picks now. Again, download the app and use code SAS to get $50 in lineups instantly after your first five dollar lineup prize picks. Hey, hey. Run your game. Welcome back. Now let's get to Mr. Zoran Mamdani. He is the man, the Democratic socialist, self proclaimed Democratic socialist that ran for the mayor's seat in New York City. Anyway, he had a big win in the New York City's mayoral Democratic primary last week and it turned heads throughout both parties. Mamdani, a member of the state assembly since 2021 would be the city's first Muslim and Indian American mayor if elected. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams skipped the primary and plans to run as an independent in the general election. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who Mamdani defeated, has not ruled out the option of running as an independent himself. Cuomo and Mamdani represent the Democratic Party's ideological divide. For those of you who have not been paying attention, with one candidate, Mamdani being a young progressive who identifies as a Democratic socialist, and the other, obviously, Cuomo, who's an older moderate from a legacy political family, and there are some who fear the direction of the party is headed with this. Where the. Where the party is headed with this shift in New York. They should be worried. They should be worried. Ladies and gentlemen, let me be very, very clear. If the Democratic Party becomes the likes of Zoran Mamdani, who, by the way, I like not trying to throw any shade on him or anything like that, but if the Democratic Party becomes him, you have no chance. You have no chance. On a national basis in terms of the presidency, in Senate seats, seats in the House, you have no chance. You have no chance. I want to be very, very clear about that. You might have a Democratic socialist sprinkled here and there, but that ain't what America is. America's about capitalism. America's about dollars and cents. America is our. America is about an economy, a flourishing economy, okay? And you know what? It's not about free stuff. Somebody got said, so I'm gonna say it. Somebody got said, so I'm gonna say it. Now, let me tell y' all something right now. Have you seen some of the things on this brother's agenda? I just want to say this because it's necessary. This is Mom Donnie's agenda. Agenda. Okay, again, 33 years old, bright, smart, very articulate, very energetic. Walked from one side of New York City all the way to the other side. You ain't seeing some of these elder statesmen doing that. Damn it, our feet hurt. We ain't trying to do that. It's hot weather. Outside is 100 degrees. They gonna get out and vote. They gonna get out and do what they can. Knock on doors and everything like that. Them older Democrats, them older representatives, those older elected officials, they ain't trying to do that. I got you there. But ultimately, the cows gotta come home. The chickens have to come home to. To. To roost, proverbially speaking. And let's look at the agenda. Look, ladies and gentlemen, I got white and black people working for me. All of them younger except my boy Rashawn, he's an old ass, but that's a different side. Another. That's a different story for another day. His old ass worked for me too. But everybody else younger. Everybody else younger. Now let me tell y' all something right now. Even young, I know my man Izzo is watching, smiling. I know my man Griff is hiding with his glasses on with the bed and all of this. Sometimes, by the way, as an aside, I wonder about Griff with that beard. What are you trying to do? You know, son, I ain't gonna go there. I ain't gonna go there right now, but I'll leave it alone anyway. I know Sherry listening. I know she listening too. But she in another part of the country, so she ain't counting with this one, but damn it, she might too. Let me tell y' all something right now when I tell you that Mom, Donnie's agenda. Freezing the rent so you know your price. Price can't elevate. Right. Fast fare. Free buses. Nothing wrong with Department for Community Safety. No cost. Childcare free. Childcare free. Free. Free. Okay, this is what he's saying now, okay? City owned grocery stores. Now y' all know when stuff is handled by the bureaucrats, it's one thing for them to be involved. It's one thing for them to have regulations to making sure they look out for the modern everyday American citizen, but it's another thing entirely. Where you the one running it? You don't want running it. Every city in the United States of America, at least it feels this way, is in debt. Don't know how to handle a bank account to save their damn lives. Nationally speaking, our debt has eclipsed $37 trillion. The state of California is billions in debt. New York City ain't too damn far behind. And we're supposed to listen to you say that you're gonna be in charge of grocery stores? Really? Really? I mean, come on now. I mean, I mean, I'm laughing. I'm laughing. I know my man Rashad sitting there looking at me, probably smiling all that. I get it. I understand. But y' all know I'm not. I'm telling you the truth. Now listen, let me. Let me tell you this. City owned grocery stores, housing by and for New York. Nothing wrong with that. We all need affordable, affordable, you know, affordable housing. No doubt about that. All right? Cracking down on bad landlords, we all for that. Ain't that wrong with that? Taxes on big corporations and the wealthiest. New York is fine, Mom. Donnie, can you take advice from your boy Stephen A. Can you take a little advice, please? Why did you just take free buses? No. Course. Childcare and rent freezes and put them on the category of taxes on big corporations and the wealthiest New Yorkers. Why didn't you just lump it all under that one category? It wouldn't look as bad. Because guess what? Nothing's free. Everybody gotta pay something. There's no way in hell it's free. You think the bus driver's gonna drive for free? You think the train conductor's gonna drive for free? You think free groceries are gonna be given out? You think landlords ain't gonna look to paddam pockets? The money coming from somewhere. So if it's coming from somewhere, where's it coming from? The wealthiest New Yorkers. That's where it's coming from. And big corporations. Why did you just take that and lump that all under that? It would have looked better. But you didn't do it. Instead, you told on yourself. And this brings us to a different subject and something more palpable. You understand? Something more palpable. And I want my team to listen. I want everybody to listen. I want Rashad listen. I want Sherry listen. I want Izzo and Tom and Fudge and everybody. I want you to listen. This is very important, Chris. I want everybody listening. It's very, very important. My staff tries to deny it, but they love me. They do. And they try to hide it, but they love me. You understand? They. I get it. You know? Good. I mean, because to be honest with you, ladies and gentlemen, you know, I got a secret to tell you that you might not realize. You know what that secret is? I'm a lovable guy. Don't tell people. Keep that to yourself. I'm a very, very lovable guy. But not a damn one of these people working for me for free. Every time I turn around, I got a different bill. And I'm not faulting them. You know why? Because every time I turn around, I'm looking to get paid by somebody else. Where the hell are these people coming from thinking they get to get stuff for free? Who are these people? I haven't seen them. I don't know what. What the hell is going on? Do y' all remember? Listen, most people that work for me and with me and all that stuff, they went to college. Ladies and gentlemen, I gotta admit to you, college wasn't cheap. You know, I'm fortunate enough to be on a basketball scholarship. But even before then, I had to pay. And the scholarship and the scholarship didn't cover everything. So I Had bills. Do y' all know that when I saw Biden and them campaigning on eradicating student debt years ago, I was offended. I like where y' all been. How come this stuff didn't kick in decades ago? I want to hear that now. After I paid off all my debt, remember that? I wasn't the only one. A whole bunch of people felt that way. We got to pay our bills. Who the hell are you to pay your bills, to not pay your bills? That's what we saying. That's why we want to flourish in economy. That's why we're not completely opposed when the GOP says, hey, if you're an abled younger body, you should be able to go out there and work. Now, the job opportunities got to be out there. But if the job opportunities are out there and you're an abled healthy body, what the hell is your problem? As far as I'm concerned, if you are mired in poverty or you are an elderly individual or the combination of those two categories, no problem. We got to have folks back like that. But the rest of our asses are supposed to be out there trying to make it happen. That's the way it's supposed to be. And if it ain't that way, what's the problem? So when you hear Zoran Mamdani come out with freezing the rent and free bus rides and all of this stuff. Wait a minute now. No child, Free child care. Hold on, hold on. When you see him being endorsed by aoc, when you hear the jasmine crockets of the world of people like that going off, listen, I respect where your heart is, but at the end of the day, what you're really, really saying is we want America to burn down and we want to have something completely new. Why are people from all over the world trying to come across our borders? Because it's the land of opportunity. And if you're mom Danny and you're saying no because I saw him on national television indicate this. I'm not quoting him verbatim, so if I misquote him in any way, I apologize. I don't think I am. I saw him on NBC this past week and Meet the Press and he was asked about, you know, billionaires and he was talking about how nobody needs a billion dollars. What? What? That's anti American? That's anti American. You should pay your fair share in taxes. Of course, you shouldn't be able to find loopholes to avoid you paying taxes precisely when you making that kind of money. Of course those things are True. But when this brother said that, what you were saying is nobody needs to make more than a certain amount of money. Who the hell are you to say that this America, that's not gonna fly. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm telling you right now, the Democrats, if AOC and mom Donnie and people like and Bernie Sanders, if folks like that take over the Democratic Party, one or two things happening, the Democratic Party is toast or America is. I personally believe more people in this country are centrist. Whether you lean left or lean right, you're relatively center. Let's compromise, let's work together, let's make certain sacrifices. But it doesn't need to be anything too extreme. We ain't operating on the fringes. They're trying to facilitate the fringes taking over. That's why Trump and them are feeding this. The Sean Hannity is the world. That's right, my buddy. That don't mean I agree with him in his perfect world and Trump's perfect world and all of that perfect world. Jesse Waters to all of them, let Jasmine Crockett and AOC and mom Donnie and Bernie Sanders be the face of the Democratic Party. They ain't slick. We see what they're doing, cuz they know that's a clear beautiful recipe towards the GOP winning the midterms and ultimately the presidency in 2026 and 2028, respectively. And who's gonna deny it? You think you could get away with looking into a camera and telling folks in the United States of America, yo, free education, free childcare, free transit, and on top of all of that, nobody should be making a billion dollars. You think you could get away with telling an American citizen that? And they don't think you're trying to burn down the very fabric of what makes America America? That ain't gonna fly. That ain't gonna fly. And I gotta tell you right now, I've never been more disgusted with the city of New York myself than what I saw during Biden's time in office. I'm not down for sanctuary cities like that. I'm all for helping immigrants and migrants be in this country legally. I'm all for that. Just get in line like everybody else that got here legally did. But I'm all for that. I don't want the dissipation of different populaces in this country. No, it's a mosaic for a reason. A gorgeous mosaic for a reason. I'm all in support of that. But there is no doubt that once Biden had open borders and over 12 to 14 million people crossed Those borders that it compromised us economically. These are facts. There's no way around it. And because that's our reality. And it was a reality that was instigated primarily by the Biden administration because no other administration had wide open borders. Nobody had that. Reagan didn't have it. HW didn't have it. Clinton didn't have it. Bush didn't have it. Obama didn't have it. Obama deported more people to Trump. Come on now. Biden is what. And what's most egregious about it is that Biden was the vice president to Obama. How do you become the president four years after Obama departs from office and forget everything? The man you served under as vice president, push forward. We got sound all over the place, footage all over the place. Hillary, Ronald Clinton, Bill Clinton, Obama before Trump and Biden talking about, yo, you got to come in here legally. Can't have open borders. And if you can't have. If you can't. If you felt that open borders were wrong and you didn't do it, how are you going to be a promoter of sanctuary cities? We talking dollars and cents. Why are we talking dollars and cents while people will want to attack our humanity? Because guess what? You're looking for people who have to finance those who don't, which is fine, but that's still requiring dollars to come out of other people's pockets. You got to justify that. And it can't be by attacking people's soul and their humanity because of your in responsible leadership. You gotta lead. You gotta know what a budget is. You gotta know where cuts need to take place. You gotta know what needs to be financed while feeding the capitalistic system that we live in. You don't get to do it by ignoring it. And call yourself a leader in the United States of America. Oh, hell to the no. You can't do that. You're not gonna get away with it. That's what we're talking about here. Eric Adams, a guest on this show in the past. He will be again. By the way, Eric Adams is priding himself on being a centrist and somebody that's not anti Semitic. Of course the Jewish issue is going to come up because Mamdani has been considered to be a pro Palestinian supporter. And he considers Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, a war criminal. Said he'd arrest him the second he got in the city if he were the mayor. This is what the man has said. That's where he's at and still won the primaries. So now we're seeing Something here. And with that kind of rhetoric, with that kind of verbiage, with that kind of stuff going on and him still winning a primary, that's significant. So we're going to see what happens. But here's what I'm going to tell you. This is just my opinion. I find it virtually impossible to believe that somebody that campaigns on an agenda like this is going to win in the midterms or a presidency. Mom Donnie might win in New York, somebody similar to him might win in California. But traveling the country the way that I have over all of these years, there is no way in hell the average general voter out there is going to support him. Now, in fairness to Zorama Momdani, you are always welcomed on this show, my man. I'm not going to invite Mayor Eric Adams on the show. I'm not going to have Andrew Cuomo, former three term governor, on the show and not invite you. You are invited on this show. AOC is invited on this show. Jasmine Crockett is invited on this show. Bernie Sanders is even invited on the show. I only say that because the man is in his 80s. And how much he'll resonate with my audience, I don't know. But hell, he's Bernie Sanders, so he's welcomed on the show too. What I'm saying to you, you're welcomed on the show and I don't disagree with everything that you're saying, but some of this stuff is a bit extreme and it has to be stated. This is not what's going to win for the Democrats. I can tell you right now, I never vote for that. I wouldn't. I wouldn't vote for the maga. Right. And I wouldn't vote for the extreme progressives on the left. Hell no. I'm a centrist. I like negotiation. I like compromise. I like both parties showing there's something we could work with, we could work it out that they're not giving this impression that if it's not exactly what they think it should be, that the world is coming to a freaking end. I don't want that. I don't want that. And I got news for the Democrats out there that's going to adopt Mom Donnie's approach. It's not an accident that we haven't heard from Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, a minority whip, Chuck Schumer. Y' all want to call it from the old guard? Fine. It's just far more sensible than what Mamdani is apparently proposing. New Yorkers might go for it for a moment, for New York City, the state of New York wouldn't go for that. Not in the burbs. You cancel that dream and most of the country ain't gonna go for it. I'm telling you what I know. This is serious business here. Everything can't be free. And if you're talking about taxing the rich and taking money from them. Look, man, our tax codes and everything else, there's loopholes that'll be found. Or if push come to shove, they'll simply take their businesses elsewhere. Just like California lost some of his business. New York will lose some of his, some of its business. And if America keeps on this path, they'll lose some of his. You see how Trump trying to get folks back? We think tariff war is all about. It ain't just the money that we pan out while we getting hoes by other nations. It's the fact that they're not. Not only are they not promoting and buying our products, they're not bringing their businesses here, but we're bringing our businesses there. He's trying to get businesses back in America. I'm not saying he's going about it right. I'm not sure he's handling it right. I really don't know. Time will tell as we see the big beautiful bill and all that comes of it. But it's clear that there's tens of millions of Americans who believe the path that we've been on has been a gross one not beneficial to the United States of America. Normally, when we're thinking about change, we're thinking about a capitalist coming in here and handling business in a fashion that shows it's beneficial to all of us as Americans. What Mamdani is proposing, what AOC and Bernie Sanders has endorsed, is the eradication of America as we know it. Of course, most of us don't have a problem with that until we see it come to fruition. And then we realize we really do have a problem. For example, when you pull out your check and more than half of it is gone because the government took it. Sure you want that? Are you sure? I'm just asking. I'm just asking. Coming up, the NBA trade market continues to make waves. And now to start a free agency is upon us. Are there any moves out there that could put a team on the Oklahoma City Thunders level? It's a good question. I've got some thoughts. Plus another WNBA headline that has Caitlin Clark effect written all over it. And there have been some naysayers and critics coming at after yours truly. I don't respond all the time, but sometimes I choose to because it's necessary. Sometimes. And other times because I damn well feel like it. This is one of those times. Times I feel like it. Since I' ma be gone for a few weeks. Since people get on my nerves, I might as well get on theirs. More of that up next, it's the Stephen A. Smith show right here with the Digital Airways of YouTube. Of course I heart radio. Back with more in a minute. Welcome back to Stephen A. Smith Show. Today at 6:00pm Eastern Time, free agency officially opens in the NBA. While this year's free agent class may lack some of the star power of years past, we've already had a flurry of big moves made via trade, including KD to the Rockets and Desmond Bain to the Magic. We also saw the Celtics deal, Drew Holiday to Portland and Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta. And this weekend, Utah sent Colin Sexton to Charlotte and the Bulls traded Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Meanwhile, with the Lakers, LeBron opted in to the second year of his two year deal that will pay him 52.6 million a season, while Austin Reaves declined a four year extension worth approximately 90 million. By far, the biggest potential domino remaining is the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo. But there's no current trade market for him because he has not asked out of Milwaukee. In the event that he does, my buddy Brian Windhorse has stated my Knicks would be very interested in making an offer. As with many other franchises, I'm sure. Here's the bottom line, ladies and gentlemen. The only way that Giannis Antetokounmpo will end up a New York Knick is if he specifically goes to the Milwaukee Bucks and says I want out and I want to go to New York. The reason I say that is because if he just says I want out and Milwaukee has the license to trade him elsewhere, the assets that they could get for his services are considerably better in other places than they are in New York. New York doesn't have what you would like. Why? Because they gave away five first round picks, four unprotected for Mikhail Bridges last summer. That's why. So because of that, could you imagine? New York Knicks had two first round picks, we got two first round picks or three first round picks plus a call Anthony Towns and, and, and, and maybe Mikhail Bridges for Giannis. Could you imagine that would have been special. But that's not what they have. And so because that's not what they have, this situation is what it is. Um, you can only Hope and pray. I will tell you this when I look at free agency right now and I look at some of the names and three names come to my mind and I'm gonna tell you the three names, okay? When we look at it, deandre Ayton, who's now a free agent after being bought out by the Portland Trail Blazers, we got to pay attention to that name, Miles Turner. We saw what he does. I know he struggled in the NBA Finals, but he's a damn good player. And definitely he's a big body that can help the Knicks. Plus he's got an outside shot, even though much of that didn't show up in the finals. But still he wasn't God awful. He just struggled a bit. But Miles Turner can play and I would love to see Miles turn in the New York nick uniform. It was, it was either him, deandre Ayton or Clint Capella, okay? Who's also a free agent now. Now here's the issue with deandre Ayton. He's got a very bad reputation. I mean, stuck in his driveway because of bad weather and couldn't get out. That's why he missed one practice, a headache. Somebody that is a bit temperamental and doesn't want to listen. I remember when he was in Phoenix, everybody, a lot of people thought that Chris Paul was his coach instead of Monty Williams, because want to hear from Monte Williams, you know, that kind of stuff. And then he went to, he goes to Portland and Chauncey Billups is the head coach in Portland. Chauncey Billups is a player's guy. And, and, and he and the rest of them got to a point where you couldn't give deandre Ayton away for box cookies. So that's your situation with him. Nevertheless, the New York Knicks are so desperate for Biggs. And the reason I say that is because you don't want to see Carl Anthony Towns at the five again. He had to play the file most of the season when Mitchell Robinson was out. And then even when Mitchell Robinson came back and, and had great moments in the playoffs, by the way, you still saw too much of Carl Anthony Towns closer to the basket instead of shooting that, that sweet stroke that he's got from, from, from three point range. That's what you need. So you need an additional big body if you're the New York Knicks, okay? That's number one. And you probably need another bona fide scorer. Me personally, I like Cam Thomas. He's a restricted free agent with Brooklyn, so you probably wouldn't get him but they just need somebody that can come off the bench. It's going to be instant offense, you understand? I, I, I, I like, I like McBride, but come on now, he, he's not Cam Thomas level and he's not yet LeBron opting in. So what? We knew that was going to happen. His son is on the team, he's a member of the league, he's not going anywhere. So we knew that by him just opting in and still having another, you know, one year, he's putting the Lakers on notice that, you know, you got to ante up and make sure that you build this roster so we got a better shot at winning. I applaud Austin Reeves for passing and declining on a 4 year 90 million dollar option. Austin Reeves is worth 30 million a year, easy, easy. So to me the minimum that he should have gotten offered was 120, 30 million above what was on the table. Austin Reeves can do some things. I'm Austin Reeves. I'm sorry, I'm of that mindset. Ain't no way in hell I'm signing a 90 million extension. He did the right thing. He did the right thing. So we'll see what happens. I think Desmond Bain upgrades the Orlando Magic. They'll be a team because I'm a palop and Kiro, I'm a huge fan of his, okay, Franz Wagner, I mean he can play, but Benchiro is the real deal. Hey, listen, Mosley can coach. And so when I look at Orlando and I'm thinking about them having a bona fide shooter now because Kentavius Caldwell Pope was not the answer for them, no disrespect, he's a champion, but he didn't have a good season last year. But when you look at Desmond Bain and what he brings to the table, 18 point per game scorer, a bona fide three point shooter in this league, him being that kind of threat, that's something you should welcome. No question about it. He's happy, he's ecstatic to be there. So you got that going on. All right. I'm just of the mindset right now. KD in Houston, if Kyrie and Anthony Davis come back now that you got Cooper flag Chris Paul is an interesting thing. Me personally, I would love to see Chris Paul in la. I really, really think they need a point guard and obviously him and JJ Redick are former teammates with one another, so they have history. I think it would be great for CP3 to be a point guard in LA. That's where he lives in the off season anyway. I Think that would be fantastic. However, there's no denying that him in Minnesota, when Ant man would be formidable as well, because CP knows how to run a show. And I think Mike Conley's best days are obviously behind him. I will say this. They want Ant man on the ball. Everybody else. As the season progressed, that was a great move. Against Oklahoma City. Not so much. Not so much. And so, because that's your reality, I'm just looking at it like, you got to figure out something. Okay. But as it pertains to my New York Knicks, ladies and gentlemen, I can't see them. I see them. They don't even know who their coach is yet. That has become just a dysfunctional situation. We thought we were beyond this shit, but now we got to deal with the Knicks. And you. You get rid of Tom Thibodeau, who took you within two games of the NBA Finals. And yes, his stubbornness could get. Could wear on you. His unwillingness to listen and embrace other people's ideas. And he just wants it his way or whatever it cost him. No doubt about that. As successful as Tom Thibodeau was, you got to be able to work with people, and it appears that wasn't his strength. So they go in a different direction. But how do you go in a different direction? You don't know what the hell the direction is. I mean, do you have any idea how to. Who the Knicks have reached out to for permission? Yes, you reached out to talk with IME Udoka. Houston declined that. He's under two. He got two years left in the zill. Same with Jason Kidd in Dallas. This damn organization reached out to Quinn Snyder, the Atlanta. Now, I'm not saying Quinn can't coach, but what has he done in Atlanta that would make you think it's great to get him from Atlanta to come to New York? Now you hearing Dawn Staley is a candidate for the New York Knicks coach job. Let me say this. This is the last point I'm gonna make about NBA free agency, and then I'm gonna move on to something else. So last thing I'm gonna say, I don't mind the idea of Dawn Staley being a coach in the NBA, just like I didn't mind the thought of Becky Hammond being a coach in the NBA. I'm old school in this regard. I don't believe that men should be coaching in the WNBA as head coaches. Why? Because where's the women coaching in the NBA? If you got your sport as agenda, how come they can't have theirs? I don't like that. There's plenty of women out there that can coach basketball. Why you got to be a dude coaching in the wnba? The ladies don't get to coach on the NBA level as a head coach. So if you're going to do that and you're going to give men the opportunity to coach in the wnba, maybe it's time that we see a female as a head coach in the NBA. And if there's a. Is there. If there is a female that could coach in the NBA, There is no question in my mind that Becky Hammond and Dawn Staley should be your top two choices. I'm never going to fail to mention Nancy Lieberman because that woman knows some basketball and she's beloved by a lot of people and could talk to anybody. But the first two names that come to my mind is Becky Hammond and Dawn Staley. I would love to see one of them coaching the NBA. I would absolutely, positively love it. So let me just say that, by the way, I'll get to the WNBA by simply saying this. I'm not going to even tease it because I'm going to give the WNBA shout out here. The league has announced it will expand to 18 teams over the next five years, adding franchises in Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029, and Philadelphia in 2030. These franchises will join Toronto and Portland, who will begin play next season. The Golden State Valkyries began play as the league's 13th team this season. So essentially, they're going to expand the 18 teams. First of all, I'm happy for them. I want the league to grow. I want to support the league as well. Me personally, as an aside, I think I should get courtside seats whenever I want them, especially since I'm always willing to pay for them. I have no idea why it's such a hard time for me to get courtside seats to these games. But that's a different subject for another day. Having said all of that, let me say this. Are we ready to admit the Caitlin Clark effect? Is this happening without Caitlin Clark, without the popularity? Because we've seen what happened to the ratings when she was out for those two, three weeks. Remember that, right? Don't let me bring that up. Don't let me get some receipts. Now. When Caitlin Clark was out, the WNBA's popularity dissipated. That is a fact. Ticket prices, television ratings. It's a fact. It's undeniable. It's undeniable. That's not to throw shade on a product and act like it doesn't grow at all. It's not to say that there was an improvement and there wasn't an elevation in its popularity. It's just saying that it's on another dimension when it comes to Kaitlin Clark. Do you know what the best thing that could happen for the WNBA is right now? Are you ready for this? If Caitlin Clark and the Fever win the championship, if that girl win the championship this early in her career, with juju Watkins ultimately coming to the wnba, if not next year, the year after after suffering her knee injury, that girl is special. See, everybody talk about Caitlin Clark, and I got mad love for Caitlin Clark and what she brings to the table. Even though I do acknowledge that she instigates a lot of the stuff, a lot of the vitriol that comes in her direction because she could talk some smack now and she could get in your face. She can antagonize you. She ain't some innocent Andy here or innocent Amy or whatever. Okay? That's not Caitlin Clark. But let me tell y' all something right now. Y' all want to see somebody that I think will put on a show in the WNBA, assuming she comes back 100 healthy, which I believe and pray that she will. Juju Watkins out of USC. That young lady is special and she's coming, knee injury and all. I'm telling you, Paige Beckett's gonna come back. She gonna come back and watch what she does. So I just wanted to throw that out there just as an aside. Before I get on out of here today, I want to preface my comments by my, my, my pending comments by saying my staff didn't want me to do this. You know, they ain't want me to bring this up. So because of them, out of respect for them, I'm not gonna mention names or the trifling ass individuals that keep talking shit about me. See, I don't mind. That's the thing that people miss. This kind of stuff makes me happy. It's right up my alley. It's right up my alley. It don't bother me. It didn't bother me before I got paid. It didn't bother me before I returned back to Sirius XM starting September 2nd. It didn't bother me before I had my own YouTube channel, you know, damn sure don't bother me now. Only thing that bothers me is when people ask me not to say anything. I like to choose, even though I have the power to do so. I like to choose, but I listen to my teammates. I listen to my staff. I listen to people who I know love and support Me, because they got my best interests at heart. You feel what I'm saying? So I get it. But I had people. I saw people on the air. First of all, let's go down the list. They got on me for playing solitaire for a couple of minutes during the NBA game. Even contemporaries on other networks would talk about me. And of course, you know, a couple of people in the podcast stratosphere used to be in sports, but now I can't get a job. So their job all of a sudden is being a media critic instead of covering sports. But we won't go there. So they got on me for playing solitaire. They said that I was upset that Max Kellerman, my former colleague at espn, on first take, I got upset because he's going to be calling the Terrence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez fight in September. They looked at my face and said I was upset. They talked about the NBA coverage. And one. One. One site said that I was. I was a net negative on the NBA coverage. Should check the ratings. Really, really should. That's neither here nor there. People saying this stuff. Ah, couple of things. Number one, I was doing my podcast here. While I was doing my podcast and waiting for some footage to be drawn up or something like that, you know what I was doing? Solitude. I do it all the time. Why? Because I want to. That's why. Do what the hell I want to do on my platform. Secondly, were you around when I was traveling about 200 days this year? Were you around when I worked over 325 days this calendar year? Talk about the last 365 days. Not since January 1st. Were you around? I love how y' all trying to find something. I really listen to my man Rashawn and Griffin, everybody. Yo, I got an announcement to make. I didn't. I really have made it. I really, really have. I have made it. I mean, stop the presses. I've made it because y' all are making news. It was on the back pages because I was playing solitaire. I said it was during the timeout. Somebody said it wasn't during the timeout. Well, when the timeout finished, I was still playing it in the middle of the third quarter end. Did you see me do two hours of pregame ESPN and then abc? You see me do halftime? Did you see me do post game? Did you see me do first take every single morning? You're just making it up. Making it up. Max Kellerman. I'm upset about Max Kellerman. Have nothing against Max Kellerman. I didn't want to work with him on first take anymore, that's all. I didn't think we were good partners for a debate show. If we were doing boxing, if we were doing Sports center or something like that. Nothing, no problem. For a two hour daily debate show. I didn't think we worked any longer, that's all. Never wanted him fired, never wanted him unemployed. Happy he's back. Because I don't wish for brothers not to get a check and not to be employed. And that brother is brilliant and he deserves a check. And oh, by the way, you ain't gonna find anybody that knows more boxing than him. I'm happy for him, even though his boy will lie his ass off and say otherwise. Because he gonna get more clicks. Y' all know who the hell it is. It's unbelievable the shit that people make up just to create clicks. Because that's all you can do to get a check. Now, I'm not talking about Max. I'm talking about his peeps. Y' all know who they are with their podcast. You got to be kidding me. But it's all right, it's okay. Because you see, when you make stuff up and you're talking about me, you still have me in the headlines, which means you believe I'm relevant, which means you know that it will create clicks for you. And that really kills you, doesn't it? Net negative or NBA coverage? Are you insane? We talk NBA on First Take all the time. I'm on SportsCenter all the time. All I'm trying to say is what I really came here to say. I need this break. It's been a long season. Negotiations took a full year with ESPN. SiriusXM took months. I'm very, very happy where I'm at. Very happy that things worked out the way that they did. But over the process, I got something to tell y' all. I think I've gotten too mellow. I think I've been very nice, very quiet, and I haven't come out with the fire that I'm accustomed to coming out with. I actually think I've been more my mannered. I don't believe I've told enough people to kiss my ass. I don't believe I've told enough people, you could go kick rocks. I don't believe that I've said enough about the people who talk shit about me lying all the damn time. That's going to end. I'll be back beforehand. But when I return to Sirius XM on September 2nd, when I come back from my vacation in August for first take Y' all might see somebody a little different. Maybe not different, but somebody that's gonna remind you of the good old days. When I get in your ass, I'm not backing up. Y' all should thank the folks out there with the receipts I got. You should thank my staff. They are the ones that real men, the Sherry's, the Nellies, the Rashawns, the Cavs, the Grips, the Izzo's, the crew. They the ones that reel me in. Cause Lord have mercy. You gotta understand, I live for this. Ain't no problems. I'm not saying they still ain't gonna do that. But I gotta tell you, I do believe I have been a little bit more mild mannered than usual. I've been a little bit too PC. Cause I'm just trying to get along. I'm a happy dude, you know, I got a lot to be happy about. And I like. I just like to smile and I like to laugh and I like to have a good time. But I got news for y' all. I kind of like being pissed off too. It makes me feel good. It's like cathartic to just let it go. So I'm going to take a break, get myself rested, get back in the shape that I was in before they had me on the road for the last three months. When I'm eating a bunch of fast foods and compromising my rest and eating too many burgers and too much sugar and all, I gotta get back, restore my energy so I can address folks with the fervor that they deserve in the future. I'm not talking about my boy Dan Lebartard, who I love. Remember the other day he was on his show talking about, I got Max Kellerman fired. That is false, ladies and gentlemen. Max Kellerman departed from First Take and had not one, but two shows for two years. The person who was fired was me. When I left in 2009, I couldn't get a job and I had no money rolling in. That's not getting fired. But I hear you, Dan. I'm just giving that as a taste that although I'm still gonna ignore 98% of the stuff that I hear about me, that 2% of the time is when I'll feel compelled to respond. Folks want to start some shit, I'm here for it. That's all I want to say. Y' all have a nice summer. I'll be around periodically, right here over the digital airwaves of YouTube. Looking forward to talking to y' all as stuff unfolds during the summer. But especially looking forward to the fall and beyond. I got first take. I got my own two hour sports radio show. I got a political show that's weekly as well. And that's just for starters. Either way, slice it, here I come. Buckle up. Y' all be ready. Cause I damn sure will be. Peace and love, everybody be safe. God bless. Holl at you. Anytime in the near.