Full Show: Jay Bilas discusses NCAA Basketball Tournament. CNN says Democrats are polling poorly. Final take on Lebron confrontation.

Summary

The Stephen A. Smith Show – Episode Summary Release Date: March 17, 2025

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1. Introduction

In this episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, host Stephen A. Smith delves into three major topics: an in-depth discussion with Jay Bilas about the NCAA Basketball Tournament, an analysis of CNN's latest poll indicating a decline in Democratic favorability, and a heated exchange involving LeBron James that garners insights from Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony.

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2. Jay Bilas Discusses the NCAA Basketball Tournament

Timestamp: 04:39 – 46:44

Overview: Stephen A. Smith welcomes Jay Bilas, a renowned college basketball analyst, to break down the current NCAA Basketball Tournament brackets. The conversation centers on the strength of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), standout teams, potential upsets, and Bilas's expert bracket predictions.

Key Points:

• Strength of the SEC:

  • Jay Bilas (05:13): "The Southeastern Conference is the best basketball conference top to bottom relative to the field that I've ever seen."
  • Bilas highlights the depth and competitiveness of the SEC, noting that its teams have performed exceptionally well, evidenced by 14 teams making it to the tournament from the conference.

• Top Seeds and Team Analysis:

  • South Region:

    • Stephen A. Smith (08:05): Questions Auburn's position as the number one seed despite recent losses.
    • Jay Bilas (08:28): Defends Auburn's seeding, attributing their performance to the quality of their opponents and maintaining confidence in their ability to win.
    • Bilas also praises Florida as potentially the stronger team compared to Auburn.

  • West Region:

    • Stephen A. Smith (12:22): Expresses admiration for Rick Pitino's resurgence with St. John's.
    • Jay Bilas (12:22): Commends Pitino’s coaching and the defensive prowess of St. John's, suggesting they could be a Final Four contender if not placed in the same bracket as Florida.

  • East Region:

    • Stephen A. Smith & Jay Bilas (31:38 – 46:34): Discuss Duke vs. Alabama matchup, focusing on player injuries and the potential impact on the game. Bilas emphasizes Cooper Flagg's exceptional freshman performance, projecting him as a top NBA draft pick.

• Bracket Predictions:

  • Bilas provides his bracket picks, favoring strong teams like Florida and Duke to advance, while acknowledging potential upsets with teams like UC San Diego.

Notable Quotes:

• Stephen A. Smith (15:00): "I got my brackets. I got my brackets."
• Jay Bilas (35:02): "Cooper Flag is going to be a combination of Andre Kirolenko and Franz Wagner, except he's bigger and stronger."

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3. CNN Polls Democrats Poorly

Timestamp: 50:39 – 80:37

Overview: Stephen A. Smith shifts focus to the political landscape, discussing a recent CNN poll that reveals the Democratic Party's favorability has plummeted to a record low. He critiques the party's strategies and leadership, emphasizing the need for a shift in focus to reclaim trust among voters.

Key Points:

• Poll Results:

  • Stephen A. Smith (51:00): Details the CNN poll indicating Democrats' favorability at 29%, a significant drop from previous years.

• Democratic Party's Internal Struggles:

  • Smith argues that the Democratic Party lacks unity and effective leadership, citing fragmented factions and ineffective strategies to regain voter trust.

• Strategic Recommendations:

  • Stephen A. Smith (73:00): Advocates for the Democrats to "reclaim being for the working class," focusing on economic policies that resonate with everyday Americans rather than divisive social issues.

• Critique of Leadership:

  • Smith criticizes key Democratic figures, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, for failing to present a cohesive and appealing platform to voters.

Notable Quotes:

• Stephen A. Smith (74:05): "Rather than telling us what to vote against, maybe you should present us with options of what to vote for."
• Stephen A. Smith (80:37): "You’re not a party, you’re fragmented, you’re weak."

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4. Final Take: LeBron Confrontation and Insights from Dwyane Wade & Carmelo Anthony

Timestamp: 82:18 – 105:43

Overview: The episode culminates with a discussion about a confrontation involving LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith during a Lakers game. Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony provide their perspectives on the incident, offering a balanced view of both sides.

Key Points:

• The Confrontation:

  • Dwyane Wade (82:18): Describes witnessing LeBron’s uncharacteristic reaction towards Stephen A. Smith, noting LeBron’s usual composure.

• Player Insights:

  • Carmelo Anthony (83:03): Highlights the longstanding tensions between Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James, suggesting the confrontation stems from years of media interactions.

• Stephen A. Smith’s Response:

  • Stephen A. Smith (84:30 – 105:43): Emphasizes that the confrontation was purely professional, resulting from LeBron’s approach courtside. He clarifies his respect for LeBron while maintaining that they do not have a personal relationship. Smith underscores his commitment to unbiased sports reporting, regardless of personal feelings towards players.

Notable Quotes:

• Dwyane Wade (82:38): "He's always been just even keel and level headed in every aspect."
• Carmelo Anthony (83:38): "This isn't a love relationship, this isn't a love friendship."
• Stephen A. Smith (85:19): "I am a sports broadcaster, which means that it was perfectly within my right to cover him."

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5. Conclusion

In wrapping up the episode, Stephen A. Smith reiterates his commitment to providing honest and comprehensive coverage of both sports and societal issues. He previews upcoming segments, including appearances by his nephew and further discussions on political and sports-related topics.

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Final Thoughts:

This episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show offers listeners a multifaceted analysis of current events in college basketball, American politics, and high-profile sports confrontations. Through expert insights and candid discussions, Stephen A. Smith ensures that his audience remains informed and engaged with the most pressing topics of the day.

Transcript

[Stephen A. Smith]

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[Jay Bilas]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

What's happening?

[Jay Bilas]

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[Greg Rosenthal]

It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101 free agents, we'll have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday, keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What's up everybody? Stephen A. Smith here. Recently we made news because the great Bill O'Reilly announced a tour that's coming nearest you in the very, very near future. Get your tickets now for this. It's called Three Americans Live March 30th at Live Nation's Flagstar at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. Don't miss the very first show as myself, Chris Cuomo and yes, that man Bill O'Reilly take our different ideas, our different backgrounds, our different beliefs across the country to demonstrate that respectful, meaningful and even fun conversation. Those are the things that make America as great as it should be. The show will be spirited, unscripted, and all three of us will let it fly as we discuss the topics everyone is thinking about these days. There will also be questions from the audience. We're not running Tickets are officially on sale now with Pre sale code [e-mail] VIP packages are available with the opportunity to meet and take photos with myself and both those fellas. That's three Americans live March 30th at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. Additional dates and cities to be announced. Don't miss it. Trust me, you'll get a kick out of it. What's up, everybody. Oh, I'm so excited because March is here. The madness of March. See, I'm so excited. Welcome to this latest edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. Coming at you, as I love to do at the very least three times a week over the digital airwaves, YouTube, and, of course, iHeartRadio. As always, I'd like to take a moment to thank my subscribers and followers the millions of downloads that have come courtesy of iHeartRadio over the last few months, of course, the 1.13 million subscribers over the digital airwaves of YouTube. We just keep on growing because of y'all. Thank y'all for the love and support. Can't thank you enough. Keep it coming. And I'm gonna keep on coming. To be notified of our newest content, just click the bell, obviously, to get notified for our newest content, and you, too, shall be considered the latest member of the Stephen A. Smith show family. And while you're doing that, make sure to pick up a copy of my New York Times bestselling book, Straight Shooter, a memoir of Second chances and first takes, now in paperback. Just go to straight shooterbook.com to get yourself a copy. Once again, straight shooterbook.com to get Yourself a copy. Now, I usually haven't opened the monologue. I usually do, but damn that. Damn that. Now, part of the reason is because it's talking about college basketball, and I'll be damned if I know it. I've seen only but so many games. I might have watched 10 to 15 games this year, okay? I can't watch everybody, all right? I can't. So I don't know everything. I'm guessing a lot when we filling out the brackets. I got my brackets. Y'all got your brackets. I got my brackets. I got my brackets, okay? I got my brackets. Fill out, but damn it, I don't know everything, okay? I'm guessing most of the time, and I ain't gonna do that to my listeners and my viewers. Instead, I'm gonna bring on somebody who knows. They ain't guessing. They know, and they gonna help me out. They're gonna help me figure out who I should be going with with these brackets as this NCAA tournament approaches. He is a college basketball analyst extraordinaire for the last several decades. He is not just elite, he's a damn institution. The best in the business, without question. He's also my colleague and buddy that works with me at espn. The man, the myth himself, the one and only Jay Bis is in the house. What's going on, big time? How you doing, man? How's everything?

[Jay Bilas]

I'm doing all right. Stephen A. How are you?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm doing great, man. It's good to see you. It's good to see you. I, I gotta ask you this. Before I even get into these brackets. Can you talk about what this season has been like for you? I'm just looking at the, the level of competition in this NCAA tournament. Fourteen teams coming from the sec, for crying. I like that. Used to be about football, now it's about basketball. St. John's being resurrected. Rick Patino back in the mix or whatever. How enjoyable has this college basketball season been for you?

[Jay Bilas]

It's been great, but, you know, I tend to think every season is great because there's always a great story or great stories, but this one has been different in that. And I think you, you alluded to it like, you know, the Southeastern Conference is the best basketball conference top to bottom relative to the field, that I've ever seen. And it doesn't mean that there weren't better teams or that, you know, teams in the 90s couldn't beat Auburn or Florida. I'm not suggesting that. But there's never been a league with this kind of depth of power relative to the rest of the country. And, you know, I, I had saw, I did a game with South Carolina the other day, and I was telling somebody, that's the best last place team I've ever seen in any league. It's ridiculous how powerful that league is. And I think it's shown by the 14 teams that got in.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Jay, we've seen great college programs throughout these. I remember, you know, growing up watching Hoya Paranoia with Ewing and Michael Jackson and Reggie Williams and the crew. I remember St. John's with Walter Berry, Chris Mullen, Mark Jackson was coming up. Willie Glass was a point, was a guard there, used to. You saw all of this stuff, of course, Georgia Tech, Lethal Weapon 3, LSU with Shaq Stanley Roberts and Chris Jackson before he became Mahmoud Abdul Rauf. You're looking at UNLV with Augment and Greg Anthony and Larry Johnson and all of these guys. When you see the teams in the sec, is there anybody, any of them as a powerhouse? That remind you. And let me not forget Duke. How could I forget Duke with Bobby Hurley, Christian Layton and the Crew. Is there anybody in the SEC that you look at as being on that.

[Jay Bilas]

Level, maybe as an individual team? You know, I think Florida, like, Florida's legit. And with their size and athleticism, their guards. I mean, one of the things I think is really interesting. You know, you went back to the 80s and talked about Georgetown. You know, if you compare the guards of Florida to Georgetown's guards, these guys are bigger, stronger guards. Back then they weren't this athletic and you know, they were great players. But the game's totally different now and, and now it's even more physical like back then. And see if you agree with this, Stephen. But back then we didn't have flagrant fouls. So when you fouled somebody, you put them into the wood, started to fight. But generally the game's more physical now than it was back then, getting through screens and all that stuff. I mean, it's way harder physically. But the big difference is the players now generally are younger, the best players because the, they're going to go to the NBA, there's too much money. You know, Patrick Ewing didn't go to the NBA early. There were a variety of reasons, but one of the reasons is there was enough money to pull him out. I mean, it'd be almost irresponsible if you were playing today for him to stay in school for four years.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let's get into these brackets right here because I'm looking at them. I want to start off with the south region where number one overall seed Auburn and Michigan State are the top two seeds. Any issue with that at all? Auburn has struggled. I mean, they faded, losing three of their last four heading into the tournament, for crying out loud. But yet they're a number one seed coming out of the South. How you feeling about that, Jay?

[Jay Bilas]

I think they, it was perfectly appropriate that they remained as the number one overall seed even though they lost three out of four, because it's a function of who they lost to and how. When they lost at Texas A&M two days after they won the SEC championship at Rupp arena at Kentucky. And my sense is they had a little bit of a hangover, both figuratively and perhaps literally. And then they got clipped at home by Alabama, who's really good. They got beaten overtime in like a 95, 94 game on a last second shot. And then they lost in the, they lost in the tournament. You know, they're the real thing. I don't, I don't have any problem with that. And I do think Florida though is actually, actually better. It's a close call. They could play a seven game series and who knows who'd win game one, two, three and four. But I think if it went the whole seven, I think Florida would, would win it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Who's their toughest competition in the South? Region in your estimation?

[Jay Bilas]

Well, they're going to have to get down toward, toward Michigan State. You know, I would have said Iowa State, but Iowa State's injured. They got one of their top players. Keshan Gilbert is, is out for the season. He's been out the last few games, but we thought he was going to come back. They're still dangerous and they're still a team that could reach the second weekend and maybe wind up in an elite eight. But, but without Gilbert, I'm not sure they have enough firepower offensively to get past Auburn because Auburn, their guards, they got a core of four guards that can really shoot it. You know, they, they, the four of them combined for 40% from three and they, they combined for 88% from the, the foul line and they're, they're athletic, they're really good. Then they got Janai Broom, who's the, you know, along with Cooper Flag Duke.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is, is national players here, sleeper in the South Region. If you had to classify one, who would it be?

[Jay Bilas]

I, I would have said Iowa State, probably Texas A and M would be that. They've got a really difficult game against Yale and they're, you know, I think everybody kind of enjoys the upset talk. There's the media darling right now for upsets is UC San Diego because it's there out of the Big West. It's their first year and eligible for the tournament. They've been in Division one for five years now and they're really, really good. But you know, I'd be surprised if they got past Michigan. But they're capable, their best player and I can't wait to hear Charles Barkley try to say this name a Niwa. Niwa hate Jones. And there's no way he doesn't say a wan Aruna or a wee to. We know, like there's no way he gets that right. But they've also got another guy named Hayden Gray who's really, really talented and the best. One of the best defenders in the country. Leads nation and steals. They can win. But, but you tell me if this is wrong. Like when the media talks about a team being an upset pick. This is our upset pick. Michigan's gonna hear that. And, and you know, UC San Diego is not going to sneak up on Michigan.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Now let's get to the west region. The top two seeds are Florida and St. John's Florida is just a monster they got. They're too deep at every position. I saw them trounce Alabama over the weekend or what have you. I believe in Florida. I Think they're going to win. I think they may win the national championship. I got them going up against Duke, but I don't that they're not the story to me in the west region. It's St. John's I cannot believe the job that Rick Pitino has done with the St. John's Red Storm. They haven't been relevant for years. They haven't been in NCAA tournament since 2019. They won the Big east championship. I'm just, I am shocked at what he has done in relatively quick fashion in Queens, New York. How did Rick Patino pull this off? Jay Billis?

[Jay Bilas]

You know, Stephen, I hear what you're saying. I'm not surprised by this. The thing I'm shocked and surprised at is he got the shot in the first place. And you know, five years ago, if you had said to me that Rick Pitino is going to get the St. John's job, I would have said, come on, man, there's no way, you know, he was radioactive for a period of time. But time heals and so. And winning cleanses. He's one of the greatest coaches of all time and he's one of the truly great features of the game that I've ever seen work. And so the fact that he got really good players in there doesn't surprise me. And it doesn't surprise me that they're playing a brand of defense that rivals what he did at Louisville. Like, these guys are hard to score on. They don't shoot it great, but so what? Like, they shoot well enough and they are. They got a vibe about them. And they got three players at key positions. Kadari Richmond at point, RJ Lewis Jr. At the wing, and then Zubi Edgio for who used to be at Kansas but transferred. And he wasn't a big time player, big time recruit, but he didn't play a ton of Kansas and, and now he's one of the five best big guys in the country. One of the five best offensive rebounders. Run floor, he's their captain. They're. They're legit. If they weren't in the same bracket as Florida, I'd put, I'd put them in the Final Four.

[Stephen A. Smith]

They're the nation's top rated defense. Four losses came by combined six, seven points. They haven't lost the game this year by more than three points. That's Rick Patino's team at St. John's and when we talk about a team that struggles to shoot, teams who have had success in the NCAA tournament, meaning winning a national championship or going to a final four. Two of those teams who have shot this poorly and have made it to the and have made it to the final four are Rick Patino teams in Louisville. I mean. I mean, you can't make this stuff up. It's. It's unbelievable. J Bill is. Stay right there. I got bills to pay. I'll be right back with you. First, a word from our prospects before we get right back to Jay Billis. All right, folks, I need you all to stop what you're doing and listen up. You know, I love this time of year. Oh, my Lord. This is my favorite time of year. College basketball is about to heat up. March has arrived, and with all this action about to jump off, the Stephen A. Smith show wants to make sure you take advantage of it all. That's why we partnered with Prize picks. The best place to win cash while watching sports. The app is easy to use. Just pick more or less than a few player stats and you too could win up to 1000 times your cash on a single lineup. Prize Picks also just dropped a free pick. Auburn star Johnny Brooms points projection is 99% off and will cash with a single point scored. Don't forget to lock it in for your college basketball lineup this week. Best of all, prospects will give you $50. You play your first $5 lineup. Win or lose, you'll get 50 bucks for playing. Use promo code SAS and download the app now. Again, download the app and use code SAS to get $50 instantly after your first $5 lineup. Prospects. Hey, hey. Run your game today. I'll give you my picks for the Wednesday, March 19 matchup between the Xavier Musketeers and the Texas Longhorns. Joining me to do it, by the way, special edition Joining me to do it is a top prospects partner and founder of the sports content company Book It Sports. He's known as the Fade God or as I've called them, the guy everyone goes against. He's been here before. Please welcome the one and only Trent Atia known to the world is Book it with Trent. What's going on, big time? How you doing, Trent? How's everything going, man?

[Trent Atia]

I'm great. March Madness is here. Couldn't be happier. Man. I'm so excited to sweat out some lineups on prize picks and can't wait to hear what you've got for me as well.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let's get right to it. First up, Arthur Kaluma of Texas have more or less than 19 1/2 points, plus rebounds, plus assists. Now I'm going with More Trent. I'm going with more Texas. They can put up some points. And you talk about points, rebounds and assists. Damn it. If you're playing and you can't get that score combined. Combined in the three categories, I don't know what to say about you, especially during an NCAA tournament. That's where I'm at with it. Trent, what about you?

[Trent Atia]

I think that this game is going to be really fast paced. I like the pick here with the more than for Arthur. I think that Xavier is going to have to stop the other players like Trey Johnson if they won't have a chance in this game. We got a high total in this one at 150. So there's definitely going to be a lot of points. And I see Arthur having a big game.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yo, so let me ask you this question, man. Let's get this out of the way first. I mean, what's up, bro? I mean, you know, you didn't sound as enthusiastic as I expected you to sound. Well, you. I was expecting you to say Stephen A. You're absolutely right. And then go into your soliloquy as opposed to anything. I mean, I just didn't feel a love right there, Trent. I just didn't feel. Let's try this next one. Go ahead.

[Trent Atia]

You know what, to be honest with you, I was sweating a prize picks lineup with the Texas team the other day and they were shooting tour dates. I forget who they were playing, but it went to double O's. Texas A double overtime. I need to trade Johnson points. It took him to double ot to get me 17 and it was so frustrating, but he finally got there. But yeah, this Texas team I'm not too thrilled about. So that's maybe why you didn't hear so much excitement in my voice when I'm talking about.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay, but I agree with you. They were a bit better when Barnes was coaching. They got to step up their game. They got to be a little bit. They were a little bit above.500. They got to be better than that. So I got you in that I feel. Where you coming from? Next up, will Trey Johnson of Texas have more or less than 26 and a half points, plus rebounds, plus assists? I'm going with more on this as well for the same damn reasons. What about you, Trent?

[Trent Atia]

You know what? I'm going to have to go against you here, Stephen A. Because Trey Johnson was putting up tour dates. I've never seen someone go so cold on the floor. I think he was 6 of 20 or something like that. Took double overtime for him. To get his points. For me, I think that if Xavier is going to want to win this game, they're going to need to slow down Trey Johnson which is going to allow guys like Arthur Kaluma and Shedrick on Texas to be able to have big games. But I just can't get out of my mind that game from Trey Johnson against Texas A and M and how piss poor his shooting was that night. If that happens again, I think Texas is going to be in trouble. So we do have a really high total in this game. So it definitely could go more than. But I don't know. I just can't get myself to go back to Trey Johnson after selling me two different prize picks lineups in the last week.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right. I feel you on that. I'm just disagreeing with it because I just don't think Xavier is going to be able to contain him. I really, really don't. I think in a game like this, I think it's going to be a bit up Temple. They're going to try to slow it down. I don't think they're going to be successful and that's why I feel the way that I do about it. But you could be right. We'll find out. Let's go to Xavier. Let's go to Zack Freemantle. Have more or less than 26 1/2 points, plus rebounds, plus assists. In this particular instance, I'm going with less because of the things you pointed out about Xavier and how they're not going to have that level of offensive activity. Which is why I don't think he's going to be able to pull us off in this game. But that's just my thinking. What about you?

[Trent Atia]

I'm gonna have to disagree again. Only because this game is going to be very fast paced and if Xavier is going to have any sort of chance to beat Texas in this one, it's gonna have to come from Zach Fremantle. I've taken him a couple times throughout this season. He's respected my coin. If there's anybody on Xavier to have themselves a game against this pretty weak Texas defense that gives up a lot of points. I think it's gotta be Freemantle. But hey, you can't have everybody go more than in the same game. So you gotta take some lessons. I don't blame you for targeting a Xavier player to go less than and Fremantle. You know, who knows, maybe you get strapped.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You disagreed with me on on this on two occasions. I don't know about you right now. I don't know about you Trent, last one. Finally, with Xavier's Ryan Conwell have, will he have more or less than 23 1/2 points, plus rebounds, plus assists. I'm going with more in this one, too. One of them got to do more. I'm picking him instead. Conwell, I'm going with more on this. What about you?

[Trent Atia]

You know what? I'm glad you didn't just take two more thans and two less thans on the same team. So I think you got to switch it up here, you know, and if you think that Fremantle gets strapped up Texas defense, someone's gonna have to put the ball in the basket and dish it around and grab some rebounds. So, Conwell, I like the pick. You know, honestly, I'm going a little square. I think all four of those squares you just said probably go more than, to be honest with you, with such a high total in this game. But, you know, we'll see. Someone's probably going to go less than. I hope it's Fremantle for you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Listen, so do I. So do I. So just to recap, I'm going with more Columa, more on Trey Johnson, less on Fremantle, and more on Conwell. That's where I'm at with it. So everybody knows where I stand. Trent, before I let you get on out of here, Selection Sunday had quite a few upsets. What were you most surprised about?

[Trent Atia]

I was shocked that UNC made the tournament. Having one quad win, going 1 in 12. How the heck did they squeak in 1 in 12?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Because the damn dude on the selection committee, Bubba is his name. Bubba. Okay, Bubba Cutting half the. The athletic director for North Carolina. Talk about recusing himself. Who the hell going to believe that? You. So you recuse yourself in the meetings, but y'all ain't go out to lunch, y'all ain't go out to dinner, y'all ain't go after breakfast. You never had a conversation that itched North Carolina into the NCAA tournament. Nobody's believing that, Trent. I know I'm not.

[Trent Atia]

Hell no. No. That's some fishy, fishy activity there by UNC and the committee. I don't know how the heck they squeaked in there. I think there was definitely other teams more deserving. But having one quad win or quad one win out of 13 is ridiculous. Come on.

[Stephen A. Smith]

One. Yes. It ain't who you play is who you beat. And I got news for you. One of the things my favorite, just as an aside, my favorite rivalry in sports is Duke, North Carolina, basketball. When there's a rivalry, as opposed to a beat Down. And even though the games have been relatively competitive, I'm just of the mindset if you're Hubert Davis, somehow, some way, it can't. This ain't Mike Shashevsky. This ain't Coach K you going up against. It's one thing to be out recruited by him. He can't be out recruited by John. Sh, sh. I just don't know about that. That's how I feel about it. What about you?

[Trent Atia]

Wouldn't it be so March Madness to see UNC go on a little run after all this slander they're getting for getting in the tournament?

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's true. That's a good point. That. That's good that they just don't have it, though. They don't have the size. They don't have the size. And they. And Trent, they can't stop you. You should shoot 39 for three against them. They can't stop nobody. They can't stop anybody anyway. What. Who do you have as a first round upset?

[Trent Atia]

First round upsets? You know, there's. There's. I'm a guy who loves taking the square stuff. I'm always taking the 1 and 2 seeds to win the first round. And it never hits. It never hits. So I would not be shocked if we see a St. John's go out and lose to Omaha. That would be ridiculous.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You gonna go there?

[Trent Atia]

Always something.

[Stephen A. Smith]

All the teams to pick. You gonna pick St. John's with Rick Patino taking six different teams in NCAA tournament with those athletes, with those Rough Riders, with that full court press he gonna throw at you, particularly in the second half. That's the dude you gonna pick to fall out of the first round.

[Trent Atia]

Saint John, every year we do the same thing. We. Leading up to the tournament, everything sounds impossible, like nothing's crazy is going to happen. And then we get to the games and you're sitting there and St. John's is down eight with three minutes to go. And it's like, okay, what the heck is going on? So you really just got to remember nobody knows shit.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's true. You're probably right. Probably right. Nobody knows. It's all a guessing game. Ain't no doubt about it. But that's what makes it great. That's what makes NCAA tournament great. Last question. What games are you looking forward to seeing most?

[Trent Atia]

I'm looking forward to that Kansas, Arkansas game. You got two coaches and Bill Self and. And Cal Perry squaring off two March Madness legends. You know, arguably could be a bit washed, but this Kansas team has just been an Absolute mess all year in Arkansas. They're a scrappy team as well. So it's going to be really interesting to see how Bill Self gets his team prepared for this game. But just having two legendary coaches head to head in the first round is going to be cinema. So I'm really excited for that one. And I think my favorite square on price picks in that game, Hunter Dickinson. He's up for half a three pointer. He's making a three. He's been wiped out from three in his last couple games. And they're giving us a half a three pointer for Dickinson. He's splashing at home.

[Jay Bilas]

Watch.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I got about three games I want to throw at you, right? Yeah, I'm thinking about a second round game, Florida versus Maryland. I think they'll meet in the second round. I think that could be very interesting. Even though Florida is, is the team I'm looking at, I'm like, they look like monsters against Alabama over the weekend. I'm thinking about Houston, Houston Guns is, is Houston Gonzaga because they'll end up facing one another. I mean, that's the one to look forward to. And then of course, you know, I got Duke, Florida meet for the national title. Of course I think it'll go. It's going to come down to that. That's what I'm looking at, bro.

[Trent Atia]

At the end of the day, you know, the two finalists are always teams that you're expected to be there. Walter Clayton in Florida are, are a menace right now. Walter Clayton's been cashing me on prize picks for like three weeks straight. That dude is a Hooper. So shout out him for making me some money the past two weeks. But yeah, I love Houston. I've been taking them all year. But when it comes to the tournament, I feel like they always fold.

[Jay Bilas]

I could get a rat.

[Stephen A. Smith]

They get erratic. They do. They get erratic. They make mistakes. And the things that they do during the regular season, they don't show up. I, I just don't get it. So that's where I'm at with it. Look, man, I appreciate you. Book it with Trent. Trent Atias right here with Stephen A. Smith on the Stephen A. Smith show special edition of our prospect segment. Appreciate you, my brother. Look forward to talking to you again at this point as this tournament progresses.

[Trent Atia]

Absolutely. Stephen A. Best of luck to you on your prize picks and let's have a great March.

[Jamie Petras]

September 1979. Virginia's top prison band, Edge of Daybreak, is about to record their debut album behind bars in just five hours.

[Jay Bilas]

Okay, we're rolling 1, 2, 3, 4.

[Jamie Petras]

I'm Jamie Petras, music and culture writer. For the past five years, I've been talking to the band's three surviving members. They're out of prison now and in their 70s, their past behind them. But they also have some unfinished business.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The everyday break Eyes of Love was supposed to have been followed up by another album.

[Jamie Petras]

It's a story about the liberating power of music, the American justice, this system, and ultimately, second chances. Listen to Soul incarcerated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dr. Joy]

Dr. Joy here. You may know me from Therapy for Black Girls where we're celebrating 400 episodes of the podcast that's a Whole Lot of Girl Me Too moments. For years we've had deep, thoughtful and inspiring conversations about Black women's mental health. And now we're celebrating this milestone in a big way. In this special episode, Peloton Yogi Chelsea Jackson Roberts shares how yoga has taught her to stay grounded and present while balancing motherhood and self care.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I can't control my partner. I can't control my child. I can't control anyone outside the way that I govern myself in this world.

[Dr. Joy]

And the celebration doesn't stop there. We'll continue this milestone with Dr. Lauren Mims who joins me to discuss the powerful yet sometimes challenging transition from girlhood to womanhood for Black femmes. Together we explore how we navigate this transformative journey with strength and grace.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Black girlhood is giggling, it's sisterhood, but it is also, I think, focusing on learning how to cope with really difficult things that are happening.

[Dr. Joy]

With insights like these, this 400th episode celebration is one for the books. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Stephen A. Smith]

This message is being brought to you by Cologuard, a non invasive colon cancer screening test. Listen guys, we need to talk about colon cancer screening for a second. And you know I'm a straight shooter, so I'm not going to sugarcoat this. Colon cancer is considered the most preventable yet least prevented cancer. It's the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States and it's on a rise in people under 50. But the good news is that when caught at early stages, colon cancer is survivable in 90% of people. So screening and early detection are key to reducing overall colon cancer deaths. And I'm sure a lot of you guys are hearing this and thinking you can tune me out because you're not in your 50s yet. But guess what? The American Cancer Society recommends that if you are at average risk, you begin screening for colon cancer at age 45. And a great way to do that is with the Cologuard test. It's delivered right to your door and it allows you to collect a sample comfortably at home on your own schedule. We're talking about a screening with zero downtime that's both convenient and affordable. Most Insured patients pay $0. The Cologuard test allows you to feel more in control of your colon cancer screening and do it on your own schedule with none of the prep time off or an invasive procedure that is required of a colonoscopy. So if you're 45 or older and at average risk, ask your healthcare provider about screening for colon cancer with the Cologuard test. You can also request a cologuard prescription today at cologuard.com/podcast. The Cologuard test is intended to screen adults 45 and older at average risk for colorectal cancer. Do not use a cologuard test if you have had adenomas, have inflammatory bowel disease and certain hereditary syndromes, or personal or family history of colorectal cancer. The Cologuard test is not a replacement for colonoscopies in high risk patients. Cologuard test performance in adults ages 45 to 49 is estimated based on a large clinical study of patients 50 and older. False positives and false negatives can occur. Cola God is available by prescription only. Welcome back to Stephen A. Smith Show. Still here with the one of the great, great college basketball analysts in this nation's history, the one and only Jay Billis, my colleague at espn. Let's get to the east region, Jay. We've got number one seeded Duke with Alabama as a number two seed. Your thoughts about that region?

[Jay Bilas]

I. I think it's a great draw for Duke. Alabama, if they were fully healthy, I think would be a favorite to beat Duke here and they may still be able to do it. But one of their best players, Grant Nelson, has been injured and he's been banged up, unable to practice at times. I, I was there recently for their game against Florida and he couldn't even practice day before the game and he had a knee injury in their game against Florida in the SEC tournament. Didn't play second half and they got run out of the gym in the second half. So I, I don't want to discount what they're capable of doing, but I just think Duke because I think, I think Cooper Flag is going to be 100% in the tournament. And you know, it's amazing how some people were talking about, oh, do they need to shut him down and shut him down for the draft. And I'm like, jesus, a sprained ankle. He wasn't like, he wasn't like caught in a stampede, you know, cattle stampede. He's going to be fine. So I think it was smart to, you know, he won 100 for the ACC tournament. They didn't need him to win. That was fine. But, but they're not gonna. I, I can't imagine them holding him out of the first game in the NCAA tournament. They want to, they want to get going and get that train down the tracks.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm glad you brought that up. Correct me if you think I'm wrong. I'm of, I've never thought about shutting him down. Absolutely not. You go through this season, you're trying to win a national championship. This is Duke we're talking about here, okay? I mean, you got to play if you can play. I don't believe, however, he should play in the 116 game on Friday night. You're Duke. You just won the ACC championship. You won the semifinals in a championship game without him. You can beat the 16th seed, give him those additional two days rest, and then after that, come Sunday, if so, you got to let that man play. That's my attitude. Am I wrong for feeling that way?

[Jay Bilas]

No, but, but it would be based upon the doctor saying, hey, listen, you know, he needs more time. He could injure it again or make it worse or something like that, you know, look, we've all played on sprained ankles, I mean, and some are worse than others. But if there's no structural damage, it's not that big of a deal. And today these guys get treatment like nobody's business. So a week should be plenty. But if he's capable of playing. If it were a second round game, he'd play. So play. Because I do think the continuity of having him back, because you can lose a second round game, a second round games against an 8 or a 9 and they play either Mississippi State or Baylor. And Mississippi State is very good. And I'd want, I'd want some reps with everybody back to their normal roles before you go into a game like that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Before I move on to the Midwest. Jay, I never had an opportunity to ask you about this kid Cooper flag. I've seen about five or six of his games. The brother's legit. He can really, really play. No doubt about leading them in points, rebounds, assists, steals. Re. I mean it's, it's ridiculous. But again it, his skill set, it's not like it's LeBron James or somebody like that coming your way. But he's so skilled, he's so special. Put into perspective watching college and covering college basketball all of these years the way that you have when you look at a Cooper Flag, give the world an idea of what we're going to see on the next level because he's likely going to be the number one overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft.

[Jay Bilas]

I think Cooper Flag is going to be a combination of Andre Kirolenko and Franz Wagner, except he's bigger and I think he's going to be stronger. He's the best, most complete, most competitive freshman. All those put together that Duke has ever had. And like he's got all the measurables you got, the size, the length, the athleticism, an unbelievable skill level. But what really sets him apart and puts him on the top tier of players I've ever, I've ever watched in college is his competitive level. Like everybody says they're a competitor, but some, some are more competitive than others. But he, he's among the most competitive players I've ever seen. And, and it's legit. It's an everyday thing with him. And I'm, I'm, I've, I've been blown away. Like I knew he was going to be good. I knew he was going to be the best freshman and all that. And I thought he'd be an All American. I didn't think he'd do this. And, and he keeps getting better. And the fact that he, he's barely 18 years old, it kind of boggles your mind. Like I think Grant Hill is the best player Duke's ever had. And, and I think he proved that when he went on the NBA. His first seven years. The NBA were like Sandy Koufax level. But I, nobody, nobody has done what he's done as a freshman. It's not the all around stuff, the numbers, it's not close.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'd be remiss in neglecting to give credit to this guy too, your coach, John Schreier. I mean this, he's, this man succeeded Coach K. And I'm looking at him right now and he's been very impressive, A and B, so much so that it's, it's dwarfed, you know, it's, it's, it's. I don't want to, I don't want to use that word, but North Carolina is not On Duke's level, it appears at this particular moment in time. And you never expect that to happen, especially when Huber Davis had them in the Final Four playing for the national championship game a couple of years ago. But that's what I'm seeing from this guy right now. Your thoughts on the head coach for the Duke Blue Devils?

[Jay Bilas]

I, I agree. John is built for this. He's. He's another guy that. Talk about a competitor, he was a great player. He's probably the most underrated star that Duke has ever had. You know, he scored over 2000 points. He's first team all American, ACC player of the year, all that stuff. And he would have had an NBA career if he didn't have that eye injury when he's playing for the Miami Heat. But John is very thoughtful. He thinks everything through before he does it, and he seeks out counsel and then makes the right decision. And every button that he's pushed since he's been there, I feel has been the right one and he's the real deal. But your point, it's an interesting point about Duke in North Carolina, that, that to me, Stephen A. Is kind of a year to year thing because last year North Carolina won the acc.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You're right.

[Jay Bilas]

And it's kind of a year to year thing. But John, John's gonna be at this for a long time. And I think he's one of those guys like he, he's gonna, he's probably going to coach 25, 30 years. I, I don't, I don't know that guys are going to go as long as they used to like it. It amazed me that Coach K got the 75 or 76 and Jim Laraniga was 77 and Bayheim was 74, like Roy Williams. That amazed me. But I could see he's the type of coach that could go to the NBA in a heartbeat because of his demeanor. Like, he holds everybody accountable and does all this stuff that coaches like to talk about, about coaching hard. But he's never demeaning. He always hits the right note. And the message to a player, even when he gets on them, is positive. And I think players respond to that in a better way than they did when you and I were playing. He. He reaches them on a gut level and a heart level, not the same way that coach did, Coach K did. But there's similarities there. But, but his demeanor is unbelievable. He. He's the real thing.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Not just talking to one of the best college basketball analysts in America, but somebody who also played that Duke. He would know a thing or two about the Duke program. I'm talking about the one and only Jay Billis right here with Stephen A. Finally, let's get to the Midwest region. Jay. Houston and Tennessee are the top two seeds. Did they get that right? Number one and number two. Do you see anybody knocking off one, you know, one, if not both of them en route to a Final Four appearance?

[Jay Bilas]

This is a different Houston team, Stephen A. Than we saw the last few years. They're the same in their ability to defend, to rebound. Like I've been saying this ever since Kelvin Sampson got to Houston. They lead the nation every year playing hard. That's just their default position. They don't know anything else and they wear teams down that way. But this year they score at a higher level. So they shoot about 40% for free as a team. Jay Crier and Emmanuel Sharp are great shooters. They brought in a transfer, Milos Use and from. From Oklahoma. Like Oklahoma lost some really good players. Ortega away at Cont. Kentucky and Milo's Usanne. Now it's Houston and. But they still do the dirty work stuff. But they don't get stuck offensively. They're not gonna, they're not going to be stuck in a. In a game where they have to hold the other team to 55 in order to win. And they could do that. Like I think they would have been in the Final Four last year if Jamal Shed wasn't hurt in the first half of that game against Duke. I think they would have beaten Duke. I think they would have beaten NC State. I think they would have been in the Final Four. But this year, like, I think, I think they would beat Tennessee. Tennessee is better than they've been to. Like Rick Barnes has run into some. He's a great coach. It's ridiculous how good he is.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, he is.

[Jay Bilas]

But he's run into some circumstances. Like this year with the Southeastern Conference, he gets to the final and they got to play Florida and Florida is a different kind of cat now. And then last year they're, they're. Last year they had Dalton connect now with the Lakers, as you know, and he was like the Roy Hobbs of college basketball, giving them scoring they hadn't had. And they run into Zach Eady and Purdue in the Elite Eight, you know, kind of the only team that I thought out of the Elite Eight teams that they couldn't beat. And otherwise they were Final Four team last year. So their draw, I think is a little bit better this year because I think they can be Houston. But it's going to Be a whale of game if it gets to 1.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Versus 2 before I let you get on out of here, Jay, I'd be remiss in neglecting to bring this up news story all over the place right now. West Virginia governor Patrick Morrissey has taken the social media and national news networks to voice his displeasure with the NCAA after West Virginia's men's basketball team was left out of the NCAA tournament. He's threatening lawsuits, for crying out loud. Meanwhile, there's a whole bunch of people lamenting North Carolina getting into the tournament, obviously, and they were 1 and 12 versus Quad 1 teams or Q1 teams. Your thoughts about that whole storyline. North Carolina in West Virginia governor threatening lawsuits because West Virginia was left out of the NCAA tournament. Nobody will break it down better than you, Jay. Give it to us. Your thoughts.

[Jay Bilas]

First of all, Stephen, 10 years ago or so, I probably would have lost my mind over this whole thing. But I've learned over the years that the tournament selection committee hardly ever does anything at the end of the line that I agree with completely. So do I agree that North Carolina should have made the field relative to a couple of the teams that got left out? No. I mean, I would have, I would have taken one of the other teams that we're talking about here. You know, I thought Texas should have been in, but I thought North Carolina was going to be on the outside looking in. But was it this egregious thing that adults who are in positions of power should be threatening lawsuits over? I mean, you tell me if, if this resonates with you, but. Because I know you'll remember it better than I do. But in 1985, during the NBA lottery back then, they used to reach in and pick out an envelope with the team's logo on it. Patrick Ewing was the big, big prize coming out of Georgetown. And after the New York Knicks won the lottery, remember Dave DeBusher being there and all that, after they won the lottery, the story publicly, you know, the narrative was it was a fix, that the NBA had kept the envelope of the Knicks in a freezer and it was colder, so they knew that's the one they needed to pick. And I remember David Stern being asked about it one time, and he very, you know, you know, you knew Stern better than I did. And Stern could be a handful, but he was very thoughtful man. And he said, he, he said, he said, that didn't happen. I'll explain to you what happened, blah, blah, blah. And he went through it and then he said, and by the way, if we had Done something like that, it would be a federal crime. Do you think we would risk a federal crime for that? And I'm kind of thinking the same thing here with the governor of West Virginia acting like somebody took a piece of candy from him when he was six years old over a selection over, like, you know, these teams, you know, if you want to be in the field, win more, if, if you leave it into the hands of a committee, you're, you're, you're likely to have something like this happen. But threatening lawsuits over whether a team plays in the NIT or the NCAA tournament, right? I'm not down with that. That's just, that's not adult behavior.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Totally, totally agree with you. It's petty. It's nonsense. Now, I don't agree with their decision of put North Carolina in just like you do, but in the end, when I remember it, on the women's side, you've got the coach at ufc, got le, who's obviously doing a great job, complaining that they're the fourth number one seed. Well, if you had beaten UCLA in the conference championship game like you did in the regular season instead of losing to them come conference championship time, that might not have happened. And maybe, just maybe, you, you're complaining because you're in the same bracket as you con with Gino Oriemma, and that's what your real complaint is. The way to go is in terms of showing confidence in your team. I ain't get that, Jay. I ain't get that.

[Jay Bilas]

Well, but, but I'm, I'm good with the complaining part because that's, you know, sort of, that's what you and I do in a way that comes with it. Complain away. Like we, we should complain about it. We should discuss is this the right thing or do. Do we need a, a better criteria to use or all. That's all good stuff. We should do that. We can be as loud as we want to, you know, when government officials are getting involved in this. So who's going to want this job next time? You know, who's going to sign up to be chairman of the selection committee when they got to worry about some governor, you know, getting his undies in a bunch and getting his attorney general out there coming after you. It just, it's so silly. I just don't understand, you know, the adults in the room got to stand up and say, hey, stop it. Like, behave yourself.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I noticed from personal experience, you've always been the adult in the room, even when you don't think you've been You've always been the adult in the room. You've helped me grow over the years. I love you, man. I appreciate you so much, man. Thank you. And I'm definitely going to catch you during the NCAA tournament. My last question, Florida and Duke is for me with Florida winning the national championship. Who you got?

[Jay Bilas]

I got the same thing. I've got Florida winning it, which is probably the the death knell for the Gators chances.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Same here. That's exactly what I'm thinking. Everybody I know is picking Florida. I guess that means they're gonna lose. Jay Billis, love you, man. Thank you so much for your time, man. I really appreciate it.

[Jay Bilas]

Love you too, brother. Thanks for having me.

[Stephen A. Smith]

All right, the one and only Jay Billis right here with Stephen H. Shoot. That's how I know college basketball. I listen to Jay Billis. The hell I do. Yes. What did he say? I think I'm gonna go with what he said. That's how I do it. That's how I do it. Coming up on the Stephen A. Smith Show, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony weigh in on LeBron James approaching me at the Lakers game. They ain't the only ones, but they're the latest ones. But first, what's going on with the Democratic Party? A new CNN poll shows favorability for the Democrats has dropped to an all time low. I wonder where y'all heard that before. I'll get into it next right here on the Stephen A. Smith Show. 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've partnered with Prize Picks, the best place to win cash while watching sports. The app is really easy to use to make a lineup. All you have to do is pick more or less on a few player stats. Choose from any of your favorite players. Luka Doncic, Jimmy Butler, and Zach Lavine all in the same entry. Then sit back and watch. The list is absolutely endless. You can play Prize picks in over 40 states, including California and Texas. Best of all, Prize Picks will give you $50 when you play your first $5 lineup. Win or lose, you'll get 50 bucks. Just use promo code SAS and download Prize Picks right now. Again, download the app and use code SAS to get $50 instantly after your first $5 lineup. Prize picks, run your game.

[Jamie Petras]

September 1979. Virginia's top prison band, Edge of is about to record their debut album behind bars in just five hours.

[Jay Bilas]

Okay, we're rolling.

[Stephen A. Smith]

One, two, three, four.

[Jamie Petras]

I'm Jamie Petras, music and culture writer. For the past five years, I've been talking to the band's three surviving members. They're out of prison now and in their 70s, their past behind them. But they also have some unique unfinished business.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The Air to Daybreak, Eyes of Love was supposed to have been followed up by another album.

[Jamie Petras]

It's a story about the liberating power of music, the American justice system, and ultimately, second chances. Listen to Soul incarcerated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dr. Joy]

Dr. Joy Here you may know me from Therapy for Black Girls where we're celebrating 400 episodes of the podcast. That's a Whole Lot of Girl Me Too moments. For years we've had deep, thoughtful and inspiring conversations about Black women's mental health. And now we're celebrating this milestone in a big way. In this special episode, Peloton yogi Chelsea Jackson Roberts shares how yoga has taught her to stay grounded and present while balancing motherhood and self care.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I can't control my partner. I can't control my child. I can't control anyone outside the way that I govern myself in this world.

[Dr. Joy]

And the celebration doesn't stop there. We'll continue this milestone with Dr. Lauren Mims, who joins me to discuss the powerful yet sometimes challenging transition from girlhood to womanhood for Black femmes. Together, we explore how we navigate this transformative journey with strength and grace.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Black girlhood is giggling. It's sisterhood. But it is also, I think, focusing on learning how to cope with really.

[Dr. Joy]

Difficult things that are happening with insights like these. This 400th episode celebration is one for the books. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Welcome back to Stephen A. Smith show. Want to get into politics and the headlines I've seen this weekend from Washington about the Democratic Party. There's a new CNN poll that shows the party's favorability among Americans has dropped to a record low. The poll was conducted for CNN via web and telephone on the SSRS Opinion Panel. That's a nationally representative panel of U.S. adults ages 18 or older recruited using probability based sampling techniques. To be clear, they are an independent research company, not right or left. So here's what the poll revealed. Many people in the Democratic Party are saying that leadership should do more to stand up to President Trump. It shows that Democrats and Democratic aligned independents say 57 to 42%, that Democrats should mainly work to stop the Republican agenda rather than working with the GOP majority to get some Democratic ideas into legislation. The survey was taken days before 10 Democratic senators, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, voted with Republicans to advance a GOP authored spending bill to avert a government shutdown. The survey also revealed that Democratic aligned adults say 52 to 48%, that the leadership of the Democratic Party is currently taking the party in the wrong direction. There's another shift from eight years ago, when views on the same metric were largely positive. And finally, the poll revealed that among the American public, overall, the Democratic Party's favorability rating stands at just 29%. That's a record low in CNN's polling dating back to 1992, and a drop of 20 points since January of 2021, when Trump left his first term under the shadow of the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Okay, again, the poll was conducted for CNN by an independent research company. The surveys were obtained on March 6 through the night before the spending bill occurred. First of all, that's the problem with producers and editors. That's too damn long. Too much information. Okay, yes, they say I gotta read that to you or whatever, but dammit, I hope you didn't fall asleep on that because that's not the subject, that's not the point. Here's the point. The strategy's not gonna work. Are you listening to me, Michael? You listening to me, Sherry? It's not gonna work because you're still not touching on what's really, really, really the issue. All of that stuff that I just read. I know what y'all saying. It's mumbo jumbo. It's facts. It's accurate. It's something you needed to hear, but you really don't give a. What you really care about is what you gonna do to reclaim the White House, what you gonna do to reclaim seats in the House and the Senate. I got a story to tell the Democratic Party. Are you ready for this? Rather than telling us what we should vote against, maybe you should present us with options of what to vote for. Just a thought. I mean, my God. Are you okay, Michael, with me suggesting that. Are you okay with me, Sherry, suggesting that Rashawn Galen and all of the bunch of leftists that's under my umbrella trying to act like they're independence when they're full of it? I'm talking about my old damn staff. I can say it with love and affection because I don't mind. I'm a centrist. I think my man Rashawn is a centrist. The rest of these damn people working for me. I mean, what left wing party are you associated with? I mean, you gotta believe this stuff. You gotta listen to it to hear it. I'm gonna say it again. Rather than come to folks with what to vote against, how about telling us what we should vote for? Because you see, I'm no fan of Chuck Schumer. No fan of Chuck Schumer, but he wasn't wrong here. Didn't you know that when a government shutdown takes place, whatever party supports the government shutdown is who gets blamed. It don't even matter how right you are. You can have very salient points. You don't like Trump and them cutting US aid program DEI programs. You don't like what they're suggesting. You don't approve of his position with the war in Ukraine. You don't approve of him schmoozing with Vladimir Putin and Russia. You're wondering, what was all of this talk about in inflation, in the economy? What have you really, really done to address it? You got a $37 trillion budget, which he contributed to, by the way, because he spent a lot of money when he was president. Number 45. It wasn't like it was just the Democrats spinning, it was him too. And you're talking about holding them accountable for all of that. Fair, Fair. You're talking about him and the immigration policy and you're talking about targeting criminals. But we're talking about a 10 year old that I just finished asking Borders are Tom Holman about the other day that was being deported back to Mexico even though she's US citizen, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All of these thinks you want to point to. I'm not even saying you might not be right. What I'm saying is if you're the Democrats, it ain't going to work for you. You know why? Because you done messed up. And your objective should be recapturing a trust that you once had from folks on the left. In order to do that, you're gonna have to be aligned and unified and start preaching about what's important to the American people instead of what you think the American people should find important. See the difference? Let me try that again, Michael. Want to try that again, Sherry? I'm just saying you gotta be about preaching about what's important to the American people and what they care about instead of telling them what they should care about. You know why you can't make that argument anymore? Because you had your chance. You had President Biden up in that office. You knew he wasn't the same. You knew there was shrinkage that kicked in mentally. You knew that people were talking about him being incapacitated. This is before the debate on June 27th. You knew it. You knew it. You knew it, and it got you on camera. Chant for four more years for a dude that was approaching 82 years of age, that would have been in office until he was 86, assuming he got there, you didn't even think he was gonna make it. And God bless him, I hope he does. But what you did was say, let's just get him through the election, because the rest of us is running the government anyway. The trust of the American people were compromised. I'm a black man. You know how many times I get tired of this not being mentioned? How racism and things pertinent to a community that makes up 13 and a half percent of our population was shoved to the wayside. And it wasn't even for the LGBTQ community as a whole. You were focusing on transgender rights more so than you were focusing on black people. You took them for granted. The Hispanics with the borders. Do you know that? I know more Hispanic folks that wanted closed borders more than wanted open borders. Latinos in this country, Latinas in this country, had a problem with illegal immigrants more than some of the American citizens because they said they had to stand in line. Who the hell are they not to have to stand in line? But you ignored that, too. The economy, stupid. Remember what James Carville said in 1992 when Clinton was running for the presidency? It's the economy, stupid. Remember that? Were we preaching about that? No. We weren't even acting like inflation was an issue until it slapped us all in the face. Oh, there's no border crisis. Not at all. Remember Vice President Kamala Harris on the View? Is there anything about President Biden's administration that you would do differently? I really can't think of anything. Really? Ladies and gentlemen, that's why she can't run for president again in 2028. She has no chance. She has to run for the governor's seat of California. She can't run for the presidency. Oh, this announcement is coming this summer. Please stop wasting your time. You can announce it now. It's got to be the governor's position or nothing. Because you can't run for the presidency of the United States if you. Kamala Harris. Because they're gonna re air that interview. And it just shows that there was a collective deceit being pushed forward to the American public. And after all of that backdrop and after the embarrassment of The Democratic Party with Trump's speech to both houses of Congress the other day, where people holding signs and they're making videos with 22 people echoing the same verbiage, clearly tone deaf, and they got the nerve to be dancing, some of them with their non dancing ass selves on video, trying to appeal to folks knowing they were beyond their lane and trying to do that. After all of that, you gonna let the government shut down? You would have played right into Donald Trump's hands. Even with Elon Musk scaring the living daylights out of more than half the American population. Well, what the hell he gonna do next? What cuts is he going to suggest that Trump is going to okay? How many programs are going to be slashed? How many bodies are going to fall? How many federal workers are going to be without a job? Even with all of that, the Democrats still don't have the cachet and the leverage to shut down the government. If Schumer deserves credit for nothing, and I'll be damned if I want to give him credit for much, we got to give him credit for that. He knew better. You can't shut down the government. Him and nine other colleagues provided votes to pass a budget to fund the government through September 30. It had to happen because you're a House divided. The GOP stood together and they pushed forth the budget and it was going to go through. And if the Democrats hadn't supported it and the government happened to shut it down, jobs would have been lost, wages would have been lost, programs would have been slashed, and the Democrats and their lack of togetherness would have been the blame. Why? Because the GOP is aligned under Trump. There's nobody aligned with the Democrats because you don't have leadership. Minority House Leader Hakeem Jeffries evidently is not aligned with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. AOC Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Representative out of New York. What is she talking about? Schumer needs to be replaced. You got Representative Al Green. Won't even let anybody, won't even let Trump speak. And he has to get booted out during the speech and ultimately censured. I like Jasmine Crockett. I'm looking forward to having her on this show. I appreciate the fervor and the fight in aoc. She's welcomed on this show. But the Democrats are not together. You have no cachet. And to be furious at Schumer is not paying attention to what's going on. If we're being honest. If we're being honest, you're not paying attention to what's going on. There's an article that was written. Michael, Sherry, this is for y'all. This is for y'all. I'm just looking at all of this right now. This is a story in the Washington Post dated February 2nd. Democrats are in trouble. And a provocative analysis offers ideas to repair the party. And in the article it's talking about the polling and how unpopular they are. This is more than a month ago. Mind you, this is more than a month ago and I'm trying to find a graph here. And it says if Democrats are serious about addressing their problems, they face a period of vigorous debate and self reflection akin to what they experienced after losing three consecutive presidential elections in the 1980s. Remember Boat Reagan two terms and then H.W. bush as a star? Two veterans of that period, William Galston and Elaine Kamark, have offered an assessment of the state of the party to be published Sunday by the centrist group Third Way. An advanced copy was made available to the Washington Post at the time. I want to read these couple of graphs, especially to my left wing guy Michael here, okay. And Sherry, it'll be Lord, here's Let me read this to y'all just to help y'all out. For those Democrats who think a rapid response war room or massive get out the vote efforts will restore the party to its previous highs, the authors provide a bracing and provocative analysis. Quote, this renewal involves more than communications, organization and mobilization, they write. It will require the party to ask itself hard questions about the reasons for its dwindling support among groups it has long taken for granted, to reflect on declining public confidence in government as a vehicle of progress, and to think anew about its policy agenda in an era of rapid change at home and abroad, end quote. The fracturing of the Democratic coalition represents a major challenge. Though the decline in working class support for Democrats started decades ago, the Trump era has accelerated it and expanded it beyond white working class voters to working class Hispanic and black voters, particularly men. So what is this article saying? What are the experts saying? Working class voters. The numbers were dissipating within the Democratic Party from white that working class voters. But now it's sifted to Hispanic and black working class voters, especially men. So you don't have working class voters the way you used to and you don't have men the way that you used to in white Hispanics and blacks. You have no party. You're just a bunch of individual parts claiming to be Democrats. You're not a party, you're fragmented, you're weak. And the Only way you can get yourself together is to be strong. That's one thing. But take it from me, I'm a novice at this and even I know this. You have to reclaim being for the working class. When I say reclaim the working class, doesn't that mean money? It doesn't mean bathrooms shared by both genders. It doesn't mean that stuff. It doesn't mean pronouncing the right. The proper nouns and pronouns doesn't mean that stuff. Working class. Back to James Carville. It's the economy, stupid. It's about dollars and cents. It's about money in people's pocket. It's about the cost of living. Everything starts there. What the Democrats need to do do is refocus on proclaiming yourself as the better party for the economy. Make sure that your policies are better when it comes to employing folks and putting money in the pockets of the American citizens better than them. You pull that off without all of that other stuff on the fringes and you get back to being center left. You can reclaim one of the houses of Congress in the midterms, you'd have a chance in 2028. But if you keep being at the mercy of the extreme left, which Chuck Schumer in this case refused to do with the whole bill, oh, spending bill, the budget, making sure that the government didn't shut down. If you ignore that and go far left, it's not an election or another election you're going to lose. You're going to lose the country. The Democratic Party will cease to exist by the year 2028, if not the year 2026, unless y'all get y'all act together. We all got stuff we want and there's certain things that we can't be deprived of. I will remind you, President Obama deported more people than Donald Trump. He just didn't brag about it. There are certain things that you can want and you can get away with wanting. If you ain't sticking out your chest proclaiming that as your battle cry, sub using that to supplant other things that should be a priority. If you prioritize appropriately on behalf of the American people, you'd be surprised what else you could get away with if you made sure you handle business first. Prioritize appropriately. Show yourself to be the better party than the others by what you have to offer instead of decrying what they are offering, and you might have a chance. If you don't, you're dead. You're done. In case you haven't noticed, you pretty damn close to that right now. Anyway, regardless of what you want to think about how close this election was in your mind, get your shit together. Get it together. Coming up, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony share their thoughts on LeBron James and yours truly. I didn't want to visit this subject again, but they did, so why not? But obviously that's not before I'll have my nephew on the show. He's in the house. He's not feeling loved, he said. What happened to nephewtism? He forgot that he was on just the other day. Selective amnesia is what I calling. But he'll be here, too, so don't touch that dial. More to Stephen A. Smith show in a minute. What's up, everybody? Stephen A. Smith here. Recently we made news because the great Bill O'Reilly announced a tour that's coming nearest you in the very, very near future. Get your tickets now for this. It's called Three Americans Live March 30 at Live Nations Flagstar at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. Don't miss the very first show as myself, Chris Cuomo and yes, that man Bill O'Reilly take our different ideas, our different backgrounds, our different beliefs across the country to demonstrate that respectful, meaningful and even fun conversation. Those are the things that make America as great as it should be. The show will be spirited, unscripted, and all three of us will let it fly as we discuss the topics everyone is thinking about these days. There will also be questions from the audience. We're not running. Tickets are officially on sale now with presale code [e-mail] VIP packages are available with the opportunity to meet and take photos with myself and both those fellas. That's three Americans live March 30th at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. Additional dates in cities to be announced. Don't miss it. Trust me, you'll get a kick out of it. Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith show right here over the digital areas of YouTube and of course, iHeartRadio. Listen, ladies and gentlemen, you love him. You like having him on the show. I don't know why. I guess you like seeing him get on his uncle's last damn nerves. My nephew Josh is in the house. I mean, you know, I thought he was coming on to talk about the NCAA tournament. The next thing you know, I see this brother. He's sitting in my seat at my desk. Is that cheese doodles? Is that potato chips? Is that what you're doing?

[G]

Yeah, I was snacking. You was taking forever with Your with your take. It's St. Patrick's Day. Where you green at?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Why I got that. Do I look Irish?

[G]

Oh, oh, I gotta expose us again.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Where's your green at? Just cause you got iris swag. That's black.

[G]

But still, I'm still celebrating our holiday. Do you know. Do you know where your grandmother's from?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm aware, Josh.

[G]

Right. No, no, the world is not.

[Stephen A. Smith]

She's Irish, Josh. Josh, did you just put that really? Is Grandma grand. Mommy's from St. Thomas, but your grandma's from St. Thomas, but her mother was from. Is Irish. Okay, but that's neither here nor there. My point to you, Josh, is. Did you just pop a bottle?

[G]

I did. Because at my desk, I really celebrate these type of holidays. Not so much Valentine's Day, but St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorites. What we talking about today?

[Stephen A. Smith]

We were supposed to be talking about the NCAA tour. And then in my ear during the commercial break, you said that wasn't on.

[G]

That's not what's on my mind. And don't hush me over there. Stephen A. Is not here. This is my desk today. Anyway, yeah, I wanted to talk about a few of my laws because the women were getting at me like, you're not holding guys accountable and stuff like that. So I'm like, you know what?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Hold on. Hold what? Women. And what were they getting on you about?

[G]

What were you talking about in the comments? You know, I skate them to see where I can get better. And they were saying I don't really hold men accountable. So I came today to come with a few laws that'll have us, you know, that'll weather some feathers on our. On our side of the things. You wanna. You interested?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Do you care whether I'm interested or not? I don't. I don't think you do.

[G]

I really don't. So let me get started and remember what I said. If you gonna interrupt me, make sure it counts. All right, ladies, I know we come off as know it all sometimes, you know, sometimes y'all just want to be heard. And we trying to come with a solution. The problem with wanting to be heard is we don't really want to hear it. So anyway, while in a relationship, depending on a dynamic, under regular circumstances, a man must take his woman on one date per month. You agree with that?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I think that's still being cheap. I think that unless you're unemployed, you could do more than one a month.

[G]

Wait, why you mentioning cheap? I ain't say he had to pay.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Because I think it's only.

[G]

He just had to go with her.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What?

[G]

I ain't saying he got to pay. He just got to go.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, stop, stop. You said a man has to take his woman out on a date at least once a month. Did you not say that?

[G]

Yeah, like he gotta drive.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Did you not say the word take?

[G]

Yeah, he gotta drive. I don't mean. I did not tell you. Don't.

[Jay Bilas]

Hey.

[G]

So women say all they want is for us to communicate. So if there's a case where she feels like you're not communicating, she can find you. How you feel about that?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I need you to repeat that because these don't sound like laws. I'm trying to figure out what's the law. What's the law?

[G]

The law is to communicate honestly. So when she asks you, do I look fat in this dress, you supposed to communicate.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What according to your law? What is the answer to that question supposed to be?

[G]

I mean, they don't really ask you that unless they already busting out the seams. So we done with the making you feel good. If you fat, you going to the gym. That's it. And if you need some Ozempic. You know, Stephen A.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is the point. That. That's some ignorant nonsense. First of all, everybody, to each his own. You got some dudes that's happy with a woman that's £100. You got some. Some dudes like. Like Uncle Pooley that. That. I mean, you got to be a minimum 250. And then you got people like me who just likes voluptuousness. You understand what I'm saying? I don't mind thickness at all. Now, that's not different. That's not the same as fat. But there are. There's somebody for everybody. Don't be disrespectful. I'm just a big woman.

[G]

I'm just saying they don't. They don't ask, do I look fat in this? Unless they don't want to look fat in that. And guess what? Nine times out of ten, they be looking fat in that. Anyway. Last little.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You know what? I can't even front that. That. That. That is accurate.

[G]

There you go.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That is accurate.

[G]

I just try to be accurate.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You didn't have to say it. Yeah, yeah, but don't you care? Does decorum matter to you? Does sensibility matters to you? I mean, don't you care?

[G]

Honesty first, last.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Really? So you're the most honest dude in the world. You're a paragon of honesty, huh?

[G]

I try to Be trying to say it's about intent for me. Lastly, for the men. If I'm on a train and there's a bunch of available seats and you sit on the one next to me, you're getting a fine. Same ballpark, different city. If I'm peeing at a stall and you decide to pee at the stall next to me and there's other available stalls, I'm stalling on you, and then you going to jail. How you feel about that?

[Stephen A. Smith]

So if you're sitting on a train, somebody's not allowed to sit right next.

[G]

To you if there's other seats available? No. And I might just sneeze just expressing germs because. Why are you so close to me?

[Stephen A. Smith]

So. So. So what? What if she's. What if she's fine? She. And you like what you're looking at? She wants to come sitting right next to you.

[Trent Atia]

These are.

[Stephen A. Smith]

These.

[G]

These are for men. She could sit right next to me.

[Stephen A. Smith]

These are laws for men. Oh, you talk about laws for men. Specifically for men, yes. Oh, my God.

[G]

So you missed the whole.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I just don't know what to do with you no more.

[G]

It was lost for men.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You know, I'm not going front. I don't want some dude, like, if I'm sitting by myself. You a dude? Would you come sit right up next to me? I get that and you would, but you ain't got to act like that. If he happens, just get up and move.

[G]

It'd be happening and you still got me on the train. So you already know. But anyway, I've been working on this animation.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's. Cause you don't know how to drive. That's good. What animation you been working on?

[G]

I'm gonna take your car.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What animation you've been working on?

[G]

I've been working on an animation where pretty much I take the best cuts from your voice interviews and stuff like that and make fun out of it. I'm gonna start putting it on my YouTube as well and your Instagram later on today.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You wanna check it out? Hold it. You don't put nothing on your page first without my approval about me. I'll sue you. You. You don't do that. You put it on my page first. You're trying to build your. You trying to ride this gravy train to build your own subscribers, but you're supposed to be building mine first.

[G]

I got.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's what you're supposed to be doing.

[G]

I got an animator on a.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And by the way, guess what my argument is to support that.

[G]

What's up.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You ready?

[G]

Go ahead.

[Stephen A. Smith]

We rich. We rich. Yes. That's it. If you got a page, I got a page. You got the animation. It come on my page. We rich, right? It's we, right? It's our contract, right? I mean, so how is it that you just doing something but you ain't put it on my page? I mean, who the hell are you to take content and put it on your page?

[G]

I had to get permission from the animator. His name is Flash. And he said he ain't get paid yet. So I sent him a picture of the company.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's your problem. I didn't hire him. And there's only one Flash and that's Dwyane Wade.

[G]

Dwayne Wade, be gone, be gone.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The three time champion, the hall of Famer, one of the greatest offcoming in the history of basketball. That dude, suddenly you don't know who he is.

[G]

Just like I'm Josh Smith and the other Josh Smith is obsolete. Flash. There's a new Flash here, animated. Y'all gonna hear about him.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Are you ready for this? Are you ready for this?

[G]

I'm ready.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Guess how you just heard your. Guess how you just heard yourself.

[G]

How?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I just got a text last week saying, yo, I love your nephew on your show. Guess who that was.

[G]

Who was it?

[Stephen A. Smith]

D. Wade. And you just dissed him. You just turned him against you. Bounce.

[G]

Get the hell out of here.

[Stephen A. Smith]

See you later on in the week. That's right. You just. You. You messed up. You met. You turned D. Wade against you.

[G]

Tell him, follow me. Tell him, follow me on the gram.

[Stephen A. Smith]

He ain't gonna follow you. He ain't trying to follow you. Get your own damn page and stop eating up all my cheese doodles. Get out of here. Look, y'all, let me transition to a serious topic because I want to put an end once and for all to this discussion about yours truly and LeBron James. In light of what happened last week, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, both of whom know LeBron very well, weighed in on the situation between me and LeBron. When LeBron rolled up on me courtside last week of the Lakers game, they weighed in on the situation on Mellow's podcast, 7pm in Brooklyn. Check out what the fellas had to say. Please. Take a look at this.

[Dwyane Wade]

It's dual sides once again. You know, I think you understand both sides. If you're that person who wants to understand both sides, I told him, as a father, I'm walking up on you.

[G]

Right?

[Dwyane Wade]

I get it. Cause I'm like that too. Like, I'm at you, of course. But also, you know what I told him? I said, and I think we've never seen LeBron do that.

[Jay Bilas]

Like, even.

[Dwyane Wade]

We've never seen, like, LeBron don't even go back at players that foul him too hard on the court. We've never seen him be like. He's always been just even keel and level headed in every aspect. And sometimes you want him to jump, sometimes you want him to go, and he won't. And so to watch him, to watch the clip and watch him on that bench and see Stephen A over there, he was just. He couldn't take it. He couldn't take it. I mean, he could not stand it.

[Carmelo Anthony]

They got the memo, yo, Stephen A.

[Trent Atia]

He coming tonight.

[Carmelo Anthony]

He coming to the game tonight.

[Dwyane Wade]

He knew it because he saw him and he saw him at warm up.

[Dr. Joy]

Yeah.

[Stephen A. Smith]

When he walked in, you know what I mean?

[Dwyane Wade]

It just. It was burning him. But, you know, I told him, I said, you know, Stephen, I think the one thing is, and first of all, I take it that's a sign of respect that LeBron did that to you.

[Carmelo Anthony]

Yeah.

[Dwyane Wade]

You know, I mean, I know everyone.

[Stephen A. Smith]

He knows the power of Stephen A's.

[Dwyane Wade]

He understands that. And I told him, I said, and that's the thing. Your microphone is the loudest, Your platform is the biggest. And also, you're a black man.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Dwyane Wade]

And I said, you know what I mean? So you gotta understand, you know, where he's coming from with that. If he even approached you, because, yes, the Skip Bayless of the world and all these guys have said things about him his entire career, and he's been above it.

[Carmelo Anthony]

There is a fine line of, I am a father, but you can't separate the fact that he is your teammate as well. You get what I'm saying? And he's in this league to be critiqued. I just think this has been a buildup. We talking 22 years. Like, this ain't got nothing to do with Bronny. It's just the fact that Bronny is a part of the conversation now. And he also got to protect his seed. You get what I'm saying? You got to protect the kingdom. No matter how old is, he's brawny. That's my dad. So Bron gotta protect that. But there's also energy with that, with those two. And that those crews just as from over the years of just build up, y'all. This ain't no love relationship that we talk. This ain't no love friendship that we talk.

[Stephen A. Smith]

About these, they don't have a friendship, right? So this is.

[Trent Atia]

This is.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It is.

[Carmelo Anthony]

Is what it is in a sense, right? This just Stephen A doing what he's supposed to do over the years. Ronnie doing, Braun doing what he doing over the years. And this is what happens. Some might get misconstrued. I might not like what you say. I might not with you. I ain't gonna deal with you. But the fact that I think the energy is because we dealing with two juggernauts in, in, in.

[Stephen A. Smith]

In.

[Carmelo Anthony]

In their respective fields, right? Braun being who he is, Stephen A being who he is, a lot of people don't know that history between those two. The only thing people know is what Stephen Nate may say or what he may not say. Bron has never spoken on any situation with Stephen Nate. So if I'm sitting there for 20 plus years and I'm just taking all of this information, all the shit that you've said to me is about me over the years now. My son is the trigger.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'mma drop the mic on all of this right now, once and for all. We gonna put this to bed. I want to thank Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony for saying what they said. Some of the details were missed. Like, for example, he didn't see me, you know, warm ups because I didn't get there until a few minutes into. Into the first quarter. But when you sit in courtside, they kind of know who's going to be there. And I'm quite sure he was alerted I was going to be there. But that's neither here nor there. D. Wade is told 1000% truth. When he said what he text me and, and said to me, because we do have a relationship. I love that brother. That's my dog. And I feel the same way about Carmelo Anthony. We all go back years and I love them both. So I really appreciated the conversation that they had and I appreciate the perspective they both provided because for the most part, it was pretty spot on. Couple of things that need to be noted. Like Melo said, it's been stewing for years. See, what I've gotten pissed about with this particular subject is that too many people are not touching on the truth. Mellow and D. Wade did. Me and LeBron don't have a relationship. LeBron don't mess with me and I don't mess with him. I respect the hell out of him. He's number two on the list all time. And I didn't always feel this way about him. There are times I didn't like how he treated black media. I'm not talking about myself because I'm on a certain level, and I watched how others got treated, and I didn't like that. But it didn't take away from his unquestionable greatness, his deified status that he has earned as one of the top two or three greatest players in the history of basketball. And I never deviate from that. I've always been kind to his family. I think his wife is the first lady of the NBA class personified. I think his mom is an absolutely wonderful woman. I don't have to talk to Randy much. That's a good brother. Rich Paul and me are pretty damn cool. Rich is good people. So I'm cool with Mav as well and various other people. But me and LeBron, we don't roll like that high. And by. He had much use for me, and I damn sure don't have much use for him. And that was cemented when he did what he did the other day, because you rolled up on me knowing that I wouldn't have a chance to respond unless I was willing to make a scene, which was at courtside while the national televisions were rolling on the day that my new contract had been announced to the world. But it doesn't stop me from being fair. It's not going to stop me from doing my job. My issue, which is why I appreciated where Melo went, because Melody put it where the goats can get it. We don't have that kind of relationship. So what the hell you use your son for? I'm on your son. That's not true. Bronnie James. That is not true. To the James family and all your close confidants and loved ones, that is not true. I have video documentation with me refusing to cover Bronnie never watching him out of respect for the family. Because if Stephen A. Rolls into a gym or an arena and I see him, everyone's gonna ask for my critique of him. And I have been on the record publicly stating that's not fair to that kid because his father is one of the greatest ever, and they're going to judge him harshly, and I didn't want to be a part of it. I can look into the camera and look at Bronnie James and say, factually, that is not correct. I have not been shitting on that kid at all. That is factually incorrect. Now, D. Wade says, well, you were talking about him, but you. No, I really wasn't. The reason I say that is because, as Rich Paul pointed Out when he said I could have contextualized it better. It's not foreign to me that a second round pick will come into the NBA and it's not ready yet, and they'll just work hard going to G League, come back and forth and they'll get better, just like Kenyon Martin told me his son did when I was on Gill's arena last week. So that's not foreign to me. I wasn't talking about him. I was talking about his father. And why was I talking about his father? Because not me, but the media, some publicly, many privately, literally labeled it parental abuse that he would say, my son is better than some of these dudes in the league right now. You want me draft my son? It ain't even about the money at this point. I want to play in the league with my son for the year. You did that. That was LeBron James. That was not Stephen A. Smith. I did not do that. So when he came up to me claiming, you on my son, you on my son, I didn't know what he was talking about because I'm the one person who didn't until January 29th. And even then, I don't believe I did it. I pointed out how his thought was very, very bad, but his performance in the G League was good. Let him go there and get himself better. Because you as the dad, put him in this microscopic spotlight, and you're going to subject them to stuff that is going to be too much. That's all I was saying. So we got the Draymond Greens out of the way out there with his damn podcast. For some reason, suddenly forgetting my character and who I am, and he's talking about, yo, it was weak of Stephen A. To say that LeBron was weak or to bring it up as a father. And, oh, by the way, where I'm from, we put hands on you. You sure you should be saying that, Draymond? Sure. I mean, you sure that's the words you want to use? We should be putting hands on somebody. Has that not worked against you? Jordan Poole, Nurkic, Rudy Gobert? I mean, I'm just asking. I'm just asking, is that the smartest thing for you to say? Particularly the one you want to be in this business when it's all over? Is that the smartest thing for you to say? But you go ahead, bro. God bless you. I understand where you rolling now and how you rolling is cool. I got nothing bad to say about Draymond. I still got love for Draymond. My point in all of this is. I would never call out somebody as a father for stuff that's going on in the privacy of your life, in your home. But I covered the NBA. And what I was talking about when it came to fatherhood was what we were seeing on an NBA basketball court. That's my job. That's my job. I'm supposed to ignore that while he's wearing a Lakers uniform, while he's getting money that most people wouldn't get, that he deserves because of LeBron, because LeBron is underpaid. I'm supposed to ignore all of this while you're in the purple and gold, while you win an NBA uniform, while you're receiving an NBA check. When I cover the NBA, that's where I disagreed with Dwyane Wade. When he said, I'm coming at you, I'm like. Because of the Wayne Wade that I know would have picked up. When I was talking about D. Wade, not his son, LeBron tried to say I was talking about his son when he knew good and damn well I was talking about him. We sit here today, it's a week later, and I'm not going to talk about this anymore. But let me say this to y'all. It's a week later. I'm not backing up from a word I said. I was right. I was doing my job. And in the process of doing my job, I wasn't doing my job when I didn't talk about him all of those years. I cover basketball. I don't just cover the NBA. I am a sports broadcaster, which means that it was perfectly within my right to go to Sierra Canyon and cover him, to go to USC and cover him, to go to the G League if I wanted to, and cover him because I cover sports. To get on me otherwise is to get on me for doing my job. So that's where A Draymond is wrong and taught me. Talking about father. Why did I mention father? Because you said my son is better than some of the dudes in the league right now before he got here. And you said, you want me draft my son? At this point, it ain't about the money. I just want to play with him for a year. That's what you said. Which is why a whole bunch of people who ain't Stephen A. Smith, who don't have my microphone, who don't have my platform, was talking about him behind his back and talking about LeBron and what he was doing as a father who happens to be the greatest attraction in the game today. Melo's right. This Wasn't about Bronnie. This was an excuse that LeBron was looking for to get at me, which, by the way, would not have been a problem. We could have met in the back, we could have had a man to man conversation where I had an opportunity to respond and point to him about what he. He did to put his son in this microscopic spotlight that I personally have tried to avoid for three years. But he didn't give me that opportunity. Just like he didn't give me the opportunity when the Shop was on hbo. And Mav came up to me and Rich came up to me and they said, yo, we want you on a Shop. Hell yeah, we want you on the shop. With LeBron, it'll be box office. I said, name the time and place. I show up, I only got one condition. Nothing gets edited out. Nothing. Let me go. He's so right. He's so righteous. Let's do it. His show, not mine. Don't come on first take. I ain't helping his ratings. Don't come on his YouTube shorts, pockets. Nah, I ain't helping his numbers. I come on your show, we know it'll help numbers. At the very least, we know I could do that. Nobody was hiding crickets. Never heard from them since. And I know that ain't their fault, because I know Mav will put me on in a heartbeat. Rich, Paul and and the rest of the crew, all of them, in a heartbeat. I'd show up by my damn self. Or I show up with my own boys and we could all bring facts to the table. But I was never taken up on that offer. You see, I don't run and hide. If I'm wrong, I'll say I'm wrong. If I'm right, I'm right. I was never shitting on Bronny James. I wouldn't do that to the James family. I was talking about one person and one person only. We may never speak in life again. I'm fine with it. I get paid to talk about folks, not to them. I cover the league, you play. I watch, dissect, analyze and broadcast. We ain't gotta communicate. We damn sure don't have to say hello to each other. We don't have to do none of that. We don't get along. And there's a multitude of reasons why. I've alluded to some of them. But we know what the biggest reason is. I ain't Shannon Sharp. It ain't goat status this way. My goat is Michael Jordan. 35, 000 points. Eclipse and Kareem Abdul Jabbar with over 38, 000. Ultimately 40 000. Now 50, 000. Another all star appearance, another 50 points point game, whatever. Ain't my goat. I watch the game. I'm a student of the game. I know a goat when I see one. And he is a goat of this generation. But all time it's Michael Jordan. That's who the hell it is. That's the goat. You see, Kobe came into the game with a heart. LeBron developed one first several years it wasn't like that because he was scared to get through the free throw line. He was never scared of an opponent. I would never disrespect greatness of LeBron James like that. He was scared to get to the free throw line. That's where the fallaway jumpers came from. That was where the hesitancy to get to the go to the hole came from. Anything that could finally lend himself towards going to the free throw line, he wasn't trying to do. But there's this thing about heart that you got to pay attention to. You see, when you lack a speck of it at any point, particularly back in the day, there would be impediments and roadblocks to prevent you from getting it. Why do I call Michael Jordan the GOAT over LeBron James? Because at his very best compared to LeBron, at his very best, I'm going MJ all day, every day. But here's the biggest thing. It was Scottie Pippen with the migraine and others associated with LeBron with Michael Jordan that prevented him from climbing that ladder over the Detroit Pistons until the third or fourth or fifth try. Whenever it was, it wasn't because of mj. And I'm telling you here right now, as God is my witness, LeBron is great and phenomenal as he is. If he were playing in that era, as I've said on many occasions, and he gone against Michael Jordan, Michael Jordan would have tried to snatch his heart right out of his chest before he ever arrived to Miami to learn to win with D. Wade and with Pat Raleigh. That's my proclamation. I said it before and I'll say it again. That's why Michael Jordan is my goat. It's just a basketball opinion to me. It's clearly a lot more than LeBron James choking in the finals against the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. Fine. Us getting in an argument about something in black media and fine. The only consistent blemish I've placed on against LeBron James is that he is not the greatest of all time. That's the frustration that's been brewing up, more so than anything else. Bring up Bronny if you want to. Bronny James. I'm going to do my job. Same energy. You mess up, imma mention it. You succeed, I'm going to be there celebrating it. That's what happens in the pros. You got nothing to worry about with me. All the best to you. I wish you nothing but the best. You're a great kid who I believe is going to be in the NBA someday, sooner than later, on a regular, consistent basis. To the James family, my apologies for all of this happening to the Draymond Greens world. I'm sad I hurt your friend or I upset your friend, bro. Evidently, that matters a lot to you. My bad. To the basketball world, I'm Stephen A. Smith, damn it. And I'm gonna cover the sport the way I cover the sport. Ain't nobody changing me on that. I'ma give it to you how you deserve it, good, bad, or indifferent. And that includes LeBron James. Ain't nobody changing. This was not about Bronnie. This was about LeBron. He did all of this with his words and his proclamations and his assertions. He also did it to show that it really does hurt him not to be the goat. Oh, well, that's it for this edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. You feel how you want to feel. I feel how I want to feel. I am going to do my my damn job. That's the way it is. Y'all have a nice day. Till next time. Peace of love. Foreign.

[Greg Rosenthal]

What'S up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dr. Joy]

Are you hungry? Colleen Witt here and Eating While Broke is back for season four every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network. This season, we've got a legendary lineup serving up broke dishes and even better stories. On the menu. We have Tony Baker, Nick Cannon, Melissa Ford, October London, and Carrie Harper. Howie turning Big Macs into big moves. Catch Eating While Broke every Thursday on the Black effect podcast network iHeartradio app, Apple podcast. Wherever you get your favorite shows, come hungry for season four.