← Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
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- [00:00]
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- [00:29]
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.
- [00:59]
Stephen A. Smith
Did you see Cleveland against Boston last night? I did. Did you see what happened to the Baltimore Ravens this weekend? I did. Did you see people doing the Trump dance? I ain't gonna try to do it, but I saw it. Also saw that news about Oprah Winfrey stuff. I got a whole bunch of stuff on my mind. Whole bunch of stuff to touch about, you know, and why not do it right here on the Stephen A. Smith Show? Come holler at your boy. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the latest edition of the Stephen A. Smith show, coming at you at the very least three times a week over the digital airways of YouTube and of course, iHeartRadio. As always, I'd like to take a moment to just pause and thank my subscribers and followers and listeners because on YouTube and in the digital stratosphere, we've now exceeded 925,000 subscribers. We just continue to climb and climb every single day. Can't thank y'all enough. Couldn't happen without y'all. And of course, We've achieved over 3 million downloads over the last few months or so. So again, the love and support that y'all have been giving the show is only helping it grow. Thank you so much. Keep the love coming and I'm gonna keep on coming to continue to like and follow the show. Just click the bell and you'll get notified of all of our new content for the Stephen A. Smith show and you'll be the latest member of of the Stephen A. Smith show family. And while you're doing that, make sure to grab a copy of my New York Times best selling book, Straight Shooter, a memoir of second Chances and First Takes now in paperback. Just go to straightshooterbook.com once again, that's straightshooterbook.com to get yourself a copy. I hear it's a beautiful, motivating memoir that you can get as a nice Christmas gift. Just a thought. Just a thought. Anyway, before I get into the NBA and the NFL, especially before I get into my man T sizzle, Terrell Suggs, a soon to be first ballot hall of Famer as far as I'm concerned, in the National Football League and you know, before I get into all of that and of course Donald Trump and some of the stuff that's been going on with him in the NFL, I felt obliged to begin with the latest on Sean Diddy Combs, currently sitting in jail awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. P. Diddy Combs and his legal team scored a victory yesterday when the judge overseeing the case said prosecutors are not allowed to use jailhouse notes taken during a raid of his cell. Combs reportedly had 19 pages of handwritten notes for his team and the judge ruled those notes are subject to attorney client privilege. Combs legal team scored another legal victory yesterday when the judge ruled the music mogul can appear in court without shackles around his legs. By the way, Combs is another bail hearing set for this Friday. I think when we see something like that, ladies and gentlemen, it just gives us an indication that you can't rule anything out. He's showing P. Diddy Cones. He's worth over a half a billion dollars. Obviously he can afford the best lawyers. The best legal minds available are available to him. And when you look at something like this, albeit minute in the eyes of some, he's still in jail. Okay? He doesn't appear to be getting out before April or May, something along those lines. And you see something like this, you're like, what's the big deal? So what? He won the case? Well, take this into consideration. If you have law enforcement officials and prosecutors raiding your jail cell to take your private notes because they believe somehow, some way you're making a concerted effort to influence potential witnesses against you. All right? And the judge rules that non admissible and they're not able to use that kind of stuff against you, that's very, very beneficial. Everybody else has to show up in court essentially with shackles on. But he does it. Now. Some people will sit up there and say, okay, again, that's not a big, big victory. But image and perception does matter, even in the court of law.
- [04:50]
Terrell Suggs
Why?
- [04:50]
Stephen A. Smith
Because there's jurors involved. And when you roll up in there looking like a prisoner, that hurts. He still won. Perception doesn't escape reality, but sometimes in the minds of a few, it potentially can. And every time you hear something about P. Diddy, all right, and you hear about his denials and then you see him win one little victory after another, it does beg the question, how much winning is he literally capable of doing against the Southern District of New York and beyond in terms of the cases that are being levied against him? I'm looking at stuff like this and I'm watching it with a fine tooth comb because I want to see how many small victories is he going to accumulate in an effort to ultimately get himself out of jail? Yes, he's in prison right now. He's in jail right now. Okay, Right there in Brooklyn, New York. He doesn't appear to be getting out anytime soon. There is going to be a trial that's taking place this spring. We know all of that. But anytime you've got situations where evidence is considered non admissible and the prosecution can't use it against you, that makes it harder for you to accumulate the level of evidence to get at him about, we heard about the sex trafficking. We saw the video, the damning video where he was beating up his former girlfriend Cassie. We saw all of that. But in the end, when he's sitting there and he talk, everybody bringing up a thousand bottles of baby oil and you know, videotapes of, you know, and freak offs and all of this stuff, keep in mind, P. Diddy, no one heard him say, excuse me, I'm innocent. It never happened to the courts. What they're saying is that it was consensual amongst adults. And because of that, as his lawyers intimated, when I was watching them on, on programs like News Nation or CNN or what have you, what did you hear them say? You might find his behavior reprehensible, you might find it disgusting, you might find it a lot of things. The word we're concerned about is whether or not it was legal. And if it was legal, meaning consensual, non forced, then all of a sudden it gives you a reason to believe there's a possibility he could get off. Now, I'm not casting aspersions or any kind of judgment on anything involving P. Diddy outside of that video. That video, that's evidence. We all saw that. And there's a discussion to be had about the statute of limitation on such a violent act against another human being, particularly a defenseless woman who happened to be his girlfriend. That is non debatable. We saw what we saw. Everything else. Everything else speculative. They got their case. He'll have an opportunity through his defense lawyers to present his. At which time we'll be able to judge. A lot of times we're sitting back and we're assuming because somebody's in jail they're automatically guilty even before the trial took place. Diddy is saying something else. He's saying, hell no, he's not going out like that. He's not guilty. And when we see stuff like this happening, what other small victories will his defense team accumulate? That begs a legitimate question that I just asked. It is important to point out this is far from over and it's far from determined, no matter the tsunami of allegations and headlines that have rained down upon him. Just a thought, y'all. Just a thought. Now let's get to the NBA where the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers met the Boston Celtics last night and oh, look now, but the Lakers are just a half game out of the top spot in the Western Conference. Joining me now to break down the latest headlines around the league is my colleague at espn, senior NBA reporter and writer for espn. An insider as well does a phenomenal job at my day job. Espn, the one and only Brian Wintour is with yours truly at this moment in time. What's going on, Brian?
- [09:12]
Brian Windhorst
Everything's good, man. I was in the crypto.com arena last night and the vibes around the Lakers are good. I'll just leave it at that.
- [09:19]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, it should be good if I got, if I drafted a Rookie with the 17th overall pick and I'm JJ Redick, the new rookie head coach who was a sharpshooter in college and the pros. And I see a guy like this kid connect, connecting on 37 points courtesy of nine threes. I'm very, very happy with my prospects. Talk to me about how the Lakers look now compared to how they looked last year. What are your thoughts about them?
- [09:44]
Brian Windhorst
Well, the thing about it is, you know, this what, what's confronting J.J. redick is the same thing that was confronting Darvin Ham. He doesn't have a good defensive team. It's essentially the same roster with the exception of of Dalton connect and that difference has made a real difference. So basically what Dalton connects ascension has meant and I mean into the starting lineup not just to be a viable, you know, you know, offensive option is that now JJ Redick can play Cam Reddish who is a defensive first player next to Dalton Connect and you can get a much more well balanced perimeter. And that's what's happening right now in this six game win streak with the Lakers have done. They've got Cam Reddish out there. He's giving them good defensive minutes. You got Dog Connect out there. You got LeBron James playing a lot of point guard alongside Austin Reeves. LeBron's averaging nine assists a game. He had 12 assists against the Jazz last night. Now you've got really a really much more potent perimeter. They still are 25th defensively. Stephen A. They still got to get better there. There's been an absolute dearth of information on Jared Vanderbilt. They said two weeks ago that there was an update coming. No updates come. I'm sure it's not good news eventually what the hope is he can help them but connect. Look, you were said he's 17th pick, you know and I know we heard for months from these scouts saying that this draft was not very good. One of the worst drafts anybody could ever remember. The 16th pick is Jared McCain out of Duke who went to Philly. He's the leader for rookie of the year. The 17th pick was Dalton Connect. Obviously he's making an impact to the Lakers. Every drafter is good players. It looks like Philly and the Lakers hit in the mid teens.
- [11:24]
Stephen A. Smith
I love Connect and I love them. If you remember we were talking about it and I love the pick from day one because I watched him during the NCAA tournament playing for Tennessee. I said this brother's big time. I like him, he's got a lot of potential. And I thought the Lakers were the perfect landing spot for him because of his ability to shoot the basketball and how they struggled with that last year. I also like the idea of him being in the lineup because guess what, not only is he's going to make shots but if he compromises you to some degree defensively, but you sacrifice it because of what he brings offensively, well it ain't like D'Angelo Russell's giving you much defense or whatever. So I don't mind it at all. And can Reddish by the way can shoot. I don't. I don't understand why he isn't an even better shooter in the NBA. When considering coming out of Duke, there was speculation that he could be somebody at 6869 who could shoot the basketball. Having said all of that, looking at the Western Conference, I watched OKC lose to San Antonio last night without Wembiana. Chris Paul Played a sensational game from a leadership perspective, had a double double. But I'm looking at the rest of the Western Conference right now. Nobody's really standing out. So in light of that, how much of a chance are you giving the Lakers at this moment in time to make some noise within the Western Conference?
- [12:26]
Brian Windhorst
Well, look there, right there, number three. And you know, that was a stunning loss for the Thunder because Devin Vassell was also out of that game for the Spurs. Basically the spurs best two players, I mean, Chris Paul on an any Nike might be there, but the thing about the west is you got to bring it every night. That's one of the things when I talk to folks in the league right now, they're just like, I can't believe how easy the east is and how brutal the west is. You know, I've been doing this over 20 years, Stephen. You've been doing it even longer than that. I've never seen the imbalance this bad. Where, you know, Philadelphia is bad as they are, they can look themselves in the mirror and say, we have two good weeks. We can be in seventh place, sixth place and mean it. And where if you in the west have two bad weeks, you can lose ground. It might take you two months to make up, if you're lucky. And so the Lakers have hit a bit of a soft portion of schedule. They've been awesome at home, which is great. You know, you win your home games, they get another home game later this week against the Magic, and that the balance will be eight home games, five road games. So you know they're about to go on the road, but they've hit a portion of schedule they can handle. They had New Orleans, they had San Antonio, they get Utah, but they won all those games. You got to put those kind of wins together in the West. Like, I know that this sounds crazy. When you play the Jazz, that now becomes a must win game in the West. And I don't say must win, because if you lose it, there's consequences. But when you play, there's only a couple teams in the west that aren't really competitive. You have to pound those teams. When you face the New Orleans Pelicans when they're missing four or five guys, you have to win that game because there's going to be other games where you may play great. You run into a bussaw and you lose. So, you know, and none of. We haven't even mentioned Anthony Davis yet. The reason the Lakers are VP candidate.
- [14:06]
Stephen A. Smith
League MVP without question.
- [14:08]
Brian Windhorst
And look, this is what you've been calling for, for years. You wanted AD to bring it every night. You wanted AD to show vision offensively. You wanted him to, to play like an MVP. The dude is averaging 30 and 10.
- [14:21]
Stephen A. Smith
Yes, he is.
- [14:21]
Brian Windhorst
And he's bringing it every night. And that's the, I mean the ancillary pieces are what make the Lakers go from like a sixth or seventh place team to a third place team. But I think none of it matters unless you got AD playing this way. AD Playing this way is a difference making entity in the NBA right now.
- [14:38]
Stephen A. Smith
You know, I look at that, you're absolutely right. Right now he is arguably the leading candidate for league MVP because he's been that sensational. Can't take anything away from him. As we scour the West. Before I go to the Eastern Conference, Dallas is the reigning Western Conference champions. They've got Klay Thompson, but they've, they've been up and down, up and down. We know that Oklahoma City, I'm not worried them, Wendy, because they were playing without Chet Holmgren, obviously and Isaiah Hartenstein. He's not there because he got injured before the season even began with those two there. I think that Oklahoma City is going to be a monster to beat. The other team I'm looking at is Phoenix because Kevin Durant has been out. When he was there, they were looking good. We'll see what we get from them. I guess the question for me is the Golden State warriors because they're right up there right now. They've gotten off to a strong start. Just ignore the blowout loss to Cleveland when they were down by 40 in the first half. But nevertheless, once again, Draymond Green is a story because of him holding onto the leg of rookie Zach Edie. Obviously their coach had a problem with that. Draymond spoke out against him, accusing him of being too emotional. What are we to make of this latest incident with Draymond Green?
- [15:44]
Brian Windhorst
Draymond Green is an amazing character, Stephen A. I, I actually am looking forward to the day when Draymond is in the media. I would love, I can't wait to do a show and a panel with Draymond. I would love for the three of us, let's do it on first take. Like let's set it up because he is so smart, he is so fascinating. I so much enjoy his viewpoint of the game and he's willing to be so honest. And then when it comes to his own weaknesses like this, he's just not honest. It's. It's kind of crazy. I guess it's sort of the. At the athlete thing. The guy is absolutely a difference making player. His intelligence and not only that, you look at the condition that he is in. Yes, he has extended his career because in season so much better shape than he was seven, eight years ago.
- [16:30]
Stephen A. Smith
He's a future hall of Famer. He's a future hall of Famer without question.
- [16:32]
Brian Windhorst
Without question, without question. And. And he's really a testament to somebody who can, you know, he wasn't gifted with, great at. With. With. With. You know, he wasn't gifted with like the body of so many other players. He's had to work to make his body this way and he's done it. There's so many things about Draymond that are amazing, but he's got this long litany of losing his mind and making dirty plays. And this is it. This is a dirty play. This is a dirty play. However you want to rack it up. He's got so many of these moments in his career and in so many of these moments he defends it. And in many of these cases his team defends it. Like I'll point out, the night that he choked Rudy Gobert, the Warriors defended him. Now after 24 hours they got their senses and realized that wasn't what they needed to do. But like, this is why I can't wait to be on his. On a set with Draymond Stephen A. Because I think it's potentially tremendous conversation without question. And I think he playing with. I think being his teammate is kind of like that. Like 90 some percent of the time it's going to be amazing. And 5% of the time things are going to get wild and could get uncomfortable.
- [17:36]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, here's the deal. He admits he cost them a championship in 2016 because he got suspended after Adam Silva gave them that stimulus package gave LeBron and that stimulus package suspended Draymond Green because they would have won, they would have beat him. They would have beat him in five because they had gone up three one in that game and that game four was in Cleveland. They were going back to the Oracle for game five. They'd have closed them out then, but they suspended him. And then Iguodala and Boga got hurt in the same game. And then they went seven games and LeBron James won the championship. Don't get me started with that. But also one could easily argue that last year he caused a the Golden State warriors of playoff birth. They're 28 and 15 with them fifth best record in the league. Okay, but they are game under five, three games under 500 with Adam. He cost them a playoff berth. So now I'm looking at it. The other day, I thought the flag. The upgrade to flagrant one was the right call. I thought he could have easily been ejected from that game. That would have been the right call. But I didn't go as far as Kendrick Perkins did, where he said that Draymond should have been suspended for several games. Wendy, how you feel about that?
- [18:35]
Brian Windhorst
No, I don't think so. I think if he had been called for a flagrant two in that game, it would have been upheld on review. So he didn't get called for, you know, he didn't get called for a flagrant at all. They upgraded it to a flagrant one, as you said, the next day. Let's just put it that way. If the referee had seen the low angle, which we've all. We've all seen, where he. He pinches his leg and trips him up, the referee would have called the flagrant two. And let's put it this way, if they went to Secaucus in the replay center, they wouldn't have overturned that referee didn't make that call. They kind of got lucky. Draymond can say whatever he wants, but as. As authentic and as appreciative as I am of his intelligence and how loquacious he is when he talks about the game, and I appreciate so much his willingness as an active player to discuss games that he's playing in at. In real time, which I think is unique. You know, he just has a blind spot when he talks about his own dirty plays.
- [19:28]
Terrell Suggs
He.
- [19:29]
Brian Windhorst
He can't come to a point where he can say, this was a dirty play. This is a dirty play. And, you know, is it suspension worthy?
- [19:36]
Stephen A. Smith
No.
- [19:37]
Brian Windhorst
Is it in the top five of his dirty plays all time? No, it was still a dirty play. But the warriors are in the middle of a grand experiment right now. Stephen a. They're playing 12 or 13 guys, and they've had some injuries, so sometimes it's, you know, a little bit less. They believe that they can play this way and win at the highest level. We've never seen a team play this way and win at the highest level. I always go with the Pat Riley line. I don't know if he stole it from somebod else, but Pat Riley famously said to me, when the games matter, you play eight and trust seven. And frankly, when they really, really matter, sometimes you play seven and trust five, sometimes you trust four. And so they're. What they're betting on is that they can Play this huge lineup with high intensity and it can work. Or do they get to January and say, you know, we're good but not great. Do we need to cash in some of these players? And that's what things were. One of the big things we're watching in the NBA right now.
- [20:27]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, Wendy, I'm going to let you get off the hook because I got a few other questions to get to and we're running out time, but I want to let you know I'm not going to let you get away with it. For future references where we're going to talk with one another, how you're pouring out, how Steve Kerr is managing to play 12 or 13 guys but couldn't play more than 10 in the Olympics. I'm going to let that slide right now.
- [20:46]
Brian Windhorst
I'm going to let it slide that the NBA is not the Olympics.
- [20:49]
Stephen A. Smith
I understand that. It's 40. It's eight more minutes. It's eight more minutes, man. Don't you, don't you get me started with that.
- [20:53]
Brian Windhorst
And it's single elimination.
- [20:54]
Stephen A. Smith
I know, a single elimination. There you go. I knew you would say that. I knew you would say that. But I'm going to let it go because I got to transfer to the Eastern Conference because Joel Embiid is making news. Joel Embiid obviously took hits, had a local columnist in Philadelphia, Marcus Hayes, the Philadelphia Inquirer. I thought he crossed the line when he brought up his deceased brother and obviously his son to make a point about a critique he was throwing in Joel Embiid's direction. I thought that was crossing the line. But in the same breath that I called Marcus Hayes out for that, I also acknowledged that as a columnist. Take that aside and everything else he had said about Joel Embiid is inbounds, whether you agree or disagree. As a columnist. He has a license to editorialize an opon and give his opinion and that was his opinion. I think he was buffered today to some degree or last night rather, when news came out by Shams Sharania. I knew NBA insider extraordinaire that Tyrese Maxey during a team meeting called out Joel Embiid for his tardiness and how it was affecting, affecting the team. When you saw that story, what were your, what was your reaction? What were your thoughts?
- [21:58]
Brian Windhorst
I saw a team that absolutely surrendered in back to back second half. They had played in Orlando. Orlando had been hot. Or as we talk about this right now, that Orlando's on a six game win streak. They were up by 10 in that game. And they totally surrendered in the second half. They were up by 19 on Miami and they surrendered in the second half. They got outscored by 30 over the last two and a half quarters. When I see a team surrender like that, I do think there's an issue with the spirit and there needs to be a discussion. So the fact they had a team meeting, I think was appropriate. Whatever gets said in that team meeting, you know, if it's, you know, things that we're not going to see like a player showing up late for something and holding each other accountable, I think that's good. But I don't think it goes to the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is that Joel Embiid doesn't look good on the court at all. He looks terrible. And it's not just him, by the way. Paul George is having a poor start to the season coming off that knee injury he had. Kyle Lowry isn't playing very well. Andre Drummond, who they really thought was going to be like a buffer for when indeed couldn't play, he hasn't played very well. Eric Gordon has shot some of the worst of his career. And other free agents they brought in. It's not just Embiid, but Embiid's the biggest defender. And Stephen A. This is one of the big things. Joel Embiid played limited minutes in the, in the, in the Olympics, but he looked good. There were times where his matchup wasn't that great, but he was a contributor to the King USA winning the gold medal. And that was in mid August. And then in mid September, the 76ers gave him a 3 or 190 million dollar contract. If there was an injury that happened in there, they don't give him the contract. I don't think at least a major injury. And then all of a sudden you look at the guy and he can't move. Yeah, like to me, like all everything else is secondary. The fact that he can't move. Last year when Joel Embiid got the ball in the triple threat position, dribble pass or shoot, you were in big time trouble because he could make that shot. He could put the ball on the court and get to the foul line or get to the basket and he could distribute. The guy was averaging more points than minutes played. It was first time since Wilt Chamberlain, anybody did that. Right now he can't even get to the foul line. Yeah, no. No free throws for the second time in his career the other night. So whatever Maxi and other people are doing to keep him accountable that's all I think healthy, and I think it happens with almost all teams. The health thing is what we're really talking about.
- [24:12]
Stephen A. Smith
And I got to tell you this why I've completely removed the 76ers from the mix. And it's not just because they're 2 and 11. It's because of what you said. And here's why I say this to you. When we look at the Boston Celtics, the reigning defending NBA champions, they're playing without Porzingis, and they're the second best team in the Eastern Conference. Why? Because they got two stars that are young thoroughbreds, 28 and 20 and soon to be 27 years of age, respectively, in Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum. You look at the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were undefeated at 15 and oh coming into last night's game, you got Mobley, you got Jarrett Allen, you got Darius Garland, you got Donovan Mitchell. Donovan Mitchell is like a senior citizen on the squad compared to most of the roster. So you got young cats who know how to move and run. How do you offset what a Joel Embiid or Paul George, at their best, could potentially run at you? By moving, running and having fresh young legs.
- [25:07]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah, and that's the thing. Like, if you're looking at a team like Milwaukee, who's struggling, you're looking at a team like Philly, who's struggling. The big difference is that Giannis is balling. Giannis is averaging 31 12. And so you say, well, okay, if they, if they're, they're supporting cast picks up or whatever, you've got the best player playing at MVP level. If Joel ain't playing at MVP level, the rest of the supporting cast doesn't matter.
- [25:29]
Stephen A. Smith
With that being said, how legitimate of a threat do you believe the Cleveland Cavaliers are? Kendrick Perkins had that as a top two team in the NBA. I think that's going a bit too far, but they are up there.
- [25:40]
Brian Windhorst
I saw what he said on first take and I almost thought he misspoke. I saw Perk later in the day. I said, hey, did you. Did you mean what you said exactly that? He goes, no, I said what I said. So I think the Cavs actually had a really impressive performance in Boston. They were missing four players. Three of them were key defensive perimeter players. Boston had their best three point shooting half in the first half in 25 years. The Cavs obviously had trouble with, with what Boston was doing defensively. And there's going to be some things that they're going to learn from that. The Cavs were on the road and the game came down to the last minute. I think if you, if this had been a Game 1 of a playoff series and the series was over, you would come out of this saying, this is going to be a long series. And so I say they play again December 1st. They could play again in the NBA Cup. They play two more times on the schedule after that. And we could see him playing in the spring. And while I would favor Boston to win, I think it would be a long series. And you know, in a long series, anything can happen.
- [26:38]
Stephen A. Smith
When I look at Cleveland also, I got to tell you what something else that's on my mind. Just a couple of questions before I let you get on out of here. Number one, even though it might be a bit presumptuous because he did depart from Brooklyn, go to the Golden State warriors as assistant coach, obviously learned a lot under Steve Kerr before coming and taking this head coaching job in Cleveland. Kenny Atkinson's performance as head coach in Cleveland, there's a clear discrepancy between him and JB Bickerstaff from last year. There is no doubt about that. And also it has me fantasizing to some degree or reflecting on what would the Brooklyn Nets, with Kevin Durant healthy and Kyrie Irvin healthy, have been with Kenny Atkinson as their coach instead of Steve Nash, who now had no head coaching experience whatsoever? Do you find yourself thinking about that?
- [27:26]
Brian Windhorst
I hadn't until now. But, you know, the James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving failure is what I have called a basketball tragedy. It's not a real life tragedy. It's not life and death. But from a basketball standpoint, those three guys getting together on the same team in one of the major markets should have produced championships, multiple at least one. And the fact that not only did they not, but they were largely a failure because they couldn't even play together or get along or whatever is a basketball tragedy. And when you add that layer to it, it certainly adds to that.
- [28:04]
Stephen A. Smith
My New York Knicks, I saved them for last. What am I to make of them now that I'm seeing Cleveland looking the way it's looking and knowing who Boston is? And that's without poor Zingis knowing he's coming back before the playoffs?
- [28:16]
Brian Windhorst
I think the Knicks were always destined to have their best shot at this in the 2526 season because they hollowed out their team to put these guys on it. And they just need to build out some support players. Obviously, they need more depth at Big Man. They need to rely less on Karl Towns as their Five man. And that'll help with Mitchell Robinson. But they also need more ball handlers. You know, when, when, when they, when they've done that trade, they took the ball hand away and now Jalen Brunson has to work a lot harder. You know, when you talk to scouts, they'll say Jalen Brunson is playing the same number of minutes, but he looks more tired at the end of the game. It's because he's got to do all the ball handling and they're pressuring him full court. They're trying to tire him out. They need some more supporting players. That said, I think they're going to be right there at the end. I think they'll be a top four seed. They've got a top five offense in the league, which is what they wanted when they made this town straight. Their defense isn't where it needs to be. So I say give them two transaction cycles, give them the trade deadline and give them next summer and see where they are next year. By the way, I'm not sure the Celtics can keep this team together. I'm not sure the Cavs can keep this team together. I'm not sure what's going to happen in Milwaukee. I'm not sure what's going to happen in Philly. New York's got all their star players locked in, so it's a window. It's not just in 20, 24, 25, you know, you know, make sure you, you know, respect the window.
- [29:35]
Stephen A. Smith
They've got no regrets whatsoever with the Knicks giving up five first round picks from Bridges or giving up both Randall and Divincenzo for call Anthony Towns.
- [29:43]
Brian Windhorst
Here's my view on the Bridges trade. You can't look at the Bridges trade as just a Bridges trade. You have to look at it as the Bridges trade and the fact that Jalen Brunson signed a contract that was nine figures below what he could have gotten. And if you look at the Bridges trade brought Jalen Brunson to do that agreement, it has a totally different view on.
- [30:02]
Stephen A. Smith
That's true.
- [30:03]
Brian Windhorst
And the Towns trade was a risk, but in all honesty, I'm not so sure they could have gotten a better player for Julius Randle. Maybe they could have got players that fit better and contributed better to now, but in terms of overall talent, I think they did well. They just need to build out their roster more.
- [30:19]
Stephen A. Smith
Brian Wentos, always appreciate you, brother. I know you got work to do with NBA today and beyond. Keep up the great work, man. We talking to you soon.
- [30:25]
Brian Windhorst
Have a great day.
- [30:26]
Stephen A. Smith
See you soon. Wow. My Knicks. My Knicks. I'm gonna try to hang on there, ladies and gentlemen. That last part that he talked about how you can't look at bridges in just the five picks. Look at the fact that it provoked Jalen Brunson to take nine figures less than what he could have demanded. That means you could have some money down the line to spend other places to build those supplementary parks so the Knicks can finally win a championship. Because that's where I'm interested in. It's what I'm interested in. Just to be clear. Just to be clear. Coming up, the NFL says it won't find players for doing the Donald Trump dance. I'll get into that and some other political headlines that are mixed in with sports. You'll see where I'm going when I get there. But first, he was a dominant force in the Ravens defense alongside Ray Lewis and the one and only Ed Reid. Now he's up for hall of Fame consideration. We'll talk to T Sizzle himself, the man known as Terrell Suggs as well, next right here on the Stephen Smith Show. Back with more in a minute. Okay, everybody, you know what time it is, right? It's time for Stephen A. Sports picks. Do you know how great this time of year is for me? I mean, we got the NFL on Sundays and Mondays, we got college football on Saturdays, and then we got NBA games every day in between. It couldn't possibly get any better. Or could it get ready, because it's about to with prize picks, the largest fantasy sports platform in all over the land with over 3 million members. Okay, you see, with prize Picks, you choose two, three, or even up to six of your favorite players from any of the sports you love to watch. And then you pick more or less on that player's projected stats for the game. Choose Patrick Mahomes, Travis Hunter, and Jayson Tatum all in the same entry. And then sit back, watch and chill and get this. Sign up with code, SAS and Prizefix will give you $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. You don't need to win your lineup to receive the $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. All you have to do is play a $5 lineup on prospects and you'll get $50 instantly. Now, let's see the winning picks for today. I'll be picking for tomorrow's Thursday night football game with my Pittsburgh Steelers battling the Cleveland Browns. First up, Steelers receiver George Pickens. Going up against the Cleveland secondary. More or less than 56 and a half yards receiving is George Pickens. Have you seen how the brother has looked since Russell Wilson has become the starting quarterback? Please. The answer to this question is easily more, more, more, more. It's George Pickens being connected from Russell Wilson. Okay, who throws the deep ball a little bit better than Justin Fields does. We gonna go with more on this one. Next up, Pittsburgh running back Najee Harris facing the Browns defense more or less than 68 and a half rushing yards. I respect Cleveland's defense, but I'm still going with Moore as the answer to this question as well. Because I like the fact that Najee Harris has been playing well. I like the fact that he's doing so approaching a contract year and I like the fact that he's done so as well because you got to consider he's feeding off of that cat Jaylen Warren, who's been in the backfield with him when Jaylen Warren has been hurt. The 6. The Steelers are winless when he has been in the lineup. They're 8 and O. This is what this brother brings to the table. Okay, so I got to pay attention to that. We're going to go with more on this question as well. Next up, Cleveland star back Nick Chubb was out last year some of this year before coming back more or less than 52 and a half yards rushing. I'm going to go with more on this one as well. I know that he's going up against the Steelers defense, but 52 and a half yards is really not that much for Nick Chubb. Nick Chubb can ball. Okay. Jameis Swiss is going to be back there flinging the football. You can get into play action as well. You got to take those things into consideration. I think he'll have an opportunity to get more than 52 and a half yards rushing. It might not be much more, but he'll get at least that much. I'm going to go with more as the answer to this question for Nick Chubb as well. And last but not least, Browns wide receiver Cedric Tillman facing the Steelers defense more or less than 44 and a half yards receiving. I'm going to go with more as well because Jameis Winston is going to be flinging the football now. He's going to throw a couple of interceptions now. I'm predicting that it's going to be a bit uncomfortable with him. I'm predicting that it's going to Steelers defense going to get at him. It's going to get to him. I'm predicting that as well. But it ain't going to stop him from accumulating more than 44 and a half receiving yards. Okay, so I'm going with more. Just to recap. George Pickens, Nick Chubb, Najee Harris, Cedric Tillman, More across the board. But when you're talking about prospects, ain't that the word you want to hear most?
- [34:46]
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- [35:15]
Hunter
Of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite sized stories of missing and murdered Black women and girls in America. There are several ways we can all do better at protecting black women. My contribution is shining a light on our missing sisters and amplifying their disregarded stories. Stories like Tameka Anderson. As she drove toward Galvez, she was in contact with several people talking on the phone as she made her way to what should have been a routine transaction. But Tameka never bought the car and she never returned home that day. One Podcast, One Mission Save Our Girls Join the search as we explore the chilling cases of missing and murdered Black women and girls. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [36:21]
Stephen A. Smith
Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith Show. My next guest is a seven time NFL Pro Bowler and a two time super bowl champion who played for the Baltimore Ravens for 616 of his 17 seasons. Obviously before moving on to the Cardinals and the Chiefs. He was considered one of the most menacing defenders of his era and a key part of the Ravens dominant defense for so many years, finishing his career with 139 sacks, ranking eighth in NFL history. The one and only T Sizzle Terrell Suggs in the house. What's up big time? How you doing man? How's everything? Long time no see.
- [36:52]
Terrell Suggs
What's up Stephen. A long time no see, man.
- [36:55]
Stephen A. Smith
It's good to see you bro. You're looking good. Look like you're taking care of yourself in the whole bid and obviously, obviously you're a nominee for the hall of Fame. How are you feeling about that right now? You hear those words you the hall of Fame. Obviously everybody expects you to be a first ballot hall of Famer. What are your thoughts, man?
- [37:12]
Terrell Suggs
Man, I try not to think about it because it's giving me so much anxiety, you know what I'm saying? Jo got in on his first chance, Ray got in on his first chance, Ed got in on his first chance, and now me and Marshall up. So it's very flattering, man, but it's. I ain't gonna lie, I'm feeling real anxious. Like last year when I retired four years ago is not on your mind until you're actually on the list. And now, you know, I mean, the pressure is being the first ballot. I hope I, you know, I mean, I think I got the resume. I feel like, to be first ballot, but you never know what the voters are thinking. Like, I still live with the the TO thing, you know what I mean? Yo, he had the numbers to right? You know, Carol Owens is definitely a first ballot hall of Famer, but it took him three times to get in. And, you know, I mean, I'm living with that kind of like fear, you know, I mean, I just. You just want to get in. You don't want to be waiting, you.
- [38:12]
Stephen A. Smith
Know, Let me say this to you, and certainly me and Tio have had our differences and what have you, but make no mistake about it, he deserved to be a first ballot hall of Famer. It should have never been a second or a third ballot. It was people hating on him and using stuff out off the field in terms of his personality. I want to hear all of that stuff. That brother's one of the top three receivers in the history of the National Football League statistically, and he never should have gone past the first ballot. It's that simple. I could say the same for you in this regard. Just so you know, I don't know if you know this or not about yourself. I'm looking at the NFL's all time sack leaders, okay? Bruce Smith, Reggie White, Kevin Green, Julius Peppers, Chris Dohman, Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor, you, DeMarcus Ware and Richard Dent and John Randall tied, okay? All of them are in the hall of Fame. Every one of them, okay? Every one of them. So ain't no way in hell you ain't going into the hall of Fame. And oh, by the way, DeMarcus Ware, Richard Dent and John Randle all have less sacks than you. So you're definitely going to the hall of Fame.
- [39:11]
Terrell Suggs
And less rings.
- [39:12]
Stephen A. Smith
That's right. And less rings. And less rings. Because you got two. Here's what I would ask you when you say Anxiety. Why does it mean so much to a player to ultimately be a Hall of Famer? Just put it in perspective. A lot of us who don't play think we know the obvious answer, but you give it to us. Why does it mean so much?
- [39:32]
Terrell Suggs
I think it's a, it's the, it's the pinnacle of appreciation, you know what I'm saying? You, you get kind of football immortality being a part of a champ championship team, but your family, you know, I mean, your legacy kind. Football immortality by getting inducted into the hall of Fame. And like I said, you know, I mean, my, A lot of my constituents, a lot of my brothers, my teammates, they made it on their first ballot. They made it on their first time in. I played with those guys. And you, if you want to. I want to. Like, at this point, being a Hall of Famer just wouldn't be enough for me. It's like I, I really got my heart on saying, set on being the first ballot, first ballot hall of Famer, just like my brothers before me. You know what I'm saying? And you know, it's a big shout out to Ozzy Newsome, right? Yeah. He should probably be the first person to go in the hall of Fame twice a player and as a gm, you know what I'm saying? Because Ozzy's, you know, I mean, reputation, I mean, his resume speaks for itself. Football wise and GM wise, like he very seldom ever misses. And you know, his last draft, he drafted Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews. So, you know what I mean, there's nothing to say.
- [40:54]
Stephen A. Smith
And by the way, just like, just a reminder to the audience, you were in the Ravens. You were inducted into the Ravens ring of honor in 2023. That meant the world to you. Okay? And, oh, by the way, just another statistic you might not even remember about yourself. Do you know that you played in all six 16 games in the NFL season when there was a 16 game NFL season? You played in all 16 games 12 times and you played in 15 games. And you played in 15 of the 16 games two additional times. So of your 17 years in the National Football League, 14 of those years, you never missed more than one game. 12 of those years, you didn't miss a single game. Did you know that about yourself?
- [41:29]
Terrell Suggs
I did not know that. But that goes to show you about that Raven DNA. To be a Raven, you have to love football. And you can't just love football when the lights is on, you know what I mean? You gotta love football when you're not playing, when you're at Home or even taking care of your body, getting treatment, you know what I'm saying? And being in that locker room, being in that organization, that's one of the things that if you don't pick up on, you're not going to be successful there. You have to love football to be a Raven. And I just loved football, man. I loved football. I loved practicing. You can ask anybody. I had the most fun at practice. I probably had more fun at practice than I did at the games, you know what I'm saying? So it was just, you gotta love football, man, to be a Raven.
- [42:16]
Stephen A. Smith
All right, so you know who you talking to. And based on what you saying, you know where I'm about to go. Considering what you just said, what the hell is wrong with your Ravens now? I mean, what the. I mean, I mean, I'm talking about this defense. I'm not talking about the offense, because we know it was an aberration of Pittsburgh State, Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and those. They gonna do what they do. Okay? We understand that. What's up with this Ravens defense? I. I don't even recognize him, bro. I don't even recognize it.
- [42:41]
Terrell Suggs
We've had a lot of. We had a lot of changes on defense, you know what I'm saying? We. Losing Patrick Clean was big. Losing Gino. Gino Stone was big. You know what I'm saying? Losing. And Jadevion clowning, you know what I'm saying?
- [42:57]
Stephen A. Smith
Okay.
- [42:57]
Terrell Suggs
You know, the young kid coming on now. Oh, wait, you know, I mean, I love what I seen last week, you know what I'm saying? I think the biggest thing we. We definitely need, you know, Marlin's getting up there in age, but he's still Marlin. Yeah, he's still Marlon Humphrey. So I think we need another lockdown corner. Just, you know, I mean, not taking away from Brandon Stevens. And, you know, the young guy, Nate Williams, he's coming, you know what I'm saying? He's still a rookie, you know what I'm saying? And also, you know, this is that Gord's first time calling plays. And one thing about football fans in general is that they're not patient. They want to fix now, you know what I'm saying? Zach's first time, you know, calling plays, and I just hope, you know, hard, kind of give him a chance to fix it. Like, work it out. Like everybody, you know, shout out to Mike McDonald, you know what I'm saying? You know, he called. He was an excellent defensive coordinator for us last year. Ended up getting a head coaching job.
- [43:50]
Stephen A. Smith
Seattle.
- [43:51]
Terrell Suggs
But he was also. He'd been in the system kind of. He'd been there when he was there with us, when I was there, you know what I mean? So he kind of had a feel of how to kind of call plays, you know, I mean, under the mentorship, I think he evidently knew he was going to be a coordinator and eventually aspired to be a head coach. I think Zach, you know, he, his road, his role started a little different. He was a player first. And gradually, you know, I love that Zach's the defensive coordinator. And yes, I want to see a Raven dominant defense, what we're accustomed to seeing over there, but I also know that there's a lot more going on than what you and I are watching on tv, and they still got time to get it fixed. And what I would say, okay, when we won the Super bowl in 2012, that wasn't our most dominant defense.
- [44:43]
Stephen A. Smith
No, it wasn't.
- [44:44]
Terrell Suggs
You know what I'm saying? That wasn't like, what was it? So I don't think the fans need to like, oh, our defense, so we don't got a chance. Like, we still have to. When we won it, we wasn't. That wasn't our best defense.
- [44:55]
Stephen A. Smith
I would say this to you, though. I would say this to you, though. T sizzle Patrick Queen. How the hell y'all let him, a Raven, become a Steeler? I mean, I, I, that's not the Raven, that's not the Ravens organization that I would know. So I'm not, I'm not, I'm not going throw that. But that is not. That is not something that's common, bro.
- [45:13]
Terrell Suggs
That is not very common at all. That's not very common at all. I don't know. I don't know. That is a, a Patrick Queen question, you know what I'm saying? But, you know, it wasn't just him, you know what I mean? It, it, we let a lot of people go that I, I think should have never left the building. Remember, we eventually, like, we let the greatest safety ever walk out of the building. Ed Reed, the greatest safety ever, eventually went and played for another team, you know what I'm saying? So I don't think we should have ever let Matt Judon go. I don't think we should have ever let Sedarius go. I don't think we should ever let C.J. mosley go. But it happens. And when stuff like that happens, people have to understand that us as professional athletes, our window is only so big to kind of, like, set us up. And I Think Patrick Queen understood the business side of it? And it was like, all right, I may not. This is the only chance I may get to get a bigger deal. I'm pretty sure they probably approached him about taking less than he was worth to play alongside Roquan, who got the big deal, you know what I'm saying? You know, it's all numbers in business. And, you know, you gotta give Lamar, you know what I mean, tools to win, you know what I mean? You can't spend all your cap on defense, which what we used to do.
- [46:38]
Stephen A. Smith
You know, do you ever find yourself fantasizing about, damn, what would it have been like for us when I was playing and I had Ray Lewis and I had Ed Reed and I had these cats playing if Lamar Jackson was our quarterback when we had that defense? You ever find yourself fantasizing about that?
- [47:01]
Terrell Suggs
I do, I do, but I, I, I, I do. But, you know, I'm also appreciative for the TVs that I had at that time. But to have, you know, MVP Jackson as your quarterback, like, you can't, you can't deny that. Like, dang, can you imagine Lamar when, you know, the Ravens had Haloti and, and Jerry Johnson, you know what I'm saying? Ed Reed, Jim, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, we'd have been in dynasty. Yeah, nine times out of 10, we'd have been in dynasty. But, you know what I mean? You just wonder. All you could do, I mean, is.
- [47:33]
Stephen A. Smith
Just wonder, how do you feel about Lamar Jackson being as great as he is? I throw this stat at you. He is 1 and 4 lifetime now versus the Steelers. He's 1 in 5 straight up against Patrick Mahomes. Against everybody else. T sizzle. He's 65 and 18. Like 70% of his games he's won. The only problems he's had is against Patrick Mahomes and against the Steelers.
- [48:03]
Terrell Suggs
Well, Patrick Mahomes was Patrick Mahomes. And I think, like, majority of those games were in Arrowhead. That is a significant advantage, you know what I'm saying? I think they've only played Kansas City in Baltimore twice, but one of them.
- [48:23]
Stephen A. Smith
Was the AFC Championship game last year. Come on, now.
- [48:27]
Terrell Suggs
Yeah, but that, that wasn't, that wasn't on Lamar. Now. That wasn't on Lamar. It was, it was a lot. It was a lot that happened.
- [48:36]
Stephen A. Smith
That's right. In that game, Fly's gotta hold on to the ball. You gotta run the football more as well. True, true.
- [48:41]
Terrell Suggs
It was a football game, man. And, you know, shout out to the Chiefs, they wouldn't want it. You know what I mean? You got to remember it was a time where, you know, when Harbaugh first got there, we couldn't get past the Steelers, you know what I'm saying? And then we couldn't get past the Patriots. It's just like stepping stones. Not everybody is, you know, Patrick Mahomes that can just come in and have winning records against everybody they playing against, you know what I'm saying? So it was a lot win that game. But, yeah, it's. It's like, all right, it can't just be on Lamar no more. You know what I'm saying? Like, all right, Lamar's one in four, and I think the Steelers are like seven of their last eight against Baltimore or something crazy like that. You know what I mean? Like, that's everybody. That ain't just the quarterback.
- [49:35]
Stephen A. Smith
I got you.
- [49:35]
Terrell Suggs
That's everybody.
- [49:36]
Stephen A. Smith
I got you. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. What do you miss most about playing the locker room?
- [49:44]
Terrell Suggs
I don't miss hitting people. You don't miss.
- [49:46]
Stephen A. Smith
You don't miss hitting people?
- [49:48]
Terrell Suggs
I don't miss hitting people. This body has ran its course. I don't miss hitting people. I miss the locker room, like, just that. The camaraderie we had, the relationships we had, just the fun we had in our little boys club locker room, that's what I miss the most. I get that. That's the most. That's the. That's. That's the question I get asked the most, is what do I miss most? Do you miss playing? I'm like, no, I don't miss playing. I miss the locker room. And, you know, I hear stories about stuff I used to do and say, and I'd be like, I didn't. I didn't do that. I, like, I. I almost don't believe it, but apparently the. The guy I am now, it was a different person when I was wearing helmet and shoulder pads, and I guess that's all of us, but I definitely miss the locker room, and I definitely think Justin Tucker needs me in the locker room, like, right now.
- [50:44]
Stephen A. Smith
Right.
- [50:45]
Terrell Suggs
I think if you were in the.
- [50:46]
Stephen A. Smith
Locker room, if you were in the locker room right now, what would you be saying to the Baltimore Ravens?
- [50:51]
Terrell Suggs
Like, I want to know. So we had this thing. We had this thing. I'm pretty sure you remember, you know the movie Meet the Parent. They had the big circle of trust.
- [51:01]
Stephen A. Smith
Yep.
- [51:01]
Terrell Suggs
So we used to have a big chalkboard, and we was good at policing ourselves. So right now we have a Big circle of trust. And probably the only person would be on in there is Derek Henry. Derek Henry, probably Derek Henry and offensive line, probably the only people be in the circle of trust right now. You know, I mean, but everybody be kicked out, you know, I mean, and we all have to earn ourselves back in. They usually earn it back in by getting a win and you damn sure worrying about by beating your division rivals, you know what I'm saying? So it's gonna come down the pipe again, we're gonna see them again, we're gonna see Cleveland again, you know what I mean? And we're gonna play it at the lies, you know what I mean?
- [51:41]
Stephen A. Smith
But I never mentioned this to you before, but I'll tell it to you now. First of all, when they call ut sizzle, obviously you brought something to the game, something significant to the game. You also brought something significant to your interviews. Like seeing you on tv. USA was damn near must see tv. Cause you always had some shit to say. Always, always used to love it, right?
- [52:03]
Terrell Suggs
Definitely.
- [52:04]
Stephen A. Smith
Who did you like talking to most on television in the media?
- [52:10]
Terrell Suggs
Definitely you. Skip. You know Skip, he's just, to me, he's antagonist, you know what I mean? So it was like, I'm giving it to you because you like everybody. I don't like. So, you know, you like the Patriots, you like the Steelers, you like the Cowboys. I'm like, nah, I'm anti all of them. So you definitely my number one foe. And I like basically talking to the other team, right. You know what I mean? It's like, how can I get them kind of to play into my hands, you know what I mean? I used to get a lot of slides and chips out of the Steelers because they didn't want me harassing Big Ben, you know what I mean? But I'd be like, I'd be like, they scared of me. That's why they always sliding, you know my way, you know what I'm saying? I used to say something to try to get singled up.
- [52:56]
Stephen A. Smith
You remember that quote you gave about Big Ben, right? God could have his soul, but his ass is mine. That's what you said. That's one of the all time great quotes you gave about Big Ben Froethensberger, right?
- [53:06]
Terrell Suggs
Absolutely. I just wanted to let him know, like, yo, hey, I respect your game, you know what I'm saying? I probably wouldn't be sizzle if it wasn't for Big Ben. And you know the, the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know what I'm saying? But I'm coming for you. I'm letting them know, you know what I'm saying? And it was that. That was when we used to get the hit and the Raven Steelers was Raven Steelers. That's when the game was really fun.
- [53:33]
Stephen A. Smith
You think the Ravens gonna win it this year, or are you fearful that they gonna come up short again?
- [53:39]
Terrell Suggs
I think they will. This is the thing. Everybody know. Well, true football fans know that football between September and December is one thing. January football is a whole nother thing. Everybody get a clean slate. It don't matter if you lost to the Raiders in week two, you know what I mean? And you blew out Dallas in week three. None of that matters, you know what I'm saying? When you get into January football, you have to produce, you have to play. And it's a one week season, you know what I'm saying? And honestly, everybody knows a Baltimore team in January is dangerous. We're dangerous. So I think we just gotta weather the storm now, play it out, you know what I mean? Definitely win the rest of our home game. Win the divisions, if we can.
- [54:32]
Stephen A. Smith
Right?
- [54:33]
Terrell Suggs
You know what I mean? Right. And getting to January, once we get into January, then we could play our style. So.
- [54:41]
Stephen A. Smith
So you got the Ravens coming out of the AFC going to the Super Bowl. Who they playing against, bro? Is it Detroit? Is it Philadelphia? Who you.
- [54:48]
Terrell Suggs
It's absolutely Detroit. Detroit Lions. Like, we were robbed last year of possibly the best super bowl possibly ever. Detroit, Baltimore in Vegas. But this year we get a chance to do it now. Now just think Detroit Lions vs. Baltimore Ravens in the Big Easy.
- [55:09]
Stephen A. Smith
Yeah.
- [55:09]
Terrell Suggs
Oh, man, we're gonna have two weeks down in the biggie. And you know the last time the super bowl was in New Orleans.
- [55:17]
Stephen A. Smith
That's right.
- [55:17]
Terrell Suggs
Who got that thing done?
- [55:18]
Stephen A. Smith
Y'all did. Y'all. Y'all did. But the lights. Listen, y'all almost lost it because y'all were doing y'all thing. And then the lights went out. And then the lights went out and Colin Kaepernick never came back on y'all.
- [55:28]
Terrell Suggs
We was messing up the money. We was messing up the money, the spread and all of that. They hit the switch on us. We f put up 52 on there. Like, we was like, hey, man, we gonna score 52 points. We gonna send Ray off right by scoring 52. We probably went same thing, same lion score, you know, 52 to 6. But.
- [55:49]
Stephen A. Smith
So you telling me, how was that?
- [55:50]
Terrell Suggs
Feed in love.
- [55:52]
Stephen A. Smith
So you telling me that San Francisco's near comeback in the super bowl against y'all was a product of the damn electricity going out and stuff like that. And, and. And that disrupted y'all. Is that what it is?
- [56:04]
Terrell Suggs
Nah, I ain't gonna say that. All right. We like to have fun with it because it never happened before and it's never happened since, right? Okay.
- [56:11]
Stephen A. Smith
Right.
- [56:11]
Terrell Suggs
Let's just be honest. It never happened before and it never happened since, but here we are blowing out The San Francisco 49ers, you know what I'm saying? We are. We have huge. The game's put away at halftime, you know what I'm saying? 28, right? Come out from halftime. Jacoby takes it back, you know what I'm saying? We like, oh, we running away with this one. Then we go three and out, right? That's when we go three and out. And then we finish score again. Then the lights cut off on us. Then the lights cut off. But they made a fantastic run. But it was just a day late in the dollar short, you know what I mean? You know how they say grenades and horseshoes?
- [56:48]
Stephen A. Smith
There we go.
- [56:48]
Terrell Suggs
You can almost win with a grenade, you know what I mean? But nobody stopping that, that Raven, that Raven Wave, man, that was. That was our year.
- [56:58]
Stephen A. Smith
Before I let you get on out of here, man, I'm gonna go through these names again. Bruce Smith, Reggie White, Kevin Green, Julius Peppers, Chris Dolman, Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor. You, DeMarcus Ware, and then Richard Denn and John Randall or Todd. NFL history, all time sacks leader. Ain't no discussion. As far as I'm concerned. You're going to be a first ballot hall of Famer. Do you believe? Do you believe or where would you rank yourself amongst your contemporaries as a football player, as a sack master? I know Bruce Smith had 200 sacks. Reggie White had 198. Kevin Green had 160. Where do you see yourself amongst those names? Are you right where you belong? Or do you think that the numbers ain't the only thing you can measure by and that you should be high on the list?
- [57:41]
Terrell Suggs
No, I think it's fair. I think I'm right where I belong. For the simple fact that I didn't realize I was as close as I was until the last two years. Because every year that you don't win it, you know, the big one is kind of like. Like, yeah, you had some success, but you didn't win a championship, you know what I'm saying? So, like, my main focus, you know, like, especially when I got, you know, to the. To the NFL and before, you know, I eventually retired was I want as many rings as possible. You know what I'M saying, right? And so like, I wasn't, like, I didn't know where I was until it was mentioned to me like, yo, you just went to eight. You know what I mean? I'm like, for real, like, I didn't know. So I think it's fair. I think it's fair and I'll accept it. I'll accept it. And like you said, like, I don't just have sacks, right? You know, I mean, I got picks, I got touchdowns, force fumbles, tackles for loss. I got everything. The resume is pretty loaded. What little baby say, you know, I'm not the goat, but, you know, I definitely fit the description. Damn right. Damn right. My resume, you know, speaks for itself. So as long as I got you campaigning for me.
- [59:04]
Stephen A. Smith
Damn right. You ain't got to worry about that. I'm damn sure gonna campaign. I shouldn't have to, to be honest.
- [59:09]
Terrell Suggs
I need it.
- [59:09]
Stephen A. Smith
This is the first ballot in schwein. And easy. Ain't nothing even discussed. I'm gonna go to hell. I'm gonna go to hell off if that doesn't happen. Before I let you get on out, before I let you get on outta here, let me transition primetime. Deion Sanders, greatest cornerback in the history of football. Coaching at Colorado, doing a hell of a job. Love the fact that I see Tio at his game. I see Warren Sapp coaching his defensive line. Hell, that's something you should be doing as far as I'm concerned as well. I would ask you this, Deion Sanders as a college coach or coaching somebody like the Dallas Cowboys or the Las Vegas Raiders, where should he be?
- [59:49]
Terrell Suggs
College. You gotta understand why. I think because of his influence and like he get to kind of influence, you know, I mean, this is. Dion, you get coached by like you just said, the greatest cornerback ever. He, you know, I mean, he. The impact I think that he can make in young players lives, you know, not just on the football field, but all, you know, at the professional level. It's a business. And I think the pressure on him to win could evidently like ruin what he's doing, especially what he's done at the coaching level level. Like good college coaches don't always make good NFL coaches. If you look at Nick Saban, like he was a great college coach, but he wasn't that good in the NFL.
- [60:37]
Stephen A. Smith
Okay.
- [60:38]
Terrell Suggs
I'm pretty sure there's some others. But like I said, like, you know, I just said it, you know, NFL football fans aren't patient. So they want you to win and they want you to win now, you know, I mean, I think the pressure, I mean, not that I don't think Dion could be successful and handle it, but I think if he has one or two down years, they're gonna be ready to get rid of him. And he probably wouldn't get another chance at it again. So. I love what Prime's doing. I just think like once he's achieved everything at the college level, then he can, you know, I mean, right. It's his decision, you know. But I, I, I, I. My opinion is, I think like do all of that like at the top of his level, you know what I'm saying? He got, you know, his son, he coaching both his sons, you know, I mean, Travis Hunter, they finna be first round top 10 picks, you know what I'm saying?
- [61:38]
Stephen A. Smith
I got prime as my coach of the year. I got Travis Hunter as my Heisman Trophy winner. I got, you know, saying is probably the first quarterback taking any upcoming NFL draft. Let me transition to my very last question real quick. Cause I gotta get ready to get out of here. Ray Lewis has meant the world to you. Former teammate, champion with you, two time champion with you, as well as mentor. Well, a mentor. Big brother. You're hearing his name, it's early. Adam Schefter for ESPN reports that it's early, but he's being considered for a head coaching job down in Florida. I think it was at Florida Atlantic. I believe it is. Florida Atlantic University. Fau. What? Ray Lewis as the coach? I mean, that brother don't play. I mean, I mean, he's qualified in terms of his football mind, but I'm wondering about his temperament with the kids.
- [62:29]
Terrell Suggs
It's gonna be a tense and you can't have soft skin. If Ray's gonna be your head coach or you're gonna let him coach your children, you're gonna have to trust them, you know what I'm saying? Man knows football. I mean, and he, he's gonna demand greatness, you know, demand greatness out of all of us, you know, I mean, after we, one hour, our season ended, you know, after a playoff game one time, he called me like the next week, asked me if I'm working out. I said, no, Ray, I'm not working out. I'm actually on the couch, you know, I mean, like Ray Lewis is Ray Lewis and he's gonna demand greatness 24 hours a day. So if they're gonna be good on defense, they're gonna play ferocious defense. I don't know how many points they're gonna score. You're to bring in an offensive mind. But I think it'll work. Especially, you know, he's from Florida. He coaching in Florida. I think it would work. I mean, we'd have to get him time kind of like we gave prime time with the Jackson State. But it ain't gonna be too much time.
- [63:25]
Stephen A. Smith
I feel you. The one and only T Sizzle himself. Terrell Suggs eligible for enshrinement this year, ladies and gentlemen, soon to be first ballot hall of Famer. It better happen. It better happen. It's good to see you, bro. Man, I'm here anytime you need me. My man. It's so good to see you, bro. It's so good to talk to you.
- [63:42]
Terrell Suggs
Thank you, brother.
- [63:43]
Stephen A. Smith
All right. The one and only Terrell Suggs right here on the Stephen A. Smith show. Love him. Damn right he should be a first ballot hall of Famer. The numbers are there. Everything is there. There is no excuse. And by the way, he was beloved by folks inside and outside the football community as well, so. So there's no excuse to hold anything back when it comes to him. Coming up, the NFL has no issue with players doing the Donald Trump dance to celebrate on the field. Plus, Oprah Winfrey's production company reportedly received nearly $2.5 million from the Kamala Harris campaign. I'll get into all of that with a little twist. There's a lot of things y'all don't pay attention to enough, but your boy is here to bring it to life. Stick around. Don't go anywhere. More to Stephen A. Smith Show In a minute. I want to take a second to make sure everybody knows we're smack dab in the middle of the NFL season. And with games being played Thursday night, Sunday night and Monday night, I couldn't be more excited. But what's even more exciting is that Prize Picks wants to help you cash in on all those big time games. You see, prizepix is a daily fantasy app where you can pick two or more of your favorite players and then you simply select more or less on their projected stats for the game. Pick a player's passing yards, another's rushing yards, and another's total touchdowns. The list is endless. And the good news just keeps on coming because with prospects, you can choose from any sport you love to watch. Basketball, football, hockey, soccer, even mma all in the same entry. And now with prospects Live square option, you'll be able to place mid game picks on full game projections. Just look for the red live indicator on the upper left corner of active squares during games and then pick a player's game projection after their game has started. And if you sign up now with code SAS, Prospects will give you $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. You don't need to win your lineup to receive a $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. All you have to do is play a $5 lineup on prospects and you'll get $50 instantly. Pick more, pick less. It's really, really that easy.
- [65:41]
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- [66:10]
Hunter
Of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite sized stories of missing and murdered Black women and girls in America. There are several ways we can all do better at protecting Black women. My contribution is shining a light on our missing sisters and amplifying their disregarded stories. Stories like Tameka Anderson as she drove toward Galvez. She was in contact with several people talking on the phone as she made her way to what should have been a routine transaction. But Tameka never bought the car and she never returned home that day. One Podcast, One Mission Save Our Girls Join the search as we explore the chilling cases of missing and murdered Black women and girls. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [67:15]
Stephen A. Smith
Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith Show. The NFL says they have no issue with players doing the signature dance of President Elect Donald Trump during their on field celebrations. Players like Nick Bosa from the Niners, Raiders tight end Brock Bowers and Titans receiver Calvin Ridley are just a few of the players that have mocked the President Elect's signature moves. Now, ladies and gentlemen, in case you haven't seen Donald Trump's signature move, even though he's the one doing it right there, right now at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden this past weekend, one of, if not the greatest MMA fighter in history, Jon Bones Jones did it after defeating Stipe Miocic in the third round there with Trump sitting ringside. You saw it right there. Let me tell you something. Here's why I'm pissed Off that the NFL had to even issue a statement about it, because celebrations usually don't warrant that. It doesn't require a response from the league. So why was it necessary this time? You know why? Because we got a bunch of people still living with their heads in the cloud acting like they get to protest every little damn thing. This is America. Donald Trump won the election rather convincingly, I might add. Now, I didn't vote for him, and I've been on the record stating that. I'm not backing up from that. I didn't vote for him because I don't think he's presidential. I don't think his behavior, rather is presidential. I think the presidency is a statesmanship position. I think it's important to galvanize folks and to bring them together as opposed to contributing to divisiveness. But he won. And I have no problem accepting the fact that he won fair and square, in romp like fashion, I might add. And he's worthy of being the President of the United States, according to the voters. They have spoken. They spoke emphatically. Not just in red states, but in blue states as well, in battleground states as well. He won. There's no debate, there's no controversy, there's no anything. He won convincingly. So to me, that says that the American people have made their choice. I got news for you. Football players are usually American people. So are basketball players. So are UFC fighters. They got a right to support who the hell they want without the league needing to send in a response. I didn't see a response from the ufc, from the ufc. You know why? Because Dana Wall, Dana White wouldn't entertain it. Dana White would not entertain that, because you don't play that nonsense. He's going to support who he's going to support. He's not going to apologize for it, as most American citizens should feel free to do. And why am I ticked off? Because it was emblematic of the climate that we've been living in for years now, which is why I believe Donald Trump was really elected. Yeah, it was inflation that was an issue. The economy, that was an issue. The border, that was an issue, but woke culture. Cancel culture. Oh, hell yes. That played a role where you got people walking around wondering whether or not they're echoing the right pronoun, wondering whether or not that was going to cost them their job or being PC. Because God forbid, your opinion is different than the average folk walking around in America. Lord knows what would happen to you. That's what America regressed to. And because of That I believe is a big reason why Donald Trump on January 20th will be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States of America. I'll continue with that opinion in just a second. But I wanted to move on to this right here because did y'all see this report that Vice President Kamala Harris paid Oprah Winfrey's production company nearly two and a half million dollars for her support during the campaign? And there's your reports said the Harris campaign shelled out $1 million. However, two sources told the New York Times that Winfrey's production company was actually paid closer to the two and a half million dollars. That number pales in comparison to the estimated $1.5 billion that Harris and the Democrats spent in their failed campaign to win the White House. Why would that piss me off? Why does Oprah Winfrey, we talk about what the hell is your production company doing getting anything from the Harris campaign? This is the same Oprah Winfrey that has donated to Cory Booker's campaign in the past. Remember Senator Carol Mosley Braun? Oprah Winfrey donated to her campaign when she was running for the US Senate. Remember when Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008? They said at the time, reportedly that Oprah Winfrey's impact equated to more than 1 million votes in his favor over Hillary Rodham Clinton in a Democratic primary. So here you are donating to Democrats all over the place, which, by the way, Oprah Winfrey has done for decades. You given money. You given money. Think about this. Remember Stacey Abrams in Georgia? According to reports, Oprah Winfrey gave her over $10 million. I've got the news right in front of me. The donations highlighting the things that she has done for candidates she has supported. What's the theme here, ladies and gentlemen? Oprah is usually doling out money, but now your production company is getting a piece which is pennies to Oprah Winfrey and she issues the statement talking about it wasn't to her, it was to her production team. And oh, by the way, they had to be paid. End of story. That is not the end of the story. That is not the end of the story. The fact of the matter is your production company took. When you have a history spanning decades of giving, not taking, is it possible that you were taken because you had to be sold on supporting Kamala Harris? That the level of fervor that you have for all of those other candidates that you contributed to in the past far eclipsed the level of support that you really, really felt towards her? Why would I bring that up. Play that sound for me again with what Oprah Winfrey said the day before the election on the campaign trail for Kamala Harris. Could you play that sound for me again, please, to refresh everybody's memory. Play it again.
- [73:57]
Brian Windhorst
If we don't show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again. And let me be very clear. If you do not make sure that the people in your life can get to the polls, that is a mistake. Deciding not to decide, that is most definitely a vote to let other people control your future.
- [74:26]
Stephen A. Smith
See that? Did you see it? Yes. She was trying to get people to go out to the polls, but we know who she wanted us to go to the polls to support. That was a scare tactic. Let's call it what it is. It was a scare tactic. Rejected. We're suddenly going to be deprived of our right to vote if Donald Trump gets into office instead of this candidate. No problem. Sounds like a very fervent, passionate argument in favor of Kamala Harris. Then what the hell you need two and a half million dollars for? For your production company when you worth a billion? Take your time. I'll wait. You see, bullshit is bullshit. I'm not in any way questioning the contributions that Oprah Winfrey has made to the black community, to black people, to our society as a whole. She is the epitome of the American dream.
- [75:36]
Greg Rosenthal
She.
- [75:36]
Stephen A. Smith
She is marvelous. The problem was she tried to convince us somebody else was marvelous without taking into consideration how her actions would look once we got a hold of this information. Which now brings into question how marvelous did you really think Kamala Harris was? That's why people have a problem trusting not just politicians, but celebrities who come out in the open to support them. Had you, your Oprah, you're worth billions. It's a horrible look for you to take a penny for you or your production company if you really supported her. And oh, by the way, speaking of things that don't look good, did you really think I was going to forget about Morning Joe on msnbc? Now, ladies and gentlemen, let me preface my comments by saying I respect the hell out of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. They've done a phenomenal job. I'm not here to cast any aspersions, but I am here in the interest of fairness. Because if we're going to move forward, we have to be fair. I did not vote for Donald Trump. I am going to be fair to the 47th President of the United States. I'm simply Saying, I'm not going to be hypocritical. Morning Joe. Do you remember some of the things they entertained about Donald Trump? Trump racist, along with other incendiary things? When people were bringing up Donald Trump's name and mentioning Nazis and stuff like that, there was nothing said on that program to quell that momentum. They were all in. Donald Trump wins the election. And then they come on TV and they tell us that they've met with him in Mar a lot. I appreciate that. But could you tell us whether or not you told him to his face that you thought he was a racist, or that you apologize for calling him.
- [78:05]
Brian Windhorst
That.
- [78:08]
Stephen A. Smith
That you thought his name should be associated with Nazis or anything like that, or that you retracted those statements to his face? Could you give us some information? Cause I didn't hear that. All we heard is that you're mad. That ain't good enough. Why? Because of what you said on the airwaves. See, here's what Stephen A. Is about. If I say it publicly, I'm a own it. If there's a retraction that needs to be given, I'm a own that too, because that helps trust. And that's what we're lacking in today's day, which is why you have people looking at, quote, unquote, legacy media. That's what they're talking about these days. And they're saying, yo, legacy media is dead. It's not because folks are stupid. It's not because journalists are incompetent. It's not because pundits and commentators and journalists and editors and producers and all of this other stuff don't know what the hell they're doing. It's because we do. But we leave wiggle room for our intents to be questioned. And that is what I try, what I strive to avoid. You gonna know where the hell I stand come hella hot water. And if I'm wrong, I'm a man up and own it. If I was wrong in a public platform, I'm gonna say I was wrong in a public platform. If I was bold enough to say it to you publicly or about you publicly, I'm gonna own it in private and in public. That's all I'm asking for. Morning Joe. Mika Brzezinski. Morning Joe. That's all I'm asking for, Oprah. That's all I'm asking for. By the way, I could get into where the hell was Stacey Abrams, who ran for the gubernatorial race in Georgia years ago, lost, and we really haven't heard from her since? Because she made she helped Biden get elected in 2020 and for some strange reason, dipped from the spotlight. Don't think I didn't notice that either. And I'm not blaming her. I'm blaming the Democratic Party. What the hell happened with her? Nobody took care of her. Nobody looked out for her. These are legitimate questions, but I'll save that for another day. Just wanted y'all to know where I stand. And to piggyback off of what sparked this conversation to applaud those NFL players who felt free enough and were bold enough to do their Trump dance. It ain't about Trump. It's about them reminding everybody this is America and we should be allowed to believe what we want to believe, feel what we want to feel, and do what we want to do do with their reason without having to worry about being ostracized, demonized, and ultimately excoriated to the point where we got to go into hiding. Those days need to be over. And when it is, we'll know that we're gearing back towards America being what it used to be and what it should be still. That's it for this edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. Hope y'all enjoyed it. I just wanted to get that off my chest. Until next time, everybody. Peace and love.
- [81:55]
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 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.
- [82:26]
Stephen A. Smith
What's up everyone?
- [82:27]
Brian Windhorst
Julie Swearbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
- [82:31]
Discover Card Advertisement
We're doing a new podcast together.
- [82:32]
Terrell Suggs
Here we go.
- [82:33]
Brian Windhorst
The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [82:37]
Terrell Suggs
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
- [82:42]
Stephen A. Smith
Exactly.
- [82:43]
Brian Windhorst
And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [82:46]
Terrell Suggs
Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [82:51]
Brian Windhorst
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.