← The Stephen A. Smith Show
The Stephen A. Smith Show
Full Show: Stephen A claps back at Kevin Durant with Receipts. Legal Cases involving Trump and Diddy post election.
01:16:51
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- [00:00]
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 podcasts.
- [00:31]
Julie Swearbinks
What's up, everyone? Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
- [00:36]
Nate Thompson
We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.
- [00:38]
Julie Swearbinks
The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [00:42]
Nate Thompson
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
- [00:47]
Julie Swearbinks
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [00:51]
Nate Thompson
Julia's pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [00:55]
Julie Swearbinks
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSP on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:03]
Stephen A. Smith
Is Diddy getting off sooner than we think? Is it possible that he might not be spending the rest of his life in jail?
- [01:11]
Ellie Honig
I'll tell you why I'm talking about that. Plus Kendrick Lamar, Drake. We thought that rivalry, or whatever you want to call it, was over, but.
- [01:20]
Stephen A. Smith
It seems like an innocent victim has been tagged by Drake himself. The one and only DeMar DeRozan of the Sacramento Kings.
- [01:27]
Nate Thompson
We.
- [01:27]
Stephen A. Smith
We'll get into that. Plus Joel Embiid, resembling a boxer more than a basketball player for one fleeting moment, if nothing else. Gotta talk about that.
- [01:38]
Ellie Honig
And then there's Kevin Durant calling out your boy. All I'm gonna say is this to mimic Roy Jones years ago when he knocked out Montel Griffin.
- [01:53]
Stephen A. Smith
I didn't want to have to do.
- [01:54]
Ellie Honig
This, but you made me. Stephen A. Smith show in the house. Let's roll.
- [02:13]
Stephen A. Smith
What's up, everybody?
- [02:14]
Ellie Honig
Welcome to the latest edition of the.
- [02:16]
Stephen A. Smith
Stephen A. Smith show, coming at you.
- [02:17]
Ellie Honig
At the very least three times a week over the digital airwaves of YouTube and, of course, iHeartRadio. As always, I like to pause for a moment and give love and respect and just appreciation to my followers and subscribers. We have now exceeded over 895,000 subscribers. Rapidly approaching 900,000. Can't thank y'all enough for the love and Support. Plus the 3 million plus downloads you've given me on iHeartRadio. Over the last few months alone. My gratitude knows no limits. There wouldn't be a Stephen A. Smith show without your support and love, and I really, really appreciate it and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. Want to continue to like and follow the show? Let's click the bell to get notified for all of our new content and you, too shall be the latest member of the Stephen A. Smith show family. And while you're doing that, please don't forget to pick up a copy of my New York Times bestselling book, Straight Shooter, a memoir of second chances at first Takes, now in paperback. Just go to straightshooterbook.com to get yourself a copy. Once again, that's straight shooter book.com to get yourself a copy. I got a lot of stuff to get into today, an awful lot of stuff to get into today. But I'd be remiss in starting in any different direction than with Kevin Durant, the superstar basketball player who took the liberty of calling me out in very, very disrespectful terms, to be quite honest with you. But it is what it is. It involves Kevin Durant, as I said, star of the Phoenix Suns. Durant is reportedly tired of my criticism of his leadership. In an article written in the Athletic, he says, quote, I've been in the league for 18 years. I've never seen Stephen A. At a practice or film session or shoot round. I've never seen him anywhere but on TV talking shit about players. He's a clown. To me, he's always been a clown. You can write that too. End quote. Wow, how testy we get. So that's Kevin Durant speaking about me. And if you wondering where this all comes from, before I even get into it, let me first show you what I said less than two weeks ago during my daytime job, first take on ESPN that apparently had Kevin Durant so riled up. Look at what I said, ladies and gentlemen, when you talk about Kevin Durant, this is what we're not going to do. We're not going to look at Kevin Durant and just measure him in terms of just his talent. It's what ability you have to peel out of others. He's been relatively leaderless. He's been very, he's been very lacking in inspiration in terms of peeling out from those around him. Whatever you can give him, he'll show up. If you said to me, if you it's a game seven, it's a game one, it's a game five, I don't give a damn what it is, Kevin Durant's going to show up and he's going to ball out. But does he get the others around him to do it? Not only does he not do it, he doesn't feel the level of responsibility I think he should feel if and getting it out. Needless to say, Kevin Durant wasn't going to take that lying down because obviously if he claps back at fans and everybody else and their grandmama, he certainly was going to clap back at me. And he most certainly did. Just a few days later when he threw out this tweet quote on X, he says, first take Stephen A. Smith. I would disagree, Stephen. I would argue passionately that my intangibles have always been on par with my talent. I saw that and I immediately responded by saying, and I would argue passionately that very little compares to your obvious greatness as a talent, including those intangibles. Respectfully, KD, Trey 5, etc. And then next thing you know, I'm in the house last night watching football and I see the article with the quote that I had just read to you to start off this segment. A lot of people out there are going to expect me to go in on Kevin Durant to disrespect him. I just don't feel that way about him. I think Kevin Durant is one of the greatest players to ever play basketball. I think he's one of the greatest offensive talents this world has ever seen. He's a two time champion. He's a two time NBA Finals mvp. He's a former league mvp. He's a multiple time scoring champion. He is destined for the hall of Fame. Having said that, I stand by every damn syllable I uttered about him. I said what I meant and I meant what I said. His leadership has been brought into question. Now you've seen articles because some of these weak reporters try to go out there and use me as the news. And let me tell you why I take offense to that. I take offense to that because it's not as if they're acknowledging me as a personality who was once their brethren and to some degree still is. They act like they forgot that I was in the press boxes, I was courtside, I was in the media media row, I was in pregame locker rooms, post game locker rooms, shoot around and all of that stuff, just like they are now. They act like I didn't do that, that I just ran my mouth and I ultimately got here. New York Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, cnnsi, Fox Sports, espn. My resume is My resume, it's there for everybody to see.
- [07:47]
Stephen A. Smith
And you might not have known it until you read my book Straight Shooter.
- [07:51]
Ellie Honig
But for a kid that grew up in the streets of Hollis, Queens, New York, that had dyslexia, that got left back because I was in a fourth grade reading on a first grade reading level, I think it's pretty, it's pretty impressive what I've been able to accomplish in my life, if I should say so myself.
- [08:12]
Stephen A. Smith
Not only am I renowned as a.
- [08:14]
Ellie Honig
Journalist and an insider and a reporter, as I, which I spent the first 20 years of my career doing, but I transitioned to radio and television where.
- [08:23]
Stephen A. Smith
I've made noise in this industry as well. And the reason I bring that up is not just because a reporter shouldn't be going up and say Stephen A. Said it, but also a player with Kevin Durant's credentials, no matter how insensitive your ass may be, has no business acting like I didn't do some of the things these reporters do. Kevin Durant lied to you. He's never seen me in a locker room ever. You've never seen me at a practice, even though practice is closed to the media until you finish and they come over. Never. You never saw me at games when for the better part of the last 25 years, I've been at an average of 120 games a year. You ain't seen me when you were playing for the Golden State Warriors. You didn't see me sitting courtside. I'm sorry, when you were in Brooklyn and the Golden State warriors came. You didn't see me sitting courtside with your former owner Joe Lake up. You didn't see me at a couple of Phoenix games. You didn't see me there. You didn't see me in attendance when you went up against the Clippers. You didn't see me at the finals. You didn't see me at the Western Conference finals when you were playing against Houston and James Harden. What? We gon lie now? We gonna lie because those are lies. Those are lies. But again, I understand because you and your feelings. Call Ralph Tresvant, by the way.
- [10:18]
Ellie Honig
Told him you was looking for him. Need a man with sensitivity, right? Remember that song? But I digress. I'm just joking around about that. Just a man with sensitivity is just to peg off of that. That's all I was trying to say. Nothing more. Just joking around. But let me get serious again so.
- [10:35]
Stephen A. Smith
We get that out the way. Now let's get to the other parts.
- [10:40]
Ellie Honig
That you said I'm a clown.
- [10:46]
Stephen A. Smith
Is that why you called me?
- [10:48]
Ellie Honig
Is that why your team called me? To be a part of your documentary, New York city point guards? That 35 ventures, if I remember correctly, executive produced.
- [10:58]
Stephen A. Smith
That's.
- [10:58]
Ellie Honig
That's why y'all called me, because I was a clown.
- [11:02]
Stephen A. Smith
Your docu series, your company. You run the show. You executive produced it.
- [11:10]
Ellie Honig
How come y'all called me.
- [11:13]
Stephen A. Smith
A kid from Coney island, the story about Stephon Marbury, didn't you? In concert with Stephon, Marty. Did you executive produce that, too, along with Marbury and others? How come you called me for that one?
- [11:28]
Jon Favreau
Why?
- [11:31]
Stephen A. Smith
When you had the Boardroom and you were sitting down to interview people one on one, didn't you call me to do that interview, by the way? Didn't you show up on first take sitting right across from me, a clown? Remember that, by the way? Go back and do your homework. What was one of your largest rated episodes for the Boardroom, where my man Jay Williams was the host on the occasion that you would sit across from people that you were talking about or talking to? That would be me. But we just gonna ignore that, right? Okay, fine. The facts Are the facts is right there for everybody to see. New York City point guards, a kid from Coney Island.
- [12:18]
Ellie Honig
I'd encourage all of y'all to watch it. 35 inches. Stephen, Marvin, all of them. They did a great, great job with that stuff.
- [12:23]
Stephen A. Smith
Go watch. I'm featured in it quite heavily, I might add.
- [12:28]
Ellie Honig
The clown that is me.
- [12:31]
Stephen A. Smith
Now, let's get back to the biggest.
- [12:33]
Ellie Honig
Issue that I wanted to bring this.
- [12:35]
Stephen A. Smith
Up, and I alluded to this this morning on First Take. But I'll do it again right here.
- [12:39]
Ellie Honig
Over my show, my podcast, et cetera.
- [12:43]
Stephen A. Smith
Right here over the digital airwaves of YouTube and, of course, iHeartRadio Kevin Durant. Can anybody talk about you?
- [12:50]
Ellie Honig
I just need to know. I just need clarity.
- [12:54]
Stephen A. Smith
You leave Oklahoma City, y'all are up 3:1. You give up a 3:1 lead, you end up losing in the Western Conference finals, letting Golden State come back from a 3:1 deficit. When Clay dropped 40:1 on you in Game 6, when you lost in Game 7, when your middle name could have easily been passive when it counted most and you lose to Golden State. And before people had a chance to pass gas and go on vacation for the summer, you went to Golden State to the very team that just sent your ass home. Not called it the weakest move in the history of the sport by any superstar, weakest move by superstar, because you were joining forces to stack the deck. I had to come on the boardroom and explain in no way was it an attack on you as a player because we all know you great. What I explained was you're so phenomenal as a player that to be paired with the greatest shooting backcourt in the history of basketball and one of the elite defensive players in Draymond Green, with a sensational coach and Steve Kerr, the deck was so stacked, it made no sense to watch the upcoming NBA season because there was no competition. And how could a superstar of your caliber want that kind of situation?
- [14:28]
Ellie Honig
That was what I.
- [14:32]
Stephen A. Smith
You go there anyway, Props deserved three straight trip to the NBA Finals, I believe. Three straight championships. If you don't get hurt and tell your Achilles y'all are beat Kawhi Leonard.
- [14:42]
Ellie Honig
In Toronto, I think you would have swept them.
- [14:46]
Stephen A. Smith
But it didn't happen.
- [14:47]
Ellie Honig
Fair enough.
- [14:48]
Stephen A. Smith
But you won back to back titles. You beat LeBron, you were Finals MVP. You were balling out. You were the best player on the Golden State Warriors. All things that I easily acknowledge because I try to tell the truth. And that's just the truth. And then what do you do after departing from Oklahoma City to appear on your own show on the boardroom sitting across from me? You said you wanted to play a better brand of basketball.
- [15:20]
Ellie Honig
That you just.
- [15:20]
Stephen A. Smith
Wanted your game to elevate and evolve. And that was your rationale from departing for Russell Westbrook and leaving him hanging to go in and joining forces with the Splash brothers. Okay, fine. Well then what was the excuse for leaving to go to Brooklyn with Kyrie Irving. A sensational player, no doubt, and a champion, but obviously had some issues back then. We fast forward even though I concede if Kyrie hadn't got hurt against Milwaukee, y'all have beat Milwaukee, y'all have won.
- [15:54]
Ellie Honig
A championship that year, but it didn't happen.
- [15:57]
Stephen A. Smith
But then you, or rather Steph and those boys go to Boston and they win the championship. And en route to winning the championship, I said, quote, because of all that had happened in Brooklyn and all the things that your star power couldn't reel in and control, that if Steph Curry and Golden State had won the title, you would be viewed more so than as the dude who left Steph to join kyrie rather than two time champion with two NBA finals and VPs. What has been happening ever since? And why did I bring that up? Because when stuff was transpiring in Brooklyn, everybody thinks it's just about Kyrie and Covid and all of these other issues that he may have had. No, it was about Kenny Atkinson being there and ultimately departed. It was about you signing off on Steve Nash being the head coach when he had no experience on any level to be a head coach. It was about you making sure that Brooklyn embraced Kyrie. Because Brooklyn didn't want Kyrie, they wanted you. And you made it clear they were not getting you unless Kyrie arrived. You figure out how I know that? You figure that out. And that was after you told the Knicks you were coming. And then at the 11th hour, you got convinced to roll over to Brooklyn, which might be one of the worst business moves, Mr. 35 ventures that we have seen from a basketball superstar in a modern day era. Because when we think about business with the number one name that comes to it, when we think about basketball and business is LeBron James, whether it's Cleveland to Miami, back to Cleveland to la. The business moves were adroit. The business moves were big time. It's undeniable. I think I had somebody tell me just the other day that LeBron James is making over a hundred million dollars a year in endorsements alone. That's why he's a billionaire. And you far from broke and you're highly successful. But think about what you would have been had you become a Knick, who you said were whack. Not taking into account Gotham City, New York, the Mecca, the brand that is the Knicks and how Nets fans exist in Brooklyn, Knicks fans exist all over New York.
- [18:30]
Ellie Honig
And in some.
- [18:34]
Stephen A. Smith
And why were these things relevant? Because people were talking about you, the.
- [18:40]
Ellie Honig
Player, the greatness that comes with you.
- [18:43]
Stephen A. Smith
They were saying, yo, does he really galvanize troops? Does he really, really, really do what.
- [18:51]
Ellie Honig
It takes to lead?
- [18:53]
Stephen A. Smith
Nobody questioned work ethic, nobody questioned commitment, nobody questioned greatness when it came to you and your own individual self. But the other things they brought up.
- [19:04]
Ellie Honig
Were a question mark.
- [19:07]
Stephen A. Smith
Hell, they even brought up weed. Yes, weed. Now why would I bring that up? Nobody's diming you out. Nobody's talking about you smoking weed or anything like that.
- [19:22]
Ellie Honig
You did.
- [19:24]
Stephen A. Smith
Remember when you did the interview with David Letterman on Netflix and he brought it up and you said, I might be high, right? I'm high right now. And people looking at you and questioning and saying, yo, how committed are you to maximizing all that you can to win a championship? Remember when you did interviews and you talked about how the championship really wasn't that important? Sure, you're gonna go out there and you're gonna play your hardest and what have you, but really it's not that big of a priority to you. You just want to play the right way and you Want to have fun, and you want to evolve with the game. Remember, you said all of this, and I didn't even bring up.
- [20:07]
Ellie Honig
In terms of you getting back to attacking me, what players, what people you've had issues with.
- [20:16]
Stephen A. Smith
Could y'all show the list, please?
- [20:18]
Ellie Honig
Just put it right up there for me, please. I'm at the top of the list. Sure. Remember when you went at Barkley because you got mad because he called you a follower? We don't need to get into Russell Westbrook. We know what that history is about. C.J. mcCollum. You went on his podcast, and then you departed from his podcast, and you had issues with something that he said. He's not only a contemporary and a.
- [20:46]
Stephen A. Smith
Colleague, but he was the president of.
- [20:47]
Ellie Honig
The Players association at a particular moment in time.
- [20:51]
Stephen A. Smith
Don't get me started with Kendrick Perkins. He ain't got no reason to talk about you either.
- [20:55]
Ellie Honig
Huh? He was your teammate.
- [20:58]
Stephen A. Smith
He was in the locker. All right? I. Stephen A.
- [21:00]
Ellie Honig
In the locker room.
- [21:01]
Stephen A. Smith
He was wearing the same uniform. Went to the finals. When you went to the finals, your teammate. How about Dennis Schroder? He brings up European basketball players and how they're not about to sizzle. They're about the fundamentals. And you went at him and the international basketball community because they. Of the position he expressed. Not to mention fans in Denver who were rooting for Jokic, who obviously is the best thing they had since sliced bread. Shannon Sharp, you went at him, too. Remember, Little B. When you decided to depart from Oklahoma City to go. To go to say. I mean, damn, can anyone say something? I mean, if it's really just about showering you with praise and that's it, otherwise, we all in trouble, say so. Say so. But I just mentioned players, past and.
- [22:13]
Ellie Honig
Present.
- [22:18]
Stephen A. Smith
Rap artists, media pundits, commentators. I didn't even bring up the fans. You got burner accounts, bruh. I mean, I'm proud of you for putting your name to it, coming at me like that. At least I know it was you.
- [22:42]
Ellie Honig
I am critical of Kevin Durant only from the standpoint that with that money and that greatness comes great responsibility. The kind of responsibility that should have us watching you at least in May. You've been swept two of the last three years.
- [23:10]
Stephen A. Smith
You got swept by Boston. You got swept by Minnesota. You would have got swept your first year In Denver. I'm sorry. In Phoenix, maybe not sweat, but you probably would have lost if Kawhi Leonard hadn't got hurt. He did drop 38. Game one, 31, game two. Even without Paul George. The Clippers were giving y'all some business. It was tied 1:1, and then all of a sudden, Kawhi Leonard disappeared. Couldn't play no more. There's a legitimate argument that could be made that y'all could have been going. Your team, led by you, could have been going in the first round last three years. I'm talking basketball, ladies and gentlemen. I'm not getting personal here. I'm talking basketball. And I'm not clapping back at Kevin Durant because he came at me. He has every right to come at me because I was talking about him. He has every right to. I take no offense with him clapping back. I'm just saying, be factual. Mike Budenhozer just got in Phoenix. You weren't pissed off at Frank Vogel last year with issues involving separate team buses That I ain't gonna get into. Come on, bro. You didn't have the greatest relationship with Steve Kerr, but you ended up playing with him for the Olympics or playing for him. I'm making that up. It's just basketball. We're talking basketball. That's the deal. That's all that happened. I got nothing negative say even if.
- [25:04]
Ellie Honig
I. I don't get personal like that. And I got mad love for kd, mad respect for him. You don't want to talk.
- [25:13]
Stephen A. Smith
You don't want to talk.
- [25:15]
Ellie Honig
I won't miss you. I'm not gonna lose any sleep over you, bro. I talk to people who want to talk to me. I show love to people who want to show love to me. If you don't, I won't miss you.
- [25:25]
Stephen A. Smith
But I'm gonna do my job.
- [25:26]
Ellie Honig
And my job is to talk about basketball. And you want to talk about what I haven't done, Then why don't you get my resume? Google me. But you know, you don't need to because you did that already. That's why you called me for your documentaries. I'mma leave it at that. I don't really have to say more than that. I'mma get into Joel and Bean in just a second, but. And what situation he got himself into. But not before I pay some bills. Back with more than it.
- [26:02]
Stephen A. Smith
I want to take a second to make sure everyone knows we are smack dab in the middle of the NFL season.
- [26:08]
Ellie Honig
And with games being played Thursday night, Sunday night and Monday night, I couldn't be more excited.
- [26:13]
Stephen A. Smith
But what's even more exciting is that Prize Picks wants to help you cash in on all those big time games. You see, Prize Picks 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 the projected stats for the game. Pick a player's passing yards, rushing yards and total touchdowns.
- [26:30]
Ellie Honig
The list is absolutely endless.
- [26:31]
Stephen A. Smith
And the good news just keeps coming because with Prize Picks you can choose.
- [26:35]
Ellie Honig
From any sport you love to watch.
- [26:36]
Stephen A. Smith
Basketball, football, hockey, soccer, even mma all in the same entry.
- [26:41]
Ellie Honig
I make my picks and submit early, all in less than 60 seconds.
- [26:46]
Stephen A. Smith
And now with Prize Picks Live Squares option, you'll be able to place mid game picks on full game projections. Just look for a red light indicator on a square in the app during games and pick a player's game projection.
- [26:58]
Ellie Honig
After their game has started.
- [27:00]
Stephen A. Smith
And if you sign up now with.
- [27:01]
Ellie Honig
Code SAS, of course prize picks will.
- [27:04]
Stephen A. Smith
Give you $50 instantly when you play.
- [27:06]
Ellie Honig
Your first $5 lineup. You don't need to win your lineup to receive the $50 bonus.
- [27:10]
Stephen A. Smith
It's guaranteed. All you have to do is play a $5 lineup on prize picks and you'll get $50 instantly. Pick more, pick less.
- [27:19]
Ellie Honig
It's that easy.
- [27:20]
Hunter
I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite sized stories of missing and 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.
- [28:23]
Vanessa Marshall
Welcome to Pod of Rebellion, our new Star Wars Rebels Rewatch podcast. I'm Vanessa Marshall. Hi, I'm Tia Sircar.
- [28:30]
Stephen A. Smith
I'm Taylor. I'm Gray.
- [28:31]
Tia Sircar
And I'm Jon Lee Brody.
- [28:32]
Vanessa Marshall
But you may also know us as Harrison Doula's Spectre 2, Sabine Wren, Specter.
- [28:36]
Greg Rosenthal
5 and Ezra Bridger Specter 6 from Star Wars Rebels.
- [28:40]
Tia Sircar
Wait, I wasn't on Star Wars Rebels. Am I in the right place?
- [28:44]
Vanessa Marshall
Absolutely. Each week we're going to rewatch and discuss an episode from the series and.
- [28:49]
Stephen A. Smith
Share some fun behind the scenes stories.
- [28:50]
Tia Sircar
Sometimes we'll be visited by special guests like Steve blume voices Zaborillio Spectre 4 or Dante Bosco Voicing Jai Kell and many others.
- [28:58]
Vanessa Marshall
Sometimes we'll even have a lively debate.
- [29:00]
Nate Thompson
And we'll have plenty of other fun surprises and trivia.
- [29:02]
Tia Sircar
Oh, and me. Well, I'm the Lucky Ghost Crew Stowaway, who gets to help moderate and guide the discussion each week. Kind of like how Kanan guided Ezra in the ways of the Force. You see what I did there?
- [29:13]
Vanessa Marshall
Nicely done, John.
- [29:14]
Tia Sircar
Thanks, Tia.
- [29:15]
Vanessa Marshall
So hang on because it's gonna be a fun ride.
- [29:19]
Nate Thompson
Cue the music.
- [29:26]
Tia Sircar
Listen to Potter Rebellion on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [29:35]
Ellie Honig
The other off the court news involves Sixers big man Joel Embiid and a columnist from the Philadelphia Inquirer by the name of Marcus Hayes. It happened Saturday night following the Sixers lost to the Grizzlies as reporters were entering the locker room. Indeed took exception to a column written by Hayes where he mentioned Embiid's son and late brother while questioning his professionalism, an effort to stay in shape.
- [30:00]
Stephen A. Smith
Here's a portion of what Hayes wrote.
- [30:02]
Ellie Honig
Look at this, y'all. Quote Joel Embiid consistently points to the birth of his son Arthur as the major inflection point in his basketball career. He often says that he wants to be great, to leave a legacy for the boy named after his little brother, who tragically died in an automobile accident when Embiid was in his first year as a 76er when, well, in order to be great at your job, you first have to show up for work. Indeed has been great at just the opposite. Now in his 11th season, he consistently has been in poor condition. This poor conditioning apparently seems to have delayed his debut this season. End quote. On Friday, Embiid defended himself to reporters when asked about his lack of play. Take a look at this.
- [30:50]
J
I've done way too much, you know, for this city and, you know, putting myself at risk, you know, for people to be saying that. So I do think it's like that, dude, he's not here, Marcus, whatever his name is. I've done way too much for this to be treated like this.
- [31:11]
Ellie Honig
Then Saturday, things came to a head when Hayes and Embiid encountered one another in the locker room and B was reportedly overheard shouting the following at Marcus Hayes. Quote the next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you are going to see what I'm going to do to you and I'm going to have to live with the consequences. End quote. Indeed, reportedly eventually pushed Hayes on the shoulder while the team's public relations chief got between them. Couple of Notes to point this out with an open hand. They said that Embiid's open hand touched Marcus Hayes neck and shoulder. That's what they say. I reached out to Embiid and through the 76ers to ask him to come on today's show. He was not made available because the League is still conducting an investigation and obviously he's not allowed to speak. In the case of Marcus Hayes, I reached out to the Philadelphia Inquirer. That is the paper that I used to work for, for 17 years, I might add. And I know Marcus Hayes, okay, as a colleague. Um, I don't know him intimately or anything like that, but I know him as a colleague. Marcus Hayes was wrong. Now, that doesn't absolve Embiid. Embiid was wrong, too. You don't put your hands on anybody. You don't engage in physical violence. You just don't do that. Regardless of what our society tries to depict and encourage and condone, you don't do it. And had he done more than that, he'd be in a world of trouble, because it's something you just don't do. So we have to say that. But Marcus Hayes was wrong. And I'm going to tell you why you don't do what he did. Embiid has been perpetually injured throughout his career. Marcus Hayes, and I've read numerous columns that he's written on indeed over the last several months, has every right to say what he said about indeed questioning his conditioning, questioning why the hell would you go and play for Team USA when you know you've missed so much action for the Philadelphia 76ers. That's an additional couple of months that you could have been home getting yourself ready for this upcoming season. He's accused in be of not prioritizing the Sixers as much as himself, not prioritizing the Sixers fan base as much as himself.
- [33:29]
Stephen A. Smith
Whether you agree or disagree, I am.
- [33:32]
Ellie Honig
Here to say that Marcus. Marcus Hayes has every right to write that and every right to say that. What you don't do, however, is bring up his brother, who's deceased due to a car accident. And the fact that the inflection point that you referred to involved in Bead Son, who he named after his late brother. That's pretty damn low. You can't do that. And when I invited Marcus Hayes on this show and he did not get back to me, I wanted to emphasize the point that I really thought he crossed the line with that.
- [34:18]
Stephen A. Smith
But that's it. Nothing else crossed the line. You're a columnist, you're paid to editorialize an open and give your opinion. And if you feel that this brother is out of shape and you feel that he is robbing Sixes fans, season ticket holders, I think it's over 14,000 season ticket holders that he's robbing the fan base, that the team that's looking for a new $1.55 billion new arena in downtown Philadelphia and that that's going to cause taxpayers their money and they're not getting its worth from Joel Embiid. As a columnist, ladies and gentlemen, he has every right to write that. He has every right to say it. Go back into Philadelphia Inquiry and see some of the columns I've written over the years. Trust me, I didn't bite my tongue if I and I felt very harsh things at times, and I wrote it, damn it. So I'm not about to sit here and be a hypocrite and call Marcus Hayes out for that. He's not wrong for that.
- [35:26]
Ellie Honig
But Marcus is a pro and he's been around a long time. There's certain levels you can't sink to. And mentioning his dead brother and his son cross the line. And I and Embiid is one of the nicest guys you'll ever want to meet. He is a superstar in this league. He is box office and has a box office personality to go along with it. I love me some Joel Embiid. And if I had been there and I had had the pleasure of conversing.
- [36:01]
Stephen A. Smith
With Joel Embiid, I would have told.
- [36:04]
Ellie Honig
Him, Marcus crossed the line with that.
- [36:08]
Stephen A. Smith
One paragraph about your dead brother and your son.
- [36:13]
Ellie Honig
But I would have defended Marcus Hayes, right to write everything else.
- [36:18]
Stephen A. Smith
And in fairness to Joel Embiid, he said, talk about me, attack me all you want to.
- [36:23]
Ellie Honig
Don't mention my family. He's right about that. He's right about that. And Marcus Hayes was wrong about that. Now, in fairness to Marcus Hayes, he tried to apologize and B wasn't hearing it. He gave some pushback and B. Really wasn't hearing that. And those excerpts that I read to you are now deleted. But what's done is done. Marcus Hayes is not an amateur. He's been around a long time and he knows better than doing that. So in that regard, I'm giving him that criticism. But I want to emphasize it's the only criticism. Embiid misses half his games. He's never healthy for a full season, and he's been he only been healthy for one playoffs, and that was during the whole Covid delayed season or Covid halted season? Whether you agree or disagree, Marcus Hayes has every right to write his opinion about those things. You just didn't have to use his deceased brother and his son to do it. Excuse my language. There's just certain shit you don't do. And deep down, Marcus knows that. Which is why he deleted the excerpts and why he tried to apologize. But it was too little too late after that. And that's my opinion on it.
- [37:51]
Stephen A. Smith
Coming up, Election Day is tomorrow. We'll get into the latest headlines as America heads to the polls with Pod Save America host and Obama speechwriter John Favreau.
- [38:01]
Ellie Honig
But first, the latest on Sean Diddy.
- [38:03]
Stephen A. Smith
Combs as TMZ obtains a non disclosure agreement that Diddy asked party attendees to sign. What does it mean for his federal.
- [38:09]
Ellie Honig
Racketeering and sex trafficking case? We'll get into all of that and more next right here on the Stephen A. Smith Show. Don't go away.
- [38:19]
Hunter
I'm Hunter, host 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 sister 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 Casey 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.
- [39:22]
Vanessa Marshall
Welcome to Pod of Rebellion, our new Star Wars Rebels Rewatch podcast. I'm Vanessa Marshall. Hi, I'm Tia Sircar.
- [39:29]
Stephen A. Smith
I'm Taylor Gray.
- [39:30]
Tia Sircar
And I'm John Lee Brody.
- [39:31]
Vanessa Marshall
But you may also know us as Harrison Doula, Spectre 2, Sabine Wren, Spectre.
- [39:35]
Greg Rosenthal
5, and Ezra Bridger, Specter 6 from Star Wars Rebels.
- [39:39]
Tia Sircar
Wait, I wasn't on Star Wars Rebels. Am I in the right place?
- [39:43]
Vanessa Marshall
Absolutely. Each week we're going to rewatch and discuss an episode from the series and.
- [39:48]
Stephen A. Smith
Share some fun behind the scenes stories.
- [39:49]
Tia Sircar
Sometimes we'll be visited by special guests like Steve bloom voices Zaborelio's Spectre 4 or Dante Bosco, voice of Jai Kell and many others.
- [39:57]
Vanessa Marshall
Sometimes we'll even have a lively debate.
- [39:59]
Stephen A. Smith
And we'll have Plenty of other fun.
- [40:00]
Nate Thompson
Surprises and trivia too.
- [40:02]
Tia Sircar
Oh, and me, well, I'm the lucky ghost crew Stowaway, who gets to help moderate and guide the discussion each week. Kind of like how Kanan guided Ezra in the ways of the force. You see what I did there?
- [40:12]
Vanessa Marshall
Nicely done, John.
- [40:13]
Tia Sircar
Thanks, Tia.
- [40:15]
Vanessa Marshall
So hang on. Cause it's gonna be a fun ride.
- [40:18]
Nate Thompson
Cue the music.
- [40:25]
Tia Sircar
Listen to Potter Rebellion on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [40:34]
Ellie Honig
Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith show right here over the Digital Airways of YouTube and of course, iHeartRadio. You know, before I get to my next guest, let me say this because I had to bring up something in regards to P. Diddy. We all know that he's incarcerated. He's in a Brooklyn jail. Obviously, he's been charged with racketeering along with other charges that I've already brought up on numerous occasions. And then, lo and behold, I'm reading a story with tmz and it's talking about how some of the folks that showed up to Diddy's parties all had.
- [41:03]
Stephen A. Smith
To sign non disclosure agreements. And as a result, it had me thinking, and it's got some people out there thinking that maybe, just maybe, he.
- [41:11]
Ellie Honig
Ain'T gonna spend the rest of his life in jail.
- [41:13]
Stephen A. Smith
Maybe, just maybe, he might get off. I am not qualified to answer such questions, ladies and gentlemen. So I brought somebody on here that would shed some light to it because he's been on here before and he.
- [41:23]
Ellie Honig
Was absolutely spectacular when he joined the show. Joining me to break down the NDA and more about the ongoing case is attorney at cnn, senior legal analyst, Ellie Honig. Ellie, what's going on, man?
- [41:35]
Stephen A. Smith
How are you?
- [41:35]
Ellie Honig
How's everything, Stephen?
- [41:37]
Jon Favreau
A election eve.
- [41:37]
Stephen A. Smith
We ready?
- [41:38]
Jon Favreau
This is gonna be. This is gonna be something to watch. I'm ready. I think people are anxious, but I'm ready to get it over.
- [41:42]
Ellie Honig
That's all of us are anxious and all of us are ready to get it.
- [41:45]
Stephen A. Smith
Two things can be true.
- [41:47]
Ellie Honig
And both of those things that you were anxious, and we're anxious for it to be over and done with.
- [41:50]
Stephen A. Smith
But let me get to Diddy for.
- [41:52]
Ellie Honig
A second with you.
- [41:53]
Stephen A. Smith
NDA non Disclosure agreement. We read these stories, we hear TMZ talking about it. A lot of people are thinking Diddy may end up winning. Because you know what? These NDAs may be enforced and nobody.
- [42:05]
Ellie Honig
May say anything about them.
- [42:07]
Stephen A. Smith
How real is that possibility? Ellie?
- [42:09]
Jon Favreau
I would not be overly optimistic if I was Sean Combs or his defense team because of these NDAs I don't think they're going to do him much, if any, good in his criminal case. Now, here's the deal. NDAs, Non Disclosure Agreements, they sound bad. They're usually not great, they don't look great, but they're not illegal. Ordinarily, they are legal. Corporations enter into them all the time. There are valid purposes for NDAs, and there are invalid purposes. And what courts are going to ask if somebody like Sean Combs says, well, this person can't testify me against because he or she signed an NDA? The court's going to ask, first of all, is this bad for public policy? And second of all, did the person fully understand what they were signing? Are the terms clear? Did it make sense? Let's assume, just for the sake of argument, that the terms were clear on these NDAs. I'm not so sure that's the case. But then the court's going to get to the other question, which is, is this against public policy? Would this be a bad idea? And the One thing that NDAs absolutely cannot overcome is a criminal investigation. You cannot avoid testifying in a grand jury, testifying at a criminal trial, turning over evidence by saying, well, I was a guest at one of these events and I signed an NDA, therefore I can't break the NDA. That will not work. Prosecutors will tell you we don't care about the NDA. FBI will tell you we don't care about the NDA. And the law will tell you that in that situation, the NDA does not protect Sean Combs in a criminal case.
- [43:35]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, then what the hell are we missing, Ellie? I mean, when folks sign an NDAs, I mean, I mean, we're thinking that that provides some level of security for the people who drew up the NDAs, because they don't want folks talking their business and they don't want people slandering them, maligning them in any way. If you're telling me the FBI, the.
- [43:53]
Ellie Honig
District attorney's office, the courts, et cetera.
- [43:55]
Stephen A. Smith
Don'T care about it, then how significant.
- [43:57]
Ellie Honig
Is NDA in today's society?
- [44:00]
Jon Favreau
Yeah, so we see these, like I said, all the time. Corporations have people say that Donald Trump famously had people sign NDAs if they worked for him. In other terminology, sometimes people call it hush money. Here's the way they do work, though. Let's assume everything's on the up and up. Let's assume both parties understand what the NDA means and they sign it willfully and voluntarily. Then the way it does work is if somebody speaks out publicly against Sean Combs outside the context of a criminal case, then they can be sued. And this is what sort of Donald Trump's NDAs are. A lot of us may not even realize that we've signed them. When we signed contracts to work for certain employers, there's often an NDA in there that says you cannot after your employment disparage, fill in the blank organization. And if you do, then under this agreement, we get to sue you. Sometimes it says specifically how much money. It could say some crazy amount, $10 million, whatever. And sometimes it just says we get to sue you for damages. So the reason they do work is again, assuming that they're sort of written up in a legal way, they can actually be used to prevent somebody from speaking out in a public non criminal setting.
- [45:07]
Ellie Honig
Well, it's interesting that you bring that up because if you know that and you're educating us about that, you certainly can surmise that Diddy's lawyers know that yet. And still they file paperwork with the Southern District of New York on Sunday asking the judge to order potential witnesses in his criminal case to be, be quiet.
- [45:26]
Stephen A. Smith
What do you make of that?
- [45:27]
Jon Favreau
No chance. No chance that motion gets granted. No federal judge is going to say, well, you signed an NDA, therefore you can't be a witness at this trial. Now, judges do and sometimes can and sometimes do, Steven, issue what we call gag orders. Again, we saw some of these in the Trump cases where he says, okay, parties to the case, federal government, doj, Sean Combs, maybe sometimes even witnesses. You are not to make out of court public statements because I don't want you to potentially impact the jury pool. I don't want to create pretrial publicity that may be harmful to the defendant here, Sean Combs, who does have constitutional rights. So you might see a court say something like that, but no judge on the planet is going to say, oh, well, I guess we, the criminal courts are out of luck because you signed an NDA. So therefore we don't get your evidence. That would. Imagine if that was the case. Imagine if you could keep someone off of the witness stand or out of a grand jury by just making them sign. And you would, you would allow rich, powerful people to avoid accountability like crazy. Just go, oh, sorry, can't testify. You sign this thing.
- [46:29]
Stephen A. Smith
What is it that people are saying?
- [46:30]
Ellie Honig
They're saying that this Diddy NDA is not a standard NDA. What's different about this one if it's not a standard one?
- [46:36]
Jon Favreau
Also, it's interesting, there's no one size fits all. I'D be interested to see the specifics of what's in it. But what judges are going to look at, basically look there. If you just went online and googled sample NDA, you would see samples, and lawyers use samples all the time. The key things that a judge is going to evaluate. So let's say hypothetically, one of these witnesses went forward and did an interview, forget about the criminal case, but did an interview with some with tmz, let's say, and said, here's what I saw at this event where I signed an NDA. And then Sean Combs said, oh, you violated the NDA, now I'm suing you. The first thing the court's going to do is let's look at the NDA. Are the terms clear, are they fair, and is it bad for public policy to keep this person from talking? A lot of times these NDAs are very unequal in terms of the bargaining power. Right. You just, you don't even look. Yeah, sure, I agree. You know, these people are often, I assume the people who are signing these were not represented by lawyers. So I think there's going to be some problem enforcing these NDAs anywhere. But again, definitely not in criminal court.
- [47:37]
Stephen A. Smith
Is it true that some of the.
- [47:38]
Ellie Honig
Jane and John Doe victims have to be revealed in this case? Is that, is that true?
- [47:43]
Jon Favreau
Eventually they absolutely will if they're going to testify at trial. It is absolutely standard procedure, Stephen, that at this phase, and we have an indictment, but we're moving towards trial, prosecutors are going to protect the identity of those witnesses. I think for obvious purposes, they don't want people being intimidated, tampered with. And so, yes, you often will say something like John Doe, Jane Doe witness. One generic terms. But if and when there's a trial in the state, and I think there will be, then the people have to take the stand and they can't be anonymous. In some very extraordinary situations, usually involving someone who's a minor, there's ways to protect that person's identity. The defendant would still know who it is, but to protect that person from the public. I actually did that once. We had a 16 or 15 year old who had witnessed a robbery. We were able to allow him to testify under certain circum, you know, sort of more confidentially than normal from another room by video feed. But ordinarily, once you put someone on the stand, you have to identify that person to the defense. And anything that happens in trial, Stephen, is public record. You or I could go watch. You can get the transcript. So, yeah, eventually these people's identities will be revealed. But look, the government, when I say government, I mean prosecutors and FBI, they have an obligation to protect these folks and make sure that they're taken care of and make sure that they're not threatened or endangered.
- [48:54]
Ellie Honig
So you, you weren't here weeks ago.
- [48:57]
Stephen A. Smith
Compared to weeks ago to where we are right now in light of the inordinate amount of information that has come.
- [49:03]
Ellie Honig
Out, Whether it be NDAs or anything.
- [49:06]
Stephen A. Smith
Else, is Diddy in any kind of better situation now, at least perception wise.
- [49:13]
Ellie Honig
Than he was, dare I say, six weeks ago, anything like that?
- [49:16]
Jon Favreau
No, I think he's in a worse situation, as far as we can tell. And we always have to say we're not on the inside. We don't know what's happening behind closed doors. But here's the biggest thing that's happened, Stephen, since we last talked. There's been a slew of civil lawsuits, right, that have come forward and alleged, again, not criminal, but sued Sean Combs and said that he has sexually assaulted and harassed people. Now, here's what prosecutors are going to do. They probably already knew about some of these folks. And so fine. But I assure you some of these people were previously unknown to prosecutors. Now, as a prosecutor, you don't just take someone who's sued and go, well, that person's good to go. We're going to put that person on our witness list. But you absolutely are going to check that person out. You're going to ask the lawyer, hey, I saw the allegation. I'd like to speak with this person. You're going to cross check their information. Can I back it up? Can I corroborate it against other evidence? And if you conclude as a prosecutor, well, 3218 of these new people are credible, they get added to your case. So I think mathematically that can only mean more witnesses against Sean Combs, Even if only 1 out of 3, 1 out of 4 of them pan out to the point prosecutors won't fall to.
- [50:20]
Ellie Honig
Get on out of here. I'd be remiss in neglecting to have you on the air and not bring up Donald Trump and his legal issues only from this perspective. I'm not going to ask you to speculate about the election. That's not your bag. I get that part. But here's where it becomes very, very riveting to me. So much has been made that, you know, whether sure or not, so many people believe the major reason he's running for office right now is to stay out of jail. If Donald Trump were to lose this election.
- [50:48]
Stephen A. Smith
In light of the legal matters he.
- [50:51]
Ellie Honig
Has waiting for him. If he is not President elect Donald Trump at some point in time this week, what's his future looking like?
- [51:01]
Jon Favreau
Ellie I don't think we've ever had a moment in American history, Stephen, where somebody had as much at stake as Donald Trump does right now. Just focusing on Donald Trump himself, scenario A is he wins the White House. If that happens, these cases are all either dead or they're postponed until he's out. He's never gonna get tried, he's never gonna go to prison. If he wins this election with the two federal cases, he'll either dismiss them, have his attorney general dismiss them, fire Jack Smith. There's a bunch of things he can do. But the two federal cases will die. The two state cases in New York and Georgia almost certainly will have to be on hold until he's done being president. So that's scenario A, he's in the White House. Scenario B, he loses. And he's gonna have to wrestle with all four of these cases. The Manhattan case, the hush money case that he was convicted on, he said to be sentenced in three weeks. At the end of November, he will have a sentencing date set. Now, even if he gets prison, and I think it's 5050 whether he gets prison, he's almost certainly not going to get sent away right away. He will get to do his appeals first, but that could well end up in a prison sentence for him. He's going to have to deal with the two federal cases, the January six case and the Mar A Lago documents case. He may have to deal with the Georgia case, although it's looking like that case may end up getting dismissed, but he's going to have a three or four front criminal legal battle. So scenario A, he's in the White House. Scenario B, he spends the next two, three years fighting for his freedom in the criminal courts and could end up behind bars.
- [52:25]
Ellie Honig
And to be clear, even though it's unlikely that she would do so, could.
- [52:30]
Stephen A. Smith
He be, could he be would she.
- [52:33]
Ellie Honig
Have the license, the right as President of the United States to pardon him from these crimes, or is it just a federal thing and she can't do anything for him with state issues?
- [52:41]
Jon Favreau
So two of the four cases are federal and with respect to those two cases, not just Kamala Harris if she were to win, but Joe Biden. I mean, Joe Biden still has another couple months in office. But yes, a president can absolutely issue a pardon to Donald Trump. We saw some precedent for that back in the 70s, when Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon before he could be indicted. So, yeah, I don't think it's at all likely that Joe Biden would make one of his final acts in office a pardon of Donald Trump. And I wouldn't want to be Kamala Harris in that situation. I wouldn't bet that she will pardon him either. I should say another possibility is a commutation. It could be that they say, well, let's let these cases play out. Let's let him go to trial and then we'll see what the sentence is. And maybe three years, two. Three years. Now he's been convicted and sentenced to X amount of time in prison. And somebody, whoever the President is, might make a decision, well, we'll leave his conviction on the books. I don't want to issue a full pardon like Nixon, but I'm not sure he needs to go to prison again. I think that's unlikely. But you're absolutely right, Stephen, that that's possible. Now, the two state cases, New York and Georgia, there's nothing the President can do about. In New York, only the governor can issue a pardon. I don't think Kathy Hochul, the Democratic governor of New York, is likely to do that. And in Georgia, there is this Board of Pardons that has to recommend it to the governor, which doesn't look especially likely to me either.
- [53:58]
Ellie Honig
Last question. What happens at the Supreme Court if either side wins?
- [54:03]
Jon Favreau
Wow. I mean, so the stakes here, everyone's rightly focused on the White House and Congress, which are all at stake on Tuesday. But the Supreme Court's at stake, too. I mean, right now it's six to three, six conservatives all appointed by Republicans, three liberals, all appointed by Democrats. If Donald Trump wins that majority is two things are going to happen. One, you could see retirements from the two oldest justices on the court, Thomas and Alito, both of whom are in their 70s, mid-70s. And if that happens, they're going to be replaced with new conservatives who are given precedent, 45, 50 years old, and they're going to hold those seats for another 25, 30 years. On the other side, if Kamala Harris wins, then we might see Justice Sotomayor, who's the oldest of the three liberals. She's 70 now. She might retire, which would then give Kamala Harris the ability to do what we saw happen under the Biden administration when Stephen Breyer retired. And then Ketanji Brown Jackson, who's 30 years younger, 25 years younger, came in, we could see the same thing. And that doesn't even get into like God forbid, what if someone were to pass away. But if someone does die in the next four years, then that could actually change the 6 to 3 balance could become 7. Two conservatives if Trump wins, could become 5, 4. Even if two conservatives were to pass away, could end up with a 5, 4 liberal court by the end of this. So and Stephen, just a little fact for you here. Clarence Thomas is about to begin his service as a Supreme Court justice in the 10th presidential administration. He was appointed in 91 by Bush. And if he makes it to the end of whoever wins, whether it's Harris or Trump, if he makes it to the end of 2028, he will become the single longest serving justice in US history. Right now he's second to a guy named William O. Douglas. So there's a little if it comes up on Jeopardy. For you under Supreme Court trivia, you'll have that locked in.
- [55:48]
Ellie Honig
Ellie Honig, you are absolutely, positively, you're just fabulous, man. I really, really appreciate you showing up and coming on the show for me again right before the appreciate you so much. Thanks, my man, and we'll talk soon. All right, you take care.
- [56:01]
Jon Favreau
Thanks, Steven. Great talking to you. See you soon.
- [56:03]
Ellie Honig
Thanks again to one and only Ellie Honing. Before I get to my next subject involving Drake, Kendrick LaMar and an NBA player that Drake once loved, but not anymore, it appears. Before I do that, I got some bills to pay.
- [56:19]
Stephen A. Smith
Listen, I'm hyped because basketball season has started and it's nothing like watching a.
- [56:23]
Ellie Honig
Game live in the arena.
- [56:25]
Stephen A. Smith
Getting there early to watch the players warm up, throwing the ball off the backboard, slamming the ball in the hoop for a crazy dunk, or kneeling a three pointer from half court. All this action and the game hasn't even started. This type of energy is only felt when you're in the building and why not be there standing and cheering with everybody else? You can get that experience through game time. Game Time makes it easy to snag those tickets with a new feature called Game Time Picks. Game Time picks filters through everything so you only see credible deals on great seats, saving you time from having to search through thousands of tickets. You can even see the view of your seat from your phone before you buy. There are so many ways to save and yes, even on those last minute purchases, the all in pricing shows your total cost of upfront and bam. You buy your tickets in seconds with just two taps. And Game time. It's not just for basketball games, y'all.
- [57:15]
Ellie Honig
You can get exclusive deals on tickets.
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Stephen A. Smith
For football, baseball, concerts, comedy, the theater, and more. And Game Time guarantees you'll always get the best price, no matter when you buy. If you find tickets in the same section and roll for less, Game Time will credit you 110% of the difference. And if the event is canceled and not rescheduled, GameTime will automatically provide you.
- [57:38]
Ellie Honig
With a full refund, no questions asked. So look, take the guesswork out of the buying tickets with GameTime pigs.
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Stephen A. Smith
Please download the GameTime app, create an account and use the code SAS for $20 off your first purchase terms. Apply again, create an account and redeem code SAS for $20 off download game Time today. What time is it? It's game time.
- [58:02]
Ellie Honig
It's time to move on to some other stuff. To the latest beef for Drake, who apparently has issues with Sacramento King and former Toronto Raptor star DeMar DeRozan of the NBA.
- [58:12]
Stephen A. Smith
Did y'all know about this?
- [58:13]
Ellie Honig
DeRozan, who's from Los Angeles, appeared in Kendrick Lamar's They Not Like Us video, which is a diss track that destroyed Drake this past summer.
- [58:22]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, on Saturday night, the Kings were.
- [58:24]
Ellie Honig
In Toronto playing the Raptors on Vince Carter's jersey retirement night.
- [58:28]
Stephen A. Smith
Drake said he would take down DeRozan's.
- [58:30]
Ellie Honig
Jersey if the Raptors ever retired it. Take a listen.
- [58:34]
Jon Favreau
Speaking of national treasure.
- [58:35]
Ellie Honig
Yes?
- [58:36]
Nate Thompson
If you ever put a DeRozan banner.
- [58:38]
Stephen A. Smith
Up, I'll go up there and pull it down myself. That's the answer.
- [58:41]
Nate Thompson
Is that what you're gonna ask? No, I didn't mean to. Well, you know De and Kyle. Yeah. Well, shout out.
- [58:47]
Ellie Honig
The statues are next.
- [58:49]
Nate Thompson
Well, yeah, they are.
- [58:52]
Stephen A. Smith
I'm a New Yorker. Is this going to be them like this?
- [58:55]
Ellie Honig
You heard that from Drake? Here's what the Rosen said after the game when asked about it tonight's broadcast.
- [59:00]
Jon Favreau
Drake said, if you ever put up the Rosen banner up, I'll go up.
- [59:03]
Stephen A. Smith
There and pull it down myself.
- [59:04]
Jon Favreau
What's your action to that?
- [59:05]
J
Well, he got a. He going to have a long way to climb to take it down. So tell him good luck.
- [59:11]
Ellie Honig
A couple of things. Number one, I sincerely hope Drake was playing around. I really, really do. Because DeMar DeRozan has been one of the great players in the NBA. His biggest crime was that he couldn't beat LeBron. If y'all remember, before Kawhi Leonard arrived, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors were winning about 56 to 58 games a year. They were religiously a top two seed in the Eastern Conference. They just couldn't beat LeBron. It's just that simple. There's no way around it. They couldn't beat LeBron. And so now when everybody thinks they want to shove it aside because Kawhi Leonard, who was better, of course, comes to Toronto and ultimately wins a championship, everybody keeps forgetting Kawhi Leonard arrived when LeBron departed for the Lakers, LeBron wasn't in the Eastern Conference as an impediment and potential roadblock to Kawhi Leonard. When Kawhi. When Kawhi Leonard went to Toronto, he was gone. Which means it's entirely plausible that what Toronto accomplished with Kawhi Leonard in getting to the NBA Finals, DeMar DeRozan could have done as well once LeBron James had departed for the west coast and the Lakers.
- [60:25]
Stephen A. Smith
And then when Kawhi went to the Finals, Kevin Durant got hurt towards Achilles.
- [60:35]
Ellie Honig
There's no way in hell Toronto's beating Golden State if Kevin Durant is healthy.
- [60:39]
Stephen A. Smith
It's not happening.
- [60:40]
Ellie Honig
You can cancel that.
- [60:41]
Stephen A. Smith
It's not happening.
- [60:42]
Ellie Honig
Okay, so we know that. So let's get that out.
- [60:45]
Stephen A. Smith
The way I say all of that.
- [60:48]
Ellie Honig
To say if you know anything about Drake, he loves his Raptors, which means he loved DeMar DeRozan. I'm just looking at some of the stuff here.
- [60:56]
Stephen A. Smith
He and Drake did a skit with.
- [60:58]
Ellie Honig
Will Ferrell and shared the COVID of Slam magazine with Kyle Lowry, among many other moments after the Rosen was traded to The spurs in 2018, Drake Pendant Instagram Farewell in which he called the Rosen his brother.
- [61:11]
Stephen A. Smith
On Drake's 2021 Lemon Pepper Freestyle, he.
- [61:14]
Ellie Honig
Paid homage by saying, and my city loved me like DeMar DeRozan, a reminder of Toronto's enduring adulation for the Compton native.
- [61:22]
Stephen A. Smith
So one can only surmise that if Drake is speaking this way about DeMar.
- [61:27]
Ellie Honig
DeRozan at this particular point, assuming he's not playing, assuming he's serious, it had to be because he's pissed off that DeMar DeRozan was in the they Not Like Us video with Kendrick Lamar. Plus, he showed up when he was performing in concert. But here's my point. DeMar DeRozan's from Compton. So is Kendrick Lamar. Westbrook's from Long beach, if I remember correctly. But he was on stage two. Russell Westbrook. But Demar DeRose is from Compton. That's his homeboy.
- [62:02]
Stephen A. Smith
And the performance was in la.
- [62:05]
Ellie Honig
So.
- [62:05]
Stephen A. Smith
I don't know how much Mad Drake.
- [62:07]
Ellie Honig
Should be at that. And then Kendrick Lamar wrote, I'm glad D. Rose came home. Y'all didn't deserve him. Neither had that on the record.
- [62:14]
Stephen A. Smith
Not like Us, I get it.
- [62:18]
Ellie Honig
But I'm just saying, you know, I didn't expect that from Drake. I hope he's playing. I hope he's playing. Cause Demar ain't trying to get involved in none of that. He don't need to be. And the bottom line is, is that that's his homeboy. You know, I ain't trying to go on stage for much, but I remember I was on stage when 50 was performing in Vegas years ago. Me and Amari Hardwick and all of those cats was on stage. Why?
- [62:41]
Stephen A. Smith
Because fitting from Queens. And so am I, if Run DMC asked me to come up on stage, hey, from Hollis. That's where I'm from. So I, I mean, I would hope people would understand that that's just me.
- [62:56]
Ellie Honig
I hope, I hope Drake was only playing. I really, really do. I really do. By the way, on a sad note, before we get to break, I want to take time to remember the late great Quincy Jones who passed away yesterday at the age of 91. Jones is probably best known as the producer of Michael Jackson's Thriller album. But his legendary career spanned decades before even that. He won a total of 28 Grammys as an arranger and producer. And his legacy career intersected with other legends like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, and of course, Mr. Duke Ellington himself. Here's a look at just some of the artists impacted by Jones legendary career. He's one of one, one of the most iconic figures that ever existed in the music industry. The music industry in the world lost a great one. None of us can live forever, but our legacy can. The work we put out and put forth definitely can live forever. I wish him, his family, my deepest condolences and sympathy. We've lost a great one. Gone but never forgotten. The one and only Quincy Jones, gone at the age of 91. Back with more in a minute. Welcome back.
- [64:21]
Stephen A. Smith
My next guest served as the head.
- [64:23]
Ellie Honig
Speechwriter to former President Barack Obama. Since then he founded the crooked media podcast platform and host POD Save America. An offline with Jon Favreau. Please welcome to the Stephen A. Smith show, the man himself, Jon Favreau. What's going on? John, how are you, man? Pleasure to meet you.
- [64:41]
Stephen A. Smith
How's everything going?
- [64:42]
Nate Thompson
Pleasure to meet you too. I'm doing well. You know, it's election, election eve nerves, but other than that, I'm feeling good.
- [64:50]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, I gotta admit, man, you got a smile on your face. What the hell is the smile about it? Because everybody else in the world look nervous and what have you, you got this smile on your face is looking for us like, it's like you can't wait.
- [65:00]
Nate Thompson
I have been in politics for 20 years. I've been doing campaigns since 2004. Won some, lost some. And I get so nervous before every single election day. And I decided that this time around, my anxiety is not going to change the outcome. So I might as well just be calm and if, you know, if the outcome doesn't go my way, I have plenty of time to be miserable after, after the votes are.
- [65:21]
Ellie Honig
I got you. I got you. That makes perfect sense. We're one day away from a consequential election. Obviously, you've had a very unique vantage point serving in the Obama administration. Thoughts on where the country stands right now?
- [65:33]
Nate Thompson
I think it's pretty close. It's going to be a pretty close election. That's no surprise. That's what all the polls are showing. But look, I think here's how I see it. The Kamala Harris and the Democrats are facing a political environment that is pretty brutal, which is, you know, post pandemic incumbent governments all over the world. Incumbents have been losing partly because of the post pandemic sort of malaise, hangover from inflation, prices still too high, immigration issues. And that's. Those are some headwinds that Kamala Harris and the Democrats are facing. That said, Donald Trump is, you know, Donald Trump and he. And, and the. There's an anti maga coalition in this country that has turned out since 2016 to be Donald Trump and Trump Republicans in every single election since 16. And he is pretty toxic to voters. And I think that if it turns out that Kamala Harris wins, it's going to be because Donald Trump is an undisciplined, extreme candidate that people do not want to see in office for another four years. And that women who were upset with the Dobbs decision and Americans were very upset with, with Trump and the threat he poses for democracy are going to come out once again and turn out in big numbers and, and win a close election. So that's sort of how I see it. I see that the political environment is tough, but Trump presents a real opportunity for Democrats just because he is such a undisciplined, bad candidate.
- [67:11]
Ellie Honig
What about the opportunity Kamala Harris presents to the other side when you consider the fact that she didn't endure a primary, that ultimately Biden had to step away on July 21 and a lot of people on the right are saying if was essentially handed to her. And you think about the war in Ukraine between Russia and Ukraine and you Think about the Israeli Palestinian conflict or Hamas and Hezbollah and all of that stuff. And now Iran is in the mix, and Trump, you know, with his cold words or with his rhetoric, is like, do you really want her? Do you really. Are you sure you want her instead of me? What about the threat to her winning the election that that may pose?
- [67:49]
Nate Thompson
Yeah, that's, that's her. That's probably the biggest challenge she faces. Right. And look, I do think when you talk to voters who have not made up their minds yet, it's not necessarily that they're buying into what Trump and the Republicans are saying about her, but they just don't know enough about her is what you'll hear from people. So they'll say, oh, yeah, she just, she just sort of came out of nowhere, and I don't really know what she stands for. And I was actually in, I was knocking on doors in Las Vegas over the weekend, and I talked to someone who works at one of the hotels there, and I asked her if she was voting, and she's like, yeah, I think I'm going to vote for Trump. And I was like, oh, well, why are you voting for Trump? And she said, well, I just, I don't know much about, about Harris. Like, she, it's like she just appeared out of nowhere. And so I started talking about Kamala Harris's record, not just as vice president, but when she was Attorney general. And I said, you know, she took on these big banks. She got homeowners a lot of money from the banks who they were trying to screw homeowners over. And then there were these for profit colleges that scammed veterans and, and college kids, and she won money from them, too. And then all of a sudden, this woman starts being like, you know what? I didn't know all that about Kamala Harris. That's pretty good. I'm gonna, I'm gonna look at, I'm gonna look up some more information on her. Maybe I'll, maybe I'll vote for her now instead of Trump. So those are the decisions that the undecided voters are actually making right now. And those of us who pay super close attention to politics, like, we hear the Democrats argument and the Harris argument a lot, and we hear the Trump argument a lot. But that most people who aren't paying close attention to politics, they're just sort of tuning in now and, and making up their mind. So that's, you know, there's probably 4 to 5% of voters in the swing states who are truly undecided, and there's maybe about 10% who are what we call persuadable voters, meaning they might be leaning towards Harris or leaning towards Trump, but can still have their minds changed.
- [69:31]
Ellie Honig
You were the primary speechwriter of Obama's iconic 2009 inauguration address. That was a fabulous speech, no question about that. You two come from vastly different upbringings as well. How involved was he in handling, in hand over the authority of his words to, to people like yourself? How, how, how, how lenient was he in that regard?
- [69:51]
Nate Thompson
Well, it's funny because when I, I started speechwriting for him when he got to the Senate in 2005, I had been a speechwriter on John Kerry's campaign, and when I sat down with him the first. For the first time, he said, you know, I write all my speeches myself, and I don't really think I need a speechwriter. But, you know, my, my communications director says that I'm going to need to learn to work with someone because now I'm going to be too busy to write all my own speeches. He's like, and, you know, you seem nice enough, so let's give this a whirl. So I think, I think at first he didn't think that he was going to need a speechwriter, but as he got busier and busier, I got to really know him and I got to sit down with them. And of course, he's written two books, and so I didn't just learn, like, how he writes and how he speaks, but I sort of ended up learning how he thinks. And eventually, over time, he started trusting me with, you know, writing his speeches. And that still meant that when there was a big speech, he would get really involved, and he and I would go back and forth on drafts, and, you know, he would do a lot of writing on his own. He would, like, handwrite, you know, pages and pages of, of, of. Of speechwriting and then give it back to me, and then I'd have to incorporate it into the draft. But, you know, the two of us got to know each other and went back and forth. And I think the key to any, the key to really speech writing, well, for someone is to not use them as like a vessel to talk about what you want to talk about, but to really get inside their mind and to really try to empathize with what they want to say, what their life experiences are and how they want to communicate.
- [71:25]
Ellie Honig
I have to ask you, because I think that Obama is one of the great speakers in American history. When this man gave a speech, when he still gives a speech in most Instances, if not all, they're incredibly riveting. And you, being a speechwriter for him, you'd obviously have a clue about who needs more help than the others. I think that in this particular election, it's clear who needs more help than the other, because I watched Trump ramble on and on and on, put me to sleep during the Republican National Convention. But nevertheless, there have been times where you've looked, looked at Kamala Harris, and she's done an exceptional job giving a speech, yet in the same breath, people have challenged the authenticity of it all because of the manner in which it was delivered. Is it really her or is it the speechwriter? Is it the Democratic Party? Coming across this way, how do you feel about her as a speech giver? And how glaring is it, if at all, in your mind, are the words of others being put in her mouth?
- [72:33]
Nate Thompson
So I know her speechwriters quite well. Her. Her head speechwriter was the first person I hired on the Obama campaign, and so he. So I know what their process is like. And she's also someone who, you know, really digs in on a speech as well. I think what's different this campaign is because she's only had 90 days as the candidate, it is such a tightrope that she has been walking right. Like, everything has to go right for her. I mean, you brought this up earlier, right? Like, the, you know, Joe Biden was a very. Is an unpopular incumbent president. She usually, most candidates have a year to, you know, do interviews and do speeches, and you practice and you screw up and you. You get better and better. And then finally when everyone starts paying attention, you know, you've had enough practice. And she just was like, like shot out of a cannon with 90 days to go. And so I think in her speeches, they sound sort of more on message than you might expect from someone who's run a whole campaign, because she just doesn't have that much time. And she had so much to do. Right. She has to define herself just to remind people of the stakes, just to talk about what she wants to do, and she has to talk about what Trump will do if he wins again. And she's doing all this in the glare of the national spotlight while she's giving speeches, doing interviews, doing all the rest of it. So I think that the speeches are probably more tightly structured and there's less room for, like, improvisation, probably because she doesn't want to screw up because she's. She knows that, you know, one misstep or stumble here and Trump could win. And I Think she feels the weight of that Acutely. I can tell the responsibility she feels. So I think that there is an element of like, playing it safe, only in that, like, you're not going to start thinking, okay, what kind of interesting argument do I want to make this time? Because you're like, all right, what's. What is the most important thing I want to tell people? What is the message I need to hammer home and how do we just go win this thing?
- [74:27]
Ellie Honig
I got a couple of more questions about. A few more questions, actually, before I let you get on out of here. Number one, I just wanted to remind the audience you co founded the progressive political platform crooked media in 2017 with three other Obama staffers. And then I'm looking at. Crooked Media has more than 40 shows and engages directly in political activism. According to my research, including advocating for center left policies and candidates. Billionaire George Soros, liberal billionaire, has a minority stake in the company. Here's my question to you. If half the country is conservative, how does anything get accomplished in a divided America? Especially, I mean, when you consider again, you know, you got, y'all are liberals and you're dealing with a bunch of conservatives right now. And Tom seemed to be crazy. I imagine that in today's generation, it's harder than ever before to get anything done. How do you.
- [75:19]
Nate Thompson
Yeah, it's a great question. Look, the country is, like you said, it is divided. And I think my view on this, and I think this comes from having a campaign background and especially working for Barack Obama is, you know, even though we're a left leaning media company here at Crooked, my goal when we're talking to people, when we're putting out content, is to try to persuade people. And so, you know, people, people know that we're liberal, right? Like that's, we're not trying to hide it. But that doesn't mean that I'm not gonna work.
- [75:49]
Ellie Honig
Can I pause you? You're talking about getting things, you know, why would you call yourself crooked? And how do you think that's gonna help you get things done?
- [75:59]
Stephen A. Smith
I'm just interested in that. I mean, it just threw me off. It just threw me. I was like, I hope I'm pronouncing this right. I hope I'm reading this right. Is this true?
- [76:05]
Ellie Honig
Is it Crooked Media?
- [76:07]
Stephen A. Smith
I mean, that name, I'm just. You just talked about getting things done, you know, and convincing an inordinate amount of American citizens to flow along with you all. But you call yourself Crooked Media.
- [76:19]
Nate Thompson
Well, that was our, that was our tongue in cheek. Name that we gave ourselves in the wake of Trump winning in, in 2016. That's when we founded the company. So Pod Save America is our flagship podcast, which is, you know, probably, and we do Vote Save America. That's our outreach and mobilization that you talked about. So those names are a little easier probably than crooked. But one of the most important things about this company is we want to use humor. So because we do think that, like, you know, when you go to someone, you're trying to convince them and you're just yelling at them all the time, or you're, you're just assuming you're right, all that kind of, it's tough. And so I do think, think you need some humor. You need to be friendly, you need to show empathy to people. You need to have be understanding, you need to listen to people. Those are all, I think, strategies to try to persuade people. Because you're right, if we're not persuading people and we're just yelling and we're just yelling our talking points, then we're never going to break the division of the country. We're never going to get anything done.
- [77:13]
Ellie Honig
What is your closing pitch to voters who still undecided one day before this election?
- [77:18]
Nate Thompson
My closing pitch is whatever you may think of Donald Trump's first term, the Donald Trump that would return to the White House is completely different. He has become more extreme. The people who used to work for him, even four star generals, even conservative Republicans, are trying to warn us that he is more unhinged than ever. And the people around him in the next White House are going to be some of the most extreme people who've ever worked in the government. And they are going to want to institute a national abortion ban. They're going to want to slap a 20% tax on everything we buy that's imported. They want to give a huge tax cut to rich people. That's the entirety of his economic plan for everyone thinks he's good for the economy. He's not putting more money in your pocket. He's going to take money out of your pocket and he's going to try to take away your health care and prescription drugs as well. Kamala Harris is, when she was attorney general in California, she fought for people and she took on big, powerful interest banks for profit lenders. And she did it on behalf of working people. And she has an agenda to actually lower costs for people, whether it's health care, whether it's food. And she also wants to make sure that we have reproductive freedom again in this country. Because right now, one in three women are living under a Trump abortion ban. And so to me, it's an easy choice. Even if you're a Republican, even if you don't usually vote for Democrats. Donald Trump, he's in it for himself. He's not in it for you. He's never, he's never cared much about anyone but himself. And, and Kamala Harris is the better choice.
- [78:44]
Ellie Honig
Last question. With everything that you just said, if Donald Trump were to win this election, what possible, what possible hope would folks on the left have moving forward if their ingrained belief is exactly what you described? And as a result of it, that's what they feel they have to, to look forward to over the next four years?
- [79:13]
Stephen A. Smith
How you overcome that?
- [79:14]
Nate Thompson
Well, I would say that there's two, there's two responses to a Trump victory, right? One is to give up, sit back and say, you know what? I, this is what I have to look forward to the next four years. I don't want to do anything about it. I want to just sit here and, and unplug. And if we do that, you can guarantee that not only will the next four years be bad and every in, you know, everything that liberals don't want, but that the four years after that will be bad, too, because if we just give up, they're going to win. If, on the other hand, we respond by saying, okay, this is a divided country and we have to go figure out how to persuade people and change their minds so that for the next election that we can actually win and that it's possible to change minds. And the reason it's possible is because the country is so closely divided, on a nice edge, that just a couple thousand votes in a couple swing states can change an entire electoral outcome. And so if you want to quit and you want to give up, that's fine, but if you actually want to work for the future that you believe, then you got to keep going and you got to get involved and you got to go out and talk to people who, who might not agree with you.
- [80:17]
Ellie Honig
John, I got to get on out of here for now. I need a favor because you're somebody I know I'm going to enjoy talking to a lot about this country moving forward. And I really, really want to have you back on, specifically after the election, sometime over the next few days. So I can't wait to talk to you once the outcome is decided. I can't wait to talk to you more about Pod Save America, because it's called no conversation about politics. And I love no bs. So I love all of that.
- [80:43]
Nate Thompson
I know.
- [80:44]
Ellie Honig
I want to thank you for coming on. I want to thank you for coming on, but I want to, I want to emphasize that I'm really looking forward to talking to you again in the near future and having a lengthier conversation about where you think this country is.
- [80:55]
Stephen A. Smith
Going after we know who's going to.
- [80:56]
Ellie Honig
Be in the White House come January.
- [80:58]
Nate Thompson
January.
- [80:58]
Ellie Honig
All right.
- [80:58]
Nate Thompson
That sounds good. I'd be happy to. I'd be love to come back, man.
- [81:02]
Ellie Honig
Thank you so much. I appreciate the one and only John Favre. You can catch Pod, Save America and offline with John Favre. Wherever you get your podcast, tomorrow's election day.
- [81:12]
Stephen A. Smith
There's still time to make your voice heard. So get to the polls, go out.
- [81:16]
Ellie Honig
And vote and make John happy. There's nothing wrong with making John happy. Nothing wrong with that at all. Thanks a lot, John. Appreciate you.
- [81:22]
Nate Thompson
Take care, Stephen.
- [81:23]
Stephen A. Smith
That's it for this edition of the.
- [81:25]
Ellie Honig
Stephen A. Smith Show. I hope you all enjoyed it. I enjoyed some of it. Didn't enjoy having to get at Kevin Durant a little bit, but I was just spitting facts. That's all I was doing. Anyway, live his best life. I'll live mine. Got election day coming up, more important issues to focus on. And obviously thanks again to John Farver for coming on the show and blessing us with his presence, along with La Honig as well. So I'm looking forward to election day tomorrow. I hope you all too get to the polls. I already did. If you haven't, you need to talk to y'all on Wednesday. Until then, peace and love, everybody.
- [82:16]
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 podcasts.
- [82:47]
Julie Swearbinks
What's up, everyone? Julie Swearbinks here, along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
- [82:51]
Nate Thompson
We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.
- [82:54]
Julie Swearbinks
The Name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [82:57]
Nate Thompson
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
- [83:03]
Julie Swearbinks
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [83:06]
Nate Thompson
Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [83:11]
Julie Swearbinks
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.