Ever since his cohost Max Kellerman was removed from ESPN's sports debate show First Take, the always outspoken Stephen A. Smith has not been shy about his desire for the pair to part ways. He went into great detail on the topic with Jimmy Traina on the SI Media Podcast in September, saying that the two did not work well as a team anymore.
Speaking in an interview with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, one of Smith's new First Take counterparts, on Thursday, Smith elaborated on what led to the erosion of his and Kellerman's working relationship.
“I was very, very honest about me saying that I thought the show needed a change. But what I also said to the bosses was, ‘Listen, I think our time together has passed. If you want to keep him on the show and not me, and you want me to do something else that you think I could be more beneficial and more profitable for the company, so be it,’” Smith said. “But in the end, I knew it was time for us to part ways.”
Smith was complementary of Kellerman, both in a professional and personal sense, and was pleased that the longtime boxing analyst is “doing great things now.” But the loquacious media personality felt on an instinctive level that their partnership had run its course.
“We had been together for five years. I’ve been doing this for 10 years, I got a feeling as to when something is going a bit stale and the audience doesn’t seem to gravitate to us in the fashion that they used to,” Smith said. “And that’s what it is. So, when I looked at him, I said, ‘The guy is smart as hell, he’s done radio, he’s done television. I know that he’s gonna be on his feet, there’s no way on Earth that he’s gonna get screwed over or anything like that.’ He’s an incredibly good guy, very thoughtful, good person, and I think he’s doing great things now. I think I’ve been proven to be right.”
Kellerman now hosts his own ESPN program, This Just In, at 2 p.m. ET, along with ESPN2's Max on Boxing and his spot as cohost of ESPN Radio's Keyshawn, JWill & Max, which is simulcast on ESPNews.
After Smith detailed what led to their professional parting of ways, Russo asked whether the pair had a good relationship now, with Smith not willing to go that far.
“I wouldn’t classify it as that,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t classify it as good or bad. We don’t communicate, but we’re very respectful towards one another. We say hi to one another when we see each other, but we go our separate ways.”
