Skip Bayless issued a response on his podcast Thursday to Stephen A. Smith’s retelling of how he came aboard ESPN’s First Take in 2012.
After reading back what Smith said on The Old Man and the Three podcast hosted by JJ Redick and Tommy Alter, Bayless called his former colleague’s account “recklessly inaccurate” and a “shocking fabrication.”
“I thought, ‘How could my brother Stephen A. turn on me like that?’ On me? Seriously?,” Skip said. “Stephen A. was suggesting that he saved and then made First Take. How can you save and make a show that was already as big a billion-to-one success story as ESPN had ever seen? The ratings and the revenues were impossibly great when Stephen A. joined me in 2012.”
Bayless argued that First Take would never come close to matching the type of ratings the show had prior to Smith’s arrival. He went on to compare First Take to a rocket that had just begun its ascent a year prior to Stephen A.
According to Stephen A., Skip approached him in the parking lot of the ESPN campus in Bristol, Connecticut about joining First Take because his former co-host allegedly said he needed him after taking the show as far as it could go.
“He says, ‘I know you’ve got your plans. You love the NBA. You love being out on the road. You love being in the locker room. But I need you. I’ve done all that I could to take this as far as it can go. I need you, please. Just give me three years. I think we’ll knock it out of the park,’” Smith said.
Smith later responded to Bayless, writing that he “didn’t lie about a damn thing.” He continued, “This is nothing more than a misunderstand. As I’ve stated on MANY occasions, Skip Bayless made First Take. He carried it on his back for years.”
Smith went on to call Bayless his “brother” and thanked him for helping him achieve his success.
Kevin Durant, who has always had a contentious relationship with Stephen A. and other sports debate show personalities, took to Twitter to poke fun at the feud between the former First Take co-hosts.
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