Michael Wilbon on Stephen A. Smith: “He’s not a journalist… It don’t matter that he fought back, he knows he lost that fight… He wants to be a show.”
Thing about Stephen is that he will use the excuse of being a journalist because that was how he got in, not wanting to acknowledge that he’s made himself a personality with his words and actions.
He was genuinely a quality journalist once upon a time. But that time was over 20 years ago. Once he realized playing that character was going to make him loads of money he fully bought in.
That joker from tiger King was once an actual zoo employee that seemed to care about the animals.
This comment has some unexpected wisdom.
Unexpected parallel between tiger king and Stephen A. But it just shows money and fame corrupts most people
Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense..
But I did 5 mil, I ain’t been rhyming like Common since.
Kinda like rappers who hail from the streets become billionaires and swear their struggle is the same as you or me.
That they absolutely ‘have’ to move a certain way to feed their family.
Disingenuous. That’s the word I’m looking for. We SEE who you are.
Ice Cube going from “Fuck the Police” to playing a police captain in the Jump Street franchise comes to mind
At least he was funny
You understand that acting on a foundational level isn’t supposed to be nonfiction right?
I will remind you that I’m still Jenny from the block.
The block just moved to a better, richer neighborhood.
Honestly though I’ll take the rappers who lie about being broke and real life struggles over the ones who never shut the fuck up about being rich and famous every day of the week
Nah these are the worst kinds of rappers. Ultra successful men pretending they stay in the hood committing murders because they enjoy it. Gucci Mane 45 years old still preaching nonsense.
Gucci raps circles around these new cats, but to each their own
Most rappers aren’t as rich as they seem
rappers, plural? How many are there other than Jay-Z lol
I dont think they are billionaires, but when I read that message I thought of Dre and 50 Cent
50 Cent is just an actor now and Dre hasn’t done anything of note in over 20 years. Why would you think of them?
Dre seems to be on the threshold now, learned something new… guess there’s two of them, which is plural lol
It’s kind of a ridiculous comment anyways– is there a single piece of evidence that would suggest Jay-Z or Dre have “swore their struggle is the same as you or me”…
The other two that were close both lost it
Biggie was a rapper too!
I need names.
This is what Wilbon was saying. Wilbon used to be a journalist. A great one in DC. He knows he’s not that anymore. No biggie for him to say it.
Yup! He used that “not a journalist” line to kick Max off First Take like shouting over a co-host is journalism.
Ah I’m sure his former partner Shannon Sharpe was a quality journalist lol
Stephen A is just a modern day Howard Cosell. Howard was a quality print journalist before fame found him. Stephen A doesn’t have MNF or a personal relationship with Muhammad Ali to propel him. But Howard didn’t have social media or the espn machine.
When Mike Wilbon tells you to shut up, you should probably Stfu
Where’s Tony? Man I miss the old WashPo so much.
Tony has a podcast. It’sostly just an oldan and his son yelling at clouds.
And I love it.
You should get your keyboard checked out, that M key ain’t working right.
Oh yes I’m a huge fan of his podcast!
Over time, I’ve had to skip segments on hid show.
I don’t care about the golf he and Michael do at all. Steve Sands has irked me ever since his comments about the World Cup interfering with golf. Don’t care for Carville.
I do like potato talk though.
Damn, did not expect Littles on this sub. I still listen but I miss the old days with the old crew and the rotating chair. Not a fan of Michael and the golf talk.
Aside from his bad take on Sean Taylor, he’s a pretty solid espn talking head
Dude gets butt hurt when Bron gets mentioned with MJ. Can’t take him serious.
10,000% can always trust Wilbon for some based takes
Love Wilbon
He can say he’s not a journalist, but 25 whatever years on PTI and the guy has truly mastered the “one minute start-to-finish persuasive oral argument”. For all the BS through the years at espn him and Tony have always kept it real.
It’s a little sad that PTI is also kind of the Alpha prototype of what ESPN became. PTI is infinitely more thoughtful and researched with two people willing to listen to each other while debating certain disagreements. It’s a great blueprint for how debates SHOULD go.
ESPN saw that and just went nuts with talking heads. They got the absolutely wrong lesson and ended up rewarded for it anyway.
PTI was always my favorite growing up. Now I can’t watch ESPN at all except for the actual games
And not afraid to agree, or be transparent it’s a devil’s advocate situation.
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What’s funny is with the combination of journalist credentials, tenure on ESPN, also being black, still churning on an even more successful show than first take viewer wise (PTI), and even saying he himself isn’t a true journalist anymore vs. entertainer when he’s still 10x the journalist SAS is…there is no logical clap back to this.
Wilbon is uniquely qualified here to put SAS in his place, and did so perfectly.
“Now. My good friend. Mr. Michael Wilbon. He said I’m not a journalist. The man said, I look too good in a suit. He’s right. I do look too good in this suit. I guess I should be saying thank you to Mr. BonBon. Now wait. That’s not very nice of me. He has been looking rather slim these days. GLP1s and Glory to God my brother Wilbon. Now if you excuse me, my fellow non-journalist, I have a presidential campaign to launch. Vote for Stephen if you feel like Believin’ ” - @SAS4Prez
I’m so angry because I can’t tell if this is a realQuote or satire
That’s the best honor I’ll receive today. Thank you
I do like that you can read this as Stephen A Smith or a Southern Plantation owner lol
“Steven A. CANT READ!”
= Katt Williams
Just here for Stephen A Smith slander
Slander implies a lie was told. Least properly used word in this sub lmao
I meant technically it is a lie lmao, Stephen A smith is a journalist, in credentials
Remember that time LeBron made him cry by talking to him?
Not yelling at him, not making a scene, not making wild gestures, like Stephen a loves to do.
Just talking to him.
Wilbon’s comment isn’t even slander, he’s totally reasonable about it. He’s just saying, Stephen A. Smith is doing a different job than that now. As is Wilbon himself.
Stephen A will respond to Wilbon with a fat joke that only ends up proving Wilbons point
Nah, he’ll put on his clown suit and dance like the puppet of billionaires that he’s been for the last 30 years.
Dang, don’t they appear on a show together sometimes? Awkward
Wilbon was just on Stephen’s show a month ago telling him he’s not a journalist anymore.
https://youtu.be/SxaTWus-hiA
Not really. Wilbon doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would hesitate to speak his truth to SAS. What’s he care?
And SAS would probably agree with him, just not publicly lol
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Only sometimes when ESPN decide to have a massive panel at a live game.
Stpehen A hasn’t been a journalist in at least 15 years. Its fine hes an entertainer now and thats fine.
Stephen A got famous and rich on charismatic, surface level, bombastic barber shop takes. He’s barely shown anything resembling journalism since becoming a public figure.
Steven A. Smith is a “journalist” like Katy Perry is an astronaut.
To be fair, SAS was a legit journalist in Philly when I was much younger, like 25-30 years ago lol…
He got a lot of breaking Allen Iverson related and other Sixers scoops in particular back in the day, to the point they still seem close today.
Stephen ass smith is a journalist, like Donald Trump is a decent human being.
He was a journalist, a long ass time ago
This needs to be said to him every day by everyone from now on. SAS is a fucking joke.
I’ll say it again SAS biggest accomplishment in basketball is saying he got to watch MJ play
Wilbon - an established leading voice in sports journalism for decades. SAS - a clown desperate for attention
Wilbon just said he’s not a journalist anymore. Yall are so fucking dumb
ESPN ruins journalism
“Neither am I” hit hard. He hasn’t been for decades and knows that having that platform and all the bias changes you.
Stephen Ass Smith
This is fun banter this isn’t serious, he’s being 100% honest but it’s real but fun dialogue between friends. Stephen isn’t going to be hurt by this lol
Truth is he makes more money as a show man than he’ll ever make being a journalist. He knew this bought the raffle ticket, played and won. He’s no longer a journalist. Doesn’t need to be said.
Legit thought Traina was the esports Day9 for a sec.
thank you
Fuck Stephen a
Fuck Stephen b
…fuck Stephen c
Stephen D, you’re fine
Fuck Stephen E
Imagine if they were in school together and a white teacher came up with that nickname for Jaylen and kwame…
Stephen A Smith is just a loud mouth.
Why is this even here? It’s not NBA related, just talking heads talking about each other
He wants to be the President of USA
SAS spent years covering the nba as a reporter. Whatever he is now, we should remember that.
While I don’t think most people consider Steven A. Smith a “journalist”, Wilbon is also clinging to the last vestiges of old-school stuffy typewriter journalism that doesn’t get the clicks nowadays.
Some old-school stuff is worth clinging onto. Journalistic standards is one of them.
Maybe, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
There’s room for that journalism and still plenty of people who appreciate it.
I’d take typewriter journalism over shouting emotional hot takes that contribute nothing to basketball knowledge.
It’s like when Candice Parker did NBA on TNT and actually talked about basketball strategy while Shaq mumbled and stumbled on about big men and rings. I don’t understand why people opt for the latter.
It’s not even the “contributes nothing to basketball knowledge” that bothers me. It’s fine that there’s people who cover the NBA’s storylines outside of basketball, that is a real and interesting part of the league. But instead of embracing that, no, these types of shows pretend to be “actual experts” and just do hot takes for the views while covering and contributing to the drama.
Like, pick a fucking lane man. Either cover the actual game, the stories, but don’t half-ass both and trick people into thinking you know what the fuck you’re talking about. Never seen shit more egregious than that dumbass playing solitaire in the middle of a FINALS GAME.
Wilbon is also clinging to the last vestiges of old-school stuffy typewriter journalism that doesn’t get the clicks nowadays
Make me like someone more why dontcha
I mean he says multiple times in this very clip that he himself isn’t a journalist anymore either
What does this even mean lol. He hardly even writes anymore.
Wilbon has been on the cutting edge for 25 years with PTI creating the space that SAS relishes in. Wilbon knows what he’s talking about and isn’t some journalistic dinosaur.
Some of us still prefer real journalism over “content” where the sole purpose is to keep you clicking and scrolling.
You totally missed his point
Rare Wilbon W
Yall are obsessed with SAS