4 days ago
21
It seems that any time you turn on your television to ESPN, you'll always find Stephen A. Smith delivering his takes and opinions through the lens.
Well, it seems that there's now one show where you can be spared.
Smith, the $20m man at the 'Worldwide Leader in Sports', appears to have been taken off the desk at the network's basketball pre-game show 'NBA Countdown'.
The network announced a 'new look' for the long-running show - which returns host Malika Andrews and matches her up with senior NBA writer Brian Windhorst, longtime analyst and former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins, and newly-hired Michael Malone - the former Denver Nuggets coach and 2023 NBA Finals winner.
In addition, ESPN's senior NBA insider Shams Charania will be making routine appearances on the show.
But Smith, who had made routine appearances on the show for years, has not been seen on the program so far in either the preseason or regular season.
Stephen A. Smith appears to have been taken off the roster for ESPN's 'NBA Countdown'
Smith (left, seen in 2024) had been making appearances on the show for multiple years
ESPN says the revitalized show will serve as the pregame and halftime coverage for select 'NBA on ESPN' evenings this season.
On some nights, those duties will be filled by 'Inside the NBA' - the former TNT show which is now produced by Turner and aired on ESPN after the network lost broadcast rights last year.
The ever-popular 'Inside' - hosted by Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kenny 'The Jet' Smith - has already made its debut on the ESPN airwaves.
Smith - who has multiple radio shows on SiriusXM, a podcast on YouTube, and is the host and executive producer of ESPN's 'First Take' - has not addressed the news.
