The very public spat between Stephen A Smith and LeBron James is the gift that keeps on giving for people who love sports content, and Jemele Hill is the latest to add an interesting layer to the saga.
During a 2-hour livestream from The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Thursday night, Hill delved into the relationship between the NBA and ESPN. After all, the dispute between James and Smith has gotten so big that commissioner Adam Silver weighed in on it Thursday during a press conference. Hill, however, revealed that the issues with James are not the first time the league office may have gotten involved with Smith’s presence on ESPN’s hoops coverage.
“That was the long rumor for a while, that part of the reason that Stephen A. was not more prominent in some of the pregame coverage was because the NBA was blocking that,” Hill said. “That they had particular opinions about him being part of the some of their flagship properties.”
During his first stint at ESPN from 2003 to 2008, Smith leveraged his experience covering the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers for The Philadelphia Inquirer into a role on ESPN’s NBA pregame show. However, after failing to agree on a contract extension with the Worldwide Leader in 2008, Smith left to return to the Inquirer and host radio for Fox Sports.
Upon returning to ESPN, Smith became a full-time cohost of First Take in 2012 but did not return to NBA Shootaround (now NBA Countdown). It took until 2021, after a contract extension that saw him move on from ESPN Radio, for him to join NBA Countdown on a full-time basis alongside Michael Wilbon and Co.
Did the NBA play a role in that hiatus? Per Hill, it sounds as if it was an open secret in Bristol.
Regardless, the league won’t have to worry about it for long. In the fall, ESPN will begin licensing Inside the NBA as its gameday studio show. Under his new contract, Stephen A Smith reportedly will no longer regularly appear on Countdown or any NBA programming.