No. 7 in America · Week of November 9, 2026
ESPN commentator, First Take
Stephen A. Smith is an ESPN commentator and the lead voice of First Take, the morning show built on daily head-to-head argument.
Photo: Moody College of Communication, CC BY-SA 2.0
Score breakdown
Nine parts, measured fresh each week. This is where Stephen A. Smith's points came from, and the evidence behind each one.
Debate record
Has argued live against a rotating opponent on First Take for more than a decade: Skip Bayless from 2012 to 2016, Max Kellerman until 2021, then Shannon Sharpe and others.
Smith appears across ESPN as an NBA analyst, on SportsCenter, NBA Countdown and the network's NBA broadcasts, and has hosted The Stephen A. Smith Show on ESPN Radio.
He is a featured columnist for ESPN and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and increasingly comments on politics as well as sports.
On the record
2025
March 2025
Broadcast debate
Against Skip Bayless · ESPN First Take
A decade after their last debate, Smith and Bayless met again on First Take. Smith later said he had never lost a debate to Bayless; Bayless has disputed his account of how the show was built.
2023
September 2023
Broadcast debate
Against Shannon Sharpe · ESPN First Take
Sharpe joined First Take as a regular debate partner after leaving Undisputed, reuniting the format's biggest names on one desk.
2021
2016 to 2021
Broadcast debate
Against Max Kellerman · ESPN First Take
Kellerman replaced Bayless and argued opposite Smith for five years. He was taken off the show in 2021; Smith later said he did not want to do a debate show with him.
2016
2012 to 2016
Broadcast debate
Against Skip Bayless · ESPN First Take
Bayless insisted on Smith as his full-time sparring partner, and their daily arguments made First Take one of ESPN's signature shows until Bayless left for FS1.
The people on this list argue in public for a living. At SuperDebate you get the same stage: one question, a clear structure, and a room that votes. It is how you learn to win an argument without making enemies.
