Stephen A. Smith from “First Take” Wiki: Net Worth, Wife, ESPN, Kids, Family, Parents
• Stephen Anthony Smith was born on 14 October 1967 and is a sports television personality, host, journalist, and actor.
• He has a net worth of over $10 million.
• He grew up in the Hollis section of Queens and attended Thomas Edison High School and Winston-Salem State University.
• He has been part of various radio and television shows, such as “ESPN First Take”, “SportsCenter”, “NBA Countdown”, and “The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show”.
• He has also done occasional acting projects and keeps his personal life private.
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Who is Stephen A. Smith?
Stephen Anthony Smith was born on 14 October 1967, in New York City, USA, and is a sports television personality, host, journalist, and actor, best known for being a commentator on the show “ESPN First Take”, alongside Max Kellerman. He is also a frequent participant in the show “SportsCenter”, for which he is a National Basketball Association (NBA) analyst. Another show he worked on is “NBA Countdown”, and he is also a former host of “The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show”.
The Wealth of Stephen A. Smith
How rich is Stephen A. Smith? As of late-2018, sources inform us of a net worth that is over $10 million, earned through a successful career in sports broadcast journalism. He’s also worked on programs with various radio stations, and as he continues his career, it is expected that his wealth will also continue to increase.
Early Life and Education
Stephen was born in New York City, growing-up in the Hollis section of Queens, the youngest of six children. His younger brother died in a car accident and he was left with four older sisters as well as a half-brother from his father’s side – his father managed a hardware store. Stephen attended Thomas Edison High School, and after matriculating enrolled into the Fashion Institute of Technology for a year, before moving to Winston-Salem State University on a basketball scholarship; during his time there, he played under Hall of Fame coach Clarence Gaines. He also joined the school’s newspaper – “The News Argus” – writing a column for the university. He eventually stopped playing basketball because of health issues.
Journalism Career
Smith began his career in the print media, with newspapers such as the “Winston-Salem Journal”, “New York Daily News”, and “Greensboro News and Record”. In 1994 he was hired by “The Philadelphia Inquirer” as a writer, starting to report as an NBA columnist covering the Philadelphia 76ers. Over the next few years, he would eventually be promoted to become a general sports columnist, and it was during this time that he also found his first television opportunity, in 1999 with the now defunct network CNN/SI. In 2005, he started hosting a weekday show on WEPN based in New York City, serving there for the next few years, leaving in 2008 after his television career started to take off. He was initially a talk show host and analyst on ESPN, – “ESPN First Take” – then given a daily hour-long show called “Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith”. After the show was cancelled, he then focused on serving as an NBA analyst. His relationship with “The Philadelphia Inquirer” also ended, and coincided with him starting his own blog, but the removal only lasted for two years as he returned to the paper, provided that he removed all of his political views from the website and their news shows.
Career Prominence
So Stephen returned to radio, becoming an on-air contributor to Fox Sports Radio, and was responsible for breaking the story of Allen Iverson’s retirement. He became popular on both television and radio for his provocative analysis, which led to other opportunities as well, becoming the host of the series “Dream Job” and the guest host of “Pardon the Interruption Jim, Rome is Burning”. He anchored the Sunday morning edition of “SportsCenter” and then announced that he was leaving ESPN in 2009, although that was also a short-lived move, as he quickly returned to the network after a brief negotiation.
He became the Fox Sports Radio morning show host, replacing Steve Czaban in 2010, and predicted the likely Miami Heat 2010 signings. He then became a resident FSR NBA Insider, ending his morning show run, before moving to host ESPN Radio shows, along with writing a column for their website. It was soon announced that he would join “First Take” on a permanent five day a week basis, squaring off against commentator Skip Bayless. He then left ESPN radio for Sirius XM Radio, after making controversial statements on both radio and television, but once again it was a short lived move, as he then signed a multi-year deal with ESPN.
Recent Endeavors
In 2015, Smith was caught in controversy once more after implying with his statements that Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly was making roster moves that were racially motivated; the coach defended himself stating that the moves he did were for his team and not racially motivated. Smith later justified his comments, saying that he never used a form of the word racism to imply that Kelly was a racist.
The Black Panther OR Creed ll. Doesn’t matter. This brother is special. Making us all proud pic.twitter.com/K47tRC8PA0
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) November 14, 2018
During the same year, he received criticism for a comment he made about female soccer players during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. He made a joke stating that players did not want to mess up their hair, and the joke was taken as sexist; he later apologized for the comment in a series of tweets. The following year, he joined the broadcasting team of Top Rank covering the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas boxing pay per view event.
Acting Projects and Personal Life
Aside from his appearances as a broadcaster, Stephen also does acting projects occasionally. His debut was in the ABC soap opera “General Hospital” in which he made a cameo appearance, before appearing in the film “I Think I Love My Wife” starring Chris Rock. In recent years, he’s done a lot more commercial work, appearing in a series of Oberto beef jerky commercials alongside other sports figures, including pro snowboarder Louie Vito, sportscaster Dick “Dickie V” Vitale, and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.
For his personal life, not many details have been revealed about his romantic relationships. There are rumors stating that he is married, and even that he has a son, but they remain just that. Smith has never denied or confirmed either, and is likely doing his best to keep most of his personal life away from the media, seeing the nature of his job and the controversies that sometimes follow.
