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Big changes are coming for the worldwide leader in sports, ESPN. And the Network’s star sports reporter, Stephen A. Smith, is included in those changes.
Stephen A. Smith Nixed From Countdown Amid Network Changes
In a recent move, ESPN announced that Stephen A. Smith would no longer be part of their pregame show, NBA Countdown. With Smith being one of the most prominent figures at the network, as well as in the sports industry as a whole, fans had a lot to say on social media.
“Yeahhh this feels less like a demotion and more like someone freeing up their schedule. For… bigger stages,” one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Dang, I’ve been praying to god for news like this. Happy holidays, friends! Christmas came early!” another user added.
“Just remove him from ESPN and put him on ‘The View’ instead,” a third user chimed in.
Other fans attributed the move by ESPN to be a consequence of his ongoing beef with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. However, a March 2025 article from Andrew Marchand of The Athletic quickly resurfaced. After Smith received a massive multi-million dollar extension from the network earlier this year, they planned to move him off of NBA Countdown to give him more versatility to be featured on other programming.
“Smith will not be a regular on ESPN’s premiere NBA pregame show anymore, though he could still make occasional appearances on top basketball studio programs, as well as the Monday Night Football pregame or during other big-time events,” Marchard wrote.
ESPN’s new countdown crew will now feature host Malika Andrews, who will be joined by Kendrick Perkins, Michael Malone, Brian Windhorst, and Shams Charania.
As for what the future holds for Smith at ESPN? That remains to be seen. But for now, what we do know is that he is out on NBA Countdown.
