Stephen A. Smith Biography
Stephen A. Smith is a media personality serving as a journalist and commentator at ESPN. He is the host of First Take on ESPN on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET and The Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube. He is also the author of Straight Shooter.
Stephen A. Smith Age
How old is Stephen A. Smith? Stephen is 55 years old. He was born on October 14, 1967, in The Bronx, New York, United States.
Stephen A. Smith Height
He is 6 feet 1 inch tall (approximately 1.85m or 185cm).
Stephen A. Smith Nationality
Born and raised in the United States of America, Stephen is American by nationality.
Stephen A. Smith Education
What degree does Stephen A. Smith have? Stephen earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication/ Media Studies from Winston-Salem State University, an HBCU in Winston-Salem, N.C. in 1991. After attending the Fashion Institute of Technology for one year, Stephen received a basketball scholarship to attend Winston-Salem State University.
In college, he played basketball under Hall of Fame coach Clarence Gaines. While still on the team, Stephen wrote a column for the university newspaper, The News Argus, arguing Gaines should retire due to health issues. He is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
In 1986, Stephen graduated from Thomas Edison High School in Queens. Throughout his education, Stephen struggled with dyslexia. He even repeated grades three and four before he was diagnosed in middle school. Stephen opened up about being dyslexic as he grew up in the ’80s when less was known about the learning disability in his 2023 memoir Straight Shooter.
He wrote, “From the time I was six, I thought I was stupid. Although I talked well — and a lot — and articulated my thoughts fluidly enough that some folks swore one day I’d become a lawyer or a public speaker, it was all a facade.”
Stephen A. Smith Parents
Stephen was born in the Bronx and raised in Queens as the youngest of six children. His mother Janet Smith died on June 1, 2017, after battling cancer. Stephen has four older sisters and had an older brother, Basil, who died in a car accident in 1992. He also has a half-brother on his father’s side. Stephen’s parents were originally from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. His father managed a hardware store. Stephen’s maternal grandmother was white, and the rest of his grandparents were black.
Stephen A. Smith Wife
Is Stephen A. Smith married and does he have any children? Stephen is not married. However, he has two daughters, aged 10 and 11 years old as of December 11, 2019. Stephen was once engaged but he has not revealed the name of his ex-fiancée. When asked why he never went through with the marriage, he said: “It didn’t work out. Matter of fact, I just told my sister that the other day: none of your business … Something about my job and my money. I said this is not a discussion. You’ll get an answer if I want to give you an answer.”
Stephen A. Smith ESPN
Who is Stephen A. Smith? Smith is a featured commentator and executive producer on ESPN’s First Take on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET. He discusses and debates the sports topics of the day (since 2012), analyst on NBA Countdown, ESPN and ABC’s longstanding NBA pregame show (since 2021), and host of NBA in Stephen A’s World, an alternate presentation to accompany select ESPN NBA games throughout the season (since 2022). He is also the co-executive producer of the show with his production company Mr. SAS Productions, along with ESPN and Omaha Productions. Smith also leads several SportsCenter specials throughout the year (since 2018) and is a regular contributor across the network’s studio programming surrounding marquee events.
In Sept. 2022, Smith launched K[no]w Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, bringing his trademark insight and analysis to the day’s headlines and the biggest stories from the worlds of politics, entertainment, social issues, business, and more, regularly joined by a wide range of notable guests and thought leaders. Smith, and his company Mr. SAS Productions, co-produce the podcast along with Cadence13.
In September 2019, Smith and First Take traveled to the 76ers Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del., to do a show as part of Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week. Smith – an HBCU graduate – was also named the event’s ambassador by the city. The show saw First Take’s largest in-person audience ever and led to a college fair that offered on-the-spot acceptance, scholarships, and much more for prospective students. Smith and First Take also made their in-person return to the event in Oct. 2022 from ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Smith began hosting the daily The Stephen A. Smith Show on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio in September 2014. In January 2017, The Stephen A. Smith Show moved to ESPN’s SiriusXM channel and simulcast on ESPN’s affiliated stations in New York (98.7FM) and Los Angeles (710AM), airing 1-3 p.m. In January 2018, the program expanded to the national ESPN Radio network and was available across ESPN Radio stations throughout the country. The Stephen A. Smith Show joined the ESPNEWS weekday ESPN Radio simulcast lineup in August 2018 until the show’s finale in January 2020.
From 2011-14, Smith hosted a two-hour (1-3 p.m.), weekday local show on ESPN Radio 98.7FM in New York. For one year, starting in 2011, he also hosted a local show on ESPN LA 710AM in Los Angeles, covering both coasts.
Smith made a variety of contributions to ESPN from 2003-08. He hosted The Stephen A. Smith Show on ESPN Radio from 2005-08. He was also the host of ESPN2’s Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith, a one-hour show featuring sports news, commentary on sports issues, and interviews, from 2005-07. Smith joined ESPN in 2003 as an analyst for the network’s NBA Shootaround (since renamed NBA Countdown) pregame show. He regularly appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, First Take, and as guest host of Pardon the Interruption and Jim Rome is Burning.
Smith made his acting debut on the ABC soap opera General Hospital in a cameo appearance as a television reporter on February 2, 2007. Later the same year, he was in the Chris Rock motion picture, I Think I Love My Wife. Smith returned to General Hospital in April 2016 as Brick, a surveillance expert for the Mob, and has continued to make appearances since then.
He also hosted a morning show on Fox Sports Radio. Previously, Smith held several positions, most recently as a general sports columnist for 16 years with the Philadelphia Inquirer (1994-2010). Prior to joining the Inquirer, Smith was a reporter with the Winston-Salem Journal, the Greensboro News and Record, and the New York Daily News.
Stephen A. Smith Book
On Jan. 17, 2023, Smith debuted his memoir “Straight Shooter; A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes,” where he revealed his untold story for the first time. Mr. SAS Productions oversaw the marketing and distribution of the book, published by Simon and Schuster and Gallery 13. “Straight Shooter; A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes” is currently a New York Times Best Seller.
Stephen A. Smith Salary
He receives $8 million as his annual salary from ESPN as of 2023.
Stephen A. Smith Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $20 million as of 2023.
