ESPN Benches Stephen A. Smith

Looks like ESPN might be moving away from their golden boy… just a bit.

In a shocking move, Stephen A. Smith, the most prominent and high-profile personality at the “worldwide leader in sports,” has been removed from the on-air crew of NBA Countdown.

The announcement was made on Tuesday, just one day before the NBA Countdown was set to make its first show on Wednesday. The boisterous host of First Take who is known not only for his NBA coverage but his personal relationship (whether it be love or hate) with many of the players, would no longer be a part of the ESPN pregame show, Newsweek reports.

The network tried to pitch it as a simple reshuffling of crew members and not a demotion. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand wrote: “Smith will not be a regular on ESPN’s premier 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.”

But it sure sounds like a demotion. 

Smith then took to social media to claim that he wasn’t booted from the show but merely asked to be taken off the show so that he could pursue other avenues. 

Earlier this year, the rambunctious talker signed a long-term deal for some $108 with ESPN and since then has taken on a larger role with the network. 

“Whether it’s his own Stephen A. Smith Show, appearances on Monday Night Countdown, or his frequent Sirius XM gigs, all of these coexist alongside his five-day-a-week commitment to First Take,” Newsweek reports. 

While we wait to see what NBA Countdown looks like without Smith, the crew of Malika Andrews, Mike Malone, Kendrick Perkins, Brian Windhorst, and Shams Charania remains intact.

Oh, that’s right, Smith will still be making cameo appearances. 

But many social media users aren’t buying Smith’s explanation.

One person even speculated that Smith was removed from the show because of his long term beef with LeBron James: