{"id":332764,"date":"2025-12-08T17:11:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T17:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/332764\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T17:11:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T17:11:07","slug":"stephen-a-smith-fires-back-at-muhammad-kellerman-are-you-really-sure-you-want-to-go-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/332764\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen A. Smith fires back at \u2018Muhammad Kellerman\u2019: \u2018Are you really sure you want to go there?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a fiery response that only Stephen A. Smith could deliver, the \u201cFirst Take\u201d host absolutely torched Max Kellerman\u2019s recent claims on Bill Simmons\u2019 podcast that Smith ended their partnership because he was afraid to debate \u201cMuhammad Kellerman.\u201d <\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s rebuttal on his \u201cStraight Shooter\u201d podcast<\/a> wasn\u2019t just pointed \u2014 it was a methodical dismantling of his former co-host\u2019s narrative.<\/p>\n

The drama began when Kellerman compared debating him<\/a> to fighting boxing champion Bud Crawford, suggesting Smith couldn\u2019t handle their daily battles. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re doing a debate show and you\u2019re a competitive person, why would you want me as a partner?\u201d Kellerman said to Simmons<\/a>. \u201cYou want to go 15 rounds every day with Muhammad Kellerman? That\u2019s just bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith responded with characteristic intensity, first acknowledging Kellerman\u2019s boxing expertise before challenging the premise entirely. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe took it someplace that all I want to say is, are you really sure you want to go there? See, there\u2019s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes. Are you sure you want to go there? Because I\u2019m not unless you take me there,\u201d Smith warned, hinting at untold details.<\/p>\n

But what truly demolished Kellerman\u2019s argument was Smith\u2019s systematic breakdown of who replaced him on First Take. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re Muhammad Kellerman, huh?\u201d Smith asked. \u201cSo, what does that make Michael Irvin? Because he arrived after Max departed. How about Shannon Sharpe? Three-time Super Bowl champion, Hall of Famer as well. He arrived after Max Kellerman departed. How about Ryan Clark, Super Bowl champion, Pro Bowler?\u201d <\/p>\n

The list continued with Jeff Saturday, Cam Newton, Marcus Spears and numerous other champions and experts.<\/p>\n

Smith made a crucial distinction about what ended their professional relationship: the format itself. <\/p>\n

\u201cDebating is about point-counterpoint. And the audience is watching. Do I need to bring up the names of the inordinate amount of people that will come on the air and say, \u2018Max, what are you saying? Max, what is your position? Tell us what you feel.\u2019 It\u2019s all there. We\u2019re talking about a debate show,\u201d he explained, suggesting that Kellerman\u2019s style, not his intelligence, created the issue.<\/p>\n

What makes this industry clash particularly fascinating is Smith\u2019s insistence that there\u2019s no personal animosity driving the separation. <\/p>\n

He repeatedly praised Kellerman as \u201cone of the kindest dudes you\u2019d ever want to meet\u201d and \u201ca nice guy,\u201d making clear this was strictly about professional chemistry and audience expectations.<\/p>\n

Smith also clarified the financial reality of their split, noting that Kellerman immediately received \u201cnot one but two shows\u201d after leaving First Take, along with his continuing boxing coverage. This directly counters the narrative that Kellerman was somehow victimized in the transition.<\/p>\n

The podcast reveals a deeper truth about television partnerships: being smart and being right aren\u2019t always what make for compelling TV. According to Smith, \u201cFirst Take\u201d audiences expected a particular type of debate that their partnership ultimately couldn\u2019t deliver consistently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a fiery response that only Stephen A. Smith could deliver, the \u201cFirst Take\u201d host absolutely torched Max…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-332764","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}