Stephen A. Smith made headlines yesterday when he announced that he wanted to bring Shannon Sharpe to First Take. Smith confirmed the long-standing rumors on the July 21 edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show. The episode was promoted with the simple tweet, “The rumors are right. I want @ShannonSharpe on First Take.” Furthermore, the episode title for that day’s show was “Shannon Sharpe, The Playmaker, and First Take’s Future.”
Smith hyped up Sharpe's pedigree and explained what he thought Sharpe, who left UNDISPUTED last month, would bring to the long-running ESPN show. Sharpe, an NFL Hall of Famer, left the talk show he co-hosted with Skip Bayless after seven years. Additionally, the relationship between Sharpe and Bayless had reportedly drastically deteriorated, prompting Sharpe to leave Fox for greener pastures. However, Smith had forgone his usual suit for a sleeveless Under Armor fit for the taping. It was this wardrobe choice that led NBA legend Shaq to completely ignore what Smith was saying about Shannon to get in some classic Shaqin' a fool.
Shaq Dunks On Smith
"If you don't put those little arms away," Shaq commented on a clip from the show that Smith posted to his Instagram page. There were a number of other comments about Smith's attire and lack of gains. However, Shaq's was by far the most popular, earning over 15,000 likes. However, Smith refused to take the bait on this one. His response to the NBA legend was a very simple "thanks for watching the Stephan A. Smith Show my brother."
So is Shannon Sharpe headed to ESPN? Maybe. However, the network just went through a round of layoffs that saw the departure of many veteran staffers. Smith even acknowledged a number of the colleagues he had lost during The Stephen A. Smith Show. Furthermore, they are already on the hook for a massive contract with Pat McAfee. While Sharpe would be a major get for the company, can they afford, both financially and from a PR standpoint, another major acquisition like Sharpe?
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