Stephen A. Smith Quotes

“You can criticize me. You can crucify me. You can love me. You can hate me. Just don’t make the mistake of calling me inauthentic, because you’d be a damn liar.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“If no one hears you, and no one listens to you, it doesn’t matter how good you are because no one cares about you.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“You have haters from all walks of life. I could care less who wants me to fail. They inspire me.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I pride myself on respecting my colleagues.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I’m allergic to losing.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I can’t stand people who look into the camera and look into the eyes of millions of people and wax political correctness.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“When I was at the ‘Philadelphia Inquirer,’ I was promoted nine times in my first 13 years. I ultimately went from general assignment to beats on St. Joe’s and Temple, to backup writer, to NBA writer, to NBA columnist, to, ultimately, in 2003, to general sports columns.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“If I’m hated, so what? If I’m loved, so what?”

― Stephen A. Smith

“No one on the planet Earth is going to be able to look at me on television and say that I’m a liar. It will not happen.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Corporate America doesn’t give a damn about you. It does not care about your feelings. It wants productivity, and whoever doesn’t produce is going to be pushed out, and the way is going to be paved for somebody else to step into your shoes who can do the job.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I prefer turkey to other potential sandwich meats. Turkey is delicious, and the turkey and cheese sandwich is my personal favorite. It doesn’t upset my stomach, and I like to have it once or twice week.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“While winning may not always personify the Big Apple, attitude certainly does. Players get called to the carpet. So do coaches, managers, executives, owners, and anyone associated with them. No one is safe.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“LaDainian Tomlinson, Hines Ward, Marion Barber, and a host of other black stars help the NFL shine brightly week after week.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Negativity sells.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I date African-American women. That’s all I date. In my family, it was never discussed – but I love black women. Nothing beats a sister. However, when you see a female like Jennifer Lopez, you have to acknowledge that there are many beautiful Latino women as well.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I go to work every day with two missions. Two! No. 1: how can I make my bosses more money? And No. 2: how can I get some of it?”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Everyone that knows me knows I’m about winning.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“If you are in the world of business, that means you are in the business of making money.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“The truth hurts sometimes, particularly when it involves someone at a low point in their life.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“My family was heavily into sports.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Let me be clear: Despite his flaws, I respect Andy Reid as a coach and as a person.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“You can’t score if you can’t run.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“If you are the president of the United States of America, you are 70 years of age, and you are tweeting – literally competing with 15- and 17-year-olds – that is a problem.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I know what I know, and what I don’t know, I’m willing to admit.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Long before my days at ESPN, the ‘Philadelphia Inquirer,’ or the ‘New York Daily News’ before that, I was a student at Thomas A. Edison Vocational and Technical High.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I am a native of Hollis, Queens, N.Y.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I am a boxing fan.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Don’t fake what you feel. I’ve never been about that. I never will be about that.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I’m associated with Walt Disney, but dammit, everybody knows that I’m a bottom feeder.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I can’t stand lying. I can’t stand liars.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I came up in this industry at a time where you had to be a journalist. You had to break stories. You had to break news to elevate your career, to get to a certain point and a certain level in this business, before you even had the license to give your opinion, especially if you were a black man.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Watch me on CNN/SI. Check out clips from ‘Quite Frankly.’ I’ve always been Stephen A. Smith. I’ve been this way since the day I was born.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I work in a public forum, and all I can do is say what I honestly feel.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Money is here to be made in America. – for those with the ability to earn it legitimately. The exception appears to be when you’re young, gifted, and black. There are always questions when the three intertwine.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Once upon a time, it was hard to decipher what was more difficult to stomach: the foolish, detrimental behavior of a professional athlete or the apologists disguised as their inner circle, eager to excuse the inexcusable. And then there came Allen Iverson, who didn’t make it difficult at all.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I’ve covered the league over two decades, I’ve known Bryan Colangelo for a long, long time. He’s not someone who goes on and off the record criticizing his contemporaries or his predecessors.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“There are many dimensions to Stephen A.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Like, when they say to me, ‘Screamin’ A.’ – I’m the only dude on the air who’s loud? I know plenty of white dudes who are screaming and going off. They’re called passionate. I’m called loud.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I climbed up this business.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I’ve been on MSNBC and CNN and Fox News. Not just Fox News, not just CNN.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“If something touches on the world of sports, ESPN has never told me that I cannot discuss a sports-related matter.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“It’s my job as a reporter to not be about the business of making friends or enemies but just be in the tireless pursuit of truth.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“My father is from the West Indies, the St. Thomas Virgin Islands.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I have opinions that are based on the facts that are presented to me.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I realize there is a paucity of African-Americans in my position. Everywhere I go, people say, ‘Don’t mess this up. Don’t forget about us.’ You feel a tremendous responsibility, not to take the black side of things but to make sure that side gets heard, because if I don’t do it, who’s going to do it?”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I don’t have time to read books. I’ve read my share of books throughout my life, and I will continue to do so.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I don’t believe I ever come across as a know-it-all.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I think a lot about me is humble.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“My first newspaper job was a high school reporter for the ‘New York Daily News.’”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I care about how I look, but I don’t care about the fashion industry.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I care about how I carry and present myself.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“When you think about advertising, it’s understanding that whether it’s newspaper, radio, or television, you have to know how to advertise, how to market, because ultimately, everything comes down to ratings and revenue or ratings and subscribers and revenue, whether it’s newspapers or radio or television.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“It bothers me when nobody is criticizing me, because then I am not doing something.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Radio affords you the opportunity to pontificate and elaborate extensively.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“There is nothing worse than being mediocre at a whole bunch of different things.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“You want to be the best at something.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I pride myself on being someone who stomps, who does not tippy-toe.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“When you understand that everything – and I do mean everything – in this nation that we live in, if not this world, is connected to the almighty dollar, it doesn’t mean you worship it.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“New Yorkers always want to win. But it’s just as important to us that you show us that you’re trying like hell to do it for us.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I worked as an intern. I worked at a high school. I worked at a college newspaper while I was taking 18 credits while on the basketball team.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Maybe, instead of putting our standards on other people, we should be very reticent, apprehensive, and deliberate and methodical in choosing whom we choose to elevate in the eyes of the public as role models.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“When the presidential debates are on, I’ll watch that like it’s the Super Bowl. I actually thoroughly enjoy that. I always have.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I’ve watched presidential debates since I was a teen, and I love it.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Yes, I’m a personality. I accept that. O.K.? I understand it. But I’m a personality with credentials.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“The role that people think I play is not a role. When I go home, and I’m with my sisters, I’m the same way. When I’m with my boys, I’m the same way.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I was the youngest of six, with four older sisters.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I’m not an actor, though people say I can act.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“I’ve never taken an acting lesson in my life, and it’s not my chosen profession, so I’m flattered when people say I can do it and give me props for doing it.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“When we got home from school, every TV in the house was on ‘General Hospital,’ so if I wanted to watch TV instead of do homework, I had to watch ‘General Hospital.’”

― Stephen A. Smith

“Heart means something, especially in Gotham City, where the only thing worse than a scrub is someone devoid of that thumping sound inside the chest.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“LeBron James and Dwyane Wade don’t just beat you, they snatch your heart.”

― Stephen A. Smith

“A season is not made in a week or two any more than a stellar game epitomizes greatness.”

― Stephen A. Smith