Veteran NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith has been the face of ESPN’s First Take for over a decade now.
Since then, Smith has debated with a plethora of other media personalities, including Max Kellerman.
Kellerman gelled well with Smith on-air, at least, that’s what most believed before his removal from the program in September 2021.
Two years down the line, Stephen A. Smith shared his honest opinion on working with Max Kellerman.
“I had mad respect for him from a standpoint of white dude, highly intelligent, Ivy League, educated from Columbia. But you weren’t an athlete, and you weren’t a journalist. And the absence of the two components left people wondering ‘why should we listen to you?’” Smith said.
Stephen A. Smith stated he didn’t like working with Max Kellerman. He also believes the audience might not have been as receptive to Max because he wasn't an athlete or journalist.
“I had mad respect for him from the standpoint of white dude, highly intelligent, Ivy League,… pic.twitter.com/WS6B8lVPnr
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 15, 2023
Smith started off by acknowledging the fact that he respected Kellerman as a highly intelligent individual with an excellent education.
However, the primary factor that led to Smith hating working with his former co-host was the absence of an athletic or journalistic background.
Smith pointed out that it played a role in fans being unable to connect with Kellerman’s opinion about sports.
At the end of the day, Kellerman was removed from First Take in 2021.
Kellerman recently made headlines after being a part of ESPN’s mass layoff in June 2023.
As of now, there is no news about Kellerman’s next gig in the world of sports.
While there are many who loved hearing his opinions, regardless of his background, there are quite a few who are happy with his departure from ESPN.
One thing is certain: Kellerman most likely won’t be re-joining ESPN anytime soon as he’s not well-liked by the biggest name in the company, which is Smith.
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