Stephen A. Smith could potentially form his own superteam for pregame NBA coverage like so many of the league’s champions have done in recent years. The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reports that Smith wants to link up with Magic Johnson and Pardon the Interruption co-host Michael Wilbon potentially on NBA Countdown.
ESPN didn’t provide comment to Marchand for the piece, but other candidates to take over the pregame void left by Maria Taylor and Rachel Nichols include, Richard Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins, and Chiney Ogwumike. The network also has an interest in Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, but he obviously would be tough to insert as a regular panelist.
Marchand’s sources described a potential Smith pregame show as a tough sell for the league office. In the past, they have felt he is too opinionated to lead into their premier NBA games, especially the Finals.
All of these shakeups come following Dave Roberts’ ascension to the head of NBA programming at ESPN. Roberts took over for Stephanie Druley following the Nichols-Taylor fallout. Smith has acknowledged in past interviews that he and Roberts are close. Time will tell if that relationship is strong enough for Smith to get what he wants.
Johnson has worked with ESPN in the past as a member of their Finals studio programs, but he has not worked in TV since and has been out of basketball since stepping down from his role as Lakers’ president of basketball operations in 2019.
Wilbon, on the other hand, is a TV veteran that often appears with Smith for his ESPN TV duties when he is not on Pardon The Interruption. A lot of things hang in the balance for the network on both First Take and their NBA coverage, with a little less than two months left until the 2021 season gets rolling across the league.