Stephen A. Smith is now the executive producer of First Take, which has been a pillar of ESPN midday programming for well over a decade.
Smith has long credited his former co-host Skip Bayless for his success and for making First Take what it is today. But Smith has never shied away from talking candidly about Bayless, who he says remains one of his closest friends even after Bayless left the show and the network.
In fact, Smith went so far as to call his good friend and former co-host a “professional contrarian” in an appearance on The Mike Missanelli Podcast.
