Stephen A. Smith is the next Michael Avenatti

Published April 17, 2025 8:00am ET



“Time to stop messing around. Life is great. Especially at ESPN/Disney. Hate the thought of being a politician. But sick of this mess. So I’m officially leaving all doors open.”

That’s the sentiment from Stephen A. Smith, the ESPN sports analyst who seemingly is on the air 25 hours a day. And the ubiquitous Smith certainly is right about life being great these days at ESPN/Disney, especially when considering he just signed a $100 million contract despite the company laying off scores of talent who had been with the network for many years. 

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