Stephen A. Smith reveals the ‘real’ reason he stopped working with Max Kellerman post-Skip Bayless’ exit

Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman used to work together on the ESPN show First Take.

Stephen A. Smith reveals the ‘real’ reason he stopped working with Max Kellerman post-Skip Bayless’ exit

Stephen A. Smith (L) and Max Kellerman (R) (Via ESPN)

After the dynamic duo of Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless split, Smith used to work together with Max Kellerman in the ESPN show First Take for a while. However, their partnership ended on a sour note back in 2021. Smith has been very open about his feelings toward Kellerman in the past. And now, the renowned ESPN personality has revealed the real reason he got rid of Max Kellerman from his show back in 2021.

During a recent episode of the Joe Budden podcast, Stephen A. Smith made an appearance and talked about the rough end to his relationship with Max Kellerman a couple of years ago. Smith said that it was his fault that the duo split, but he made it clear that he wanted to get rid of Kellerman from his show.

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“I would take full responsibility for that. It was totally my fault and the reason it was my fault is because I didn’t like working with him. It’s just that damn simple. I didn’t like it. I thought the show was stale. I thought that we had flatlined when it came to the public at large. I didn’t want to go from No. 1 to No. 2. when Skip [Bayless] left. I wasn’t having that. That s–t wasn’t gonna happen,” said Smith.

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Furthermore, Smith went on to say that he had high respect for Kellerman, but he still wanted to get rid of him since Smith thought he couldn’t win the ratings war with Kellerman by his side.

“I had mad respect for him from the standpoint of White dude, highly intelligent,” said Smith.“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?’”

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Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman just “didn’t work out”

Stephen A Smith SI ESPN
Stephen A. Smith (Via ESPN)

The well-renowned football analyst Stephen A. Smith has been very open about how he feels about his former colleague Max Kellerman. Most recently, he went on the Joe Budden podcast and talked in detail about the situation.

Smith implied that despite not having authority, he played a part in Kellerman’s exit. Smith said that they were not personal enemies or anything, but the ESPN analyst believed he couldn’t win with Kellerman on his show.

And now, Kellerman recently left the renowned sports network just a few days ago. Smith is one of the leading sports talk show personalities in the business. Kellerman is exploring his options as a free agent.

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