Stephen A. Smith, the former Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist who is now an NBA analyst and commentator for ESPN, is giving up the radio show he began three years ago on ESPN's radio network, he told listeners to his show on Friday.
"ESPN wanted me to concentrate on television and I agreed," Smith told Journal-isms. "I'm a bit tired. It's a two-hour radio show. It was physically taxing. I don't think a lot of people realize that about radio."
Smith's New York-based show aired from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. In September, the last hour began airing nationally. Its final broadcast "for right now" will be Thursday, he said. "You used to see me on TV" frequently, Smith said. "Now you might see me on Friday night or occasionally on 'SportsCenter.' Now you're going to see me a lot more."
Smith said he had to be in New York or at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., to do the radio show, which limited his mobility.
"I don't like to talk about people that I can't talk to, he said. "I want to be where I can see you. I don't want to be on the sidelines pontificating."
ESPN announced in September that Smith's radio show was going national, a month after the Inquirer stripped him of his column and reassigned him to the reporters ranks, an assignment he never accepted.
He also hired a high-powered attorney, Florida trial lawyer Willie E. Gary.
In January, the Inquirer fired Smith for job abandonment, and he shot back at the newspaper, saying through Gary, "What they have done to me is malicious, intentional and vindictive."
Smith told Journal-isms that without the radio show, he will have more time to write for ESPN: The Magazine and espn.com, although no arrangements with those units have been worked out.
–Richard Prince’s Journal-isms
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