Stephen A. Smith goes off on Mike Wilbon for declaring he’s not a journalist anymore: ‘I don’t just bloviate out the mouth’

Suffice it to say, Mike Wilbon and Stephen A. Smith don’t always see eye-to-eye, as the top ESPN personality recently went off after Wilbon claimed he wasn’t a “journalist” anymore.

While on The Stephen A. Smith Show, Wilbon said Smith is “not a journalist anymore,” comparing his current work to his past work in Philadelphia earlier in his career. Instead, Smith has become a “show.”

“Responsibilities change, but the nature of who you are [doesn’t],” Smith emphatically responded. “I don’t just come on the air and bloviate out the mouth. I make phone calls, I have resources, people educate me about what’s going on. I’m just not in somebody’s face immediately upon talking about them. I’ve got to be in the studio mic’d up!”

I’m Here to Remind You Who the Hell I Am! pic.twitter.com/gTursogL0K

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) August 5, 2026

He then pointed at his interviews with the likes of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NBA commissioner Adam Silver as “journalism.”

Stephen A. Smith’s journalism career

In recent years, Smith has become best known for his work at ESPN. He is the top personality on the network, and he hosts his own radio show as well.

Before that, he started his career working for the Winston-Salem Journal in college. In 1994, he would land a position with The Philadelphia Inquirer, covering the NBA and the 76ers.

Currently, Smith makes appearances on ESPN programs like SportsCenter and NBA Countdown. He is also occasionally part of the network’s NBA broadcasts.

Perhaps Smith is most associated with his role on First Take. He is one of the main pundits on the debate show and has been since 2012.

While his co-hosts have changed throughout the years, with Smith having stints debating Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe, he has remained a constant. He has also talked about his potential political aspirations, which is something for fans to keep an eye on.

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