"I knew when it was over for you": Stephen A. Smith drops hint about infamous Skip Bayless rant as reason for Shannon Sharpe's exit from Undisputed

Stephen A. Smith's job as a basketball analyst involves predicting player movement and trade scenarios. However, he even predicted his fellow analyst Shannon Sharpe's departure from Undisputed in advance.

In an interview with Sharpe, Smith revealed a premonition about Sharpe's departure from Fox and Undisputed, potentially due to disagreements with Skip Bayless on the show.

“I know the business. I've been here for 30 years. I can see it a mile away, you know. I could see the handwriting on the wall. I knew when it was over for you, bro, I’m going to be real with you. I knew when it was over,” Smith told Sharpe in an episode of the “Club Shay Shay” podcast.

In January, Sharpe, a former NFL player and Hall of Fame member, clashed with co-host Bayless over the latter’s controversial tweet questioning whether the NFL should have stopped the Bills' game against the Bengals when Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field due to cardiac arrest after a chest hit.

Sharpe was absent from the show the day after the tweet was published, and upon his return, he engaged in a fiery dispute with Bayless.

Many think that the intense argument played a role in Sharpe reaching a buyout agreement with Fox Sports, and Smith hinted at this possibility.

“I've been in the business long enough, and when you're Black and you find yourself in situations that are so publicly evident and apparent like that, we don't win. Everybody starts circling like sharks,” Smith added.

On the contrary, Smith stated that within his show, First Take, there's a strong sense of familial camaraderie among all its members.

"When you come to First Take…you're gonna see it's a family. You're gonna see we get along. It ain't fake, we roll with one another. We vibe for one another. We watch one another's back. It has always been that way under my stewardship of the show.”

Explaining why he wanted Sharpe to join him in First Take, Smith expressed his determination to safeguard Sharpe's reputation in the media industry.

“I wanted Shannon Sharpe on First Take because I wanted the world to know that he was wanted. That was the most important thing to me."

The two still had good things to say about Bayless despite his falling apart with Sharpe.

“There are highs and lows that come with him. He knows that ... No matter how problematic he can be, the reality is that I wouldn’t be where I am today if he didn’t give me that opportunity on First Take,” Smith said.

“For me to insult him in any way is just disrespectful,” he added.

Bayless brought Smith on board "First Take" in 2012, and Smith has been with the show ever since.

“He will always be a brother from another mother to me,” Sharpe said about Bayless. “I've said this several times, I cannot let six months ruin six and a half good years.”

Sharpe is scheduled to join Smith on First Take starting on Monday, September 4.