Stephen A. Smith makes bold statement amid contract negotiations: "Not a prisoner to the ESPN/Walt Disney"

Without a shred of doubt, Stephen A. Smith has become one of the most popular faces on NBA TV. The veteran analyst has delivered a range of takes on a plethora of topics related to basketball over the years and is arguably the most renowned sports commentator in American sports media currently.

Known to being paid around $13 million a year by ESPN, Smith signed his contract back in 2019 which was initially set to run out in 2021. An extension took his earnings to the current value after Smith initially raked in around $8-10 million a year.

Regardless, as he approaches the end of his deal, Smith’s new contract is expected to bring about a huge shakeup in the overall landscape and is expected to be the biggest contract signed by a sports commentator. While some may question whether he deserves to be paid such obscene amounts, Stephen A. Smith himself has no doubts related to his value.

Speaking about the matter with Pat McAfee at the SXSW culture festival in Austin, Smith proclaimed that he was number 1 at the network:

“I’m No. 1 at the network, and that matters. I contribute to the bottom line; I don’t bleed it. That doesn’t make me worth more than them, but it doesn’t mean I need them in order to survive and to prosper. There are other ways to prosper. I am not a prisoner to the ESPN/Walt Disney family.

In a statement that is hard to be seen as anything but a warning to ESPN and Walt Disney, Stephen A. Smith clearly believes he holds all the cards when it comes to negotiations over his new deal. The comments suggest that he is willing to switch networks if ESPN does not pay him as much as he believes he deserves.

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Stephen A. Smith earmarks loft ambitions as ESPN contract nears end

There is no doubt that Smith has been doing his best to make big moves of late. He has been working hard in recent months to promote his podcast, "The Stephen Smith Show," and has even signed a deal with podcast distribution leaders, iHeartPodcasts recently after working with Audacy’s Cadence13 studio since September 2022.

While the financial details of the deal were not revealed, Smith outlined how he expects his show to blow up even more in the coming time:

“When you connect with anything or anyone at the top of their field, the excitement can’t be tamed,” Smith said. “I’m honored to have their commitment and faith, and I can’t wait for their collaboration with ‘The Stephen A. Smith Show’ to begin — knowing even more success is coming down the road. Buckle up! Here we come!”

What’s more, his recent Austin interview also saw him proclaim himself as potentially the ‘greatest sports commentator’ who has ever lived:

“I want to be recognized as arguably the greatest sports commentator who ever lived. I want to be one of the preeminent voices that this nation has ever seen.”

While that has undoubtedly got connotations similar to those of how NBA Champions claim to be ‘World Champions,’ Stephen A. Smith certainly has no intentions of slowing down anytime soon. On the contrary, he wants to take his career to the next level, as recent happenings suggest.