Stephen A Smith stresses reason behind reaching ESPN ‘tipping point’ - “I can’t do this”

Stephen A. Smith's colleagues were let go in a Thanos-sized batch and the host of First Take has revealed a level of burnout, leaving some fans to wonder how much he has left in the tank.

Smith revealed in a conversation with The Ringer's Bill Simmons via the New York Post that he had enough of what the network was asking him to do. Here's how he put it:

“You’re sitting around for like four or five hours to do three minutes of television after you were on television all morning and start of the afternoon. That was too much. And for the first time in my career, I went to the bosses and I was like, ‘Yo, I can’t do this. Not this.’"

He went on, explaining that he had no trouble with the morning shift, but everything that came later was too much to ask.

“I could, you know – SportsCenter, First Take – that’s a given. But to spend so many hours in the afternoon after spending so many hours in the morning on a job, that was the tipping point for me," added Smith.

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Stephen A. Smith dips toe into sports talk reshuffling

Stephen A. Smith at 2021 NBA Finals - Game Three

The comments come in the wake of Undisputed hitting a mountain-sized bump in the road as Shannon Sharpe made his exit after seven years on the program. Without the host, Skip Bayless has been left in limbo, setting August 28 as the show's return date.

At the same time, ESPN is reeling from a mass layoff in a seemingly unprecedented sweep of television talent. Steve Young, Suzy Kolber, Max Kellerman, Keyshawn Johnson and more than a dozen other show hosts and co-hosts were cut loose.

Last offseason, the reshuffling of television hosts mostly happened in the broadcast booth via Al Michaels, Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and others swapping networks. This offseason, it seems, the switcheroo has come between the last snap of the previous game and the first snap of the next one.

At 55 years old as a successful television show host, some would argue that Smith could hang up the headset at any time. It seems to happen often that once one starts to cool off on their commitments, it becomes a snowball until interest ultimately leaves entirely. Simply think back to the last failed diet or workout plan.

Could this be the beginning of the wind down of Stephen A. Smith's time at ESPN?