Stephen A. Smith Won The Thumbs Down Award [Op-Ed]

There is something almost hilarious about Stephen A. Smith being angry that the National Association of Black Journalists gave him a “Thumbs Down” award.

Not because the award is funny. Not because NABJ is beyond criticism. And certainly not because Stephen A. Smith doesn’t have the right to disagree with it.

It’s hilarious because Stephen A. Smith has spent years auditioning for this exact award.

He has built an extraordinarily successful media career by turning conflict into content. He argues. He provokes. He criticizes. He lectures. He picks fights and then picks fights with the people who object to the first fight. And increasingly, some of his favorite targets have been Black people—particularly Black women.

Now that NABJ has recognized the pattern, Smith is offended.

Never forget that as Smith rose through the ranks to become the highest-paid Black journalist, literally bringing in a sports star’s salary, he became less Uncle Phil and more Uncle Tom. He didn’t just stick to sports; he literally started lending his voice to everything, including politics. Not that Smith hasn’t always been political, but his position changed. In 2017, Smith went on Fox News to argue against Trump’s policies with none other than right-wing political juggernaut Ted Nugent. But something changed around 2023: Smith launched his own YouTube show, where political and cultural commentary became a regular part of what he was doing outside ESPN.

And this time he wasn’t bashing the right; he was arguing that Black folks have been duped by the left. He was doing the softening before the slaughter. He basically became the go-to Black voice that would admonish Black people. He started saying things like, Black people need to vote Republican at least once to “shock the system.” He even argued with a straight face that Trump wasn’t a racist, but rather he hated everyone who didn’t love him regardless of race. 

So it’s confusing that Smith’s “flabber” has been “gasted” now that the National Association of Black Journalists said, “yeah, we cool on fam.”

What did he think was going to happen?

Smith has made a career out of being the Black man who will say what other Black people supposedly won’t. And then, as he began making more money, he made a career out of being the Black man who will chastise Black people. 

That is a perfectly legitimate brand. An alternative brand, but a brand nonetheless. 

But here’s the catch: If you build your brand on making people mad, you don’t get to act shocked when people are mad at you.

NABJ’s “Thumbs Down” award isn’t the organization suddenly discovering Stephen A. Smith. It’s a reaction to the public persona Smith has spent years constructing. And this isn’t about saying Smith is never allowed to criticize another Black person. Of course he is. Black journalists should be able to criticize Black politicians, athletes, entertainers, and other journalists. Nobody is entitled to a criticism-free existence simply because they share Smith’s race.

That’s not the argument.

The argument is that there is a difference between being willing to criticize Black people and building a lucrative media identity around only criticizing Black people. Smith has crossed into that territory so comfortably that arguing with Black people has become part of the product.

And Black women have been particularly prominent in that product.

We’ve watched him go after women such as Jasmine Crockett, Joy Reid, and his former ESPN colleague Cari Champion. Sometimes Smith has subsequently apologized or attempted to explain his comments. But the pattern remains: Say something inflammatory, generate a controversy, defend himself, escalate the controversy, and turn the entire thing into another piece of content.

That’s not an accident.

That’s a business model.

Smith understands the attention economy better than most people in American media. He knows outrage produces clicks, clips, television appearances, and social-media engagement. He knows that a Black man arguing with another Black person is catnip for an audience that has been trained to consume Black conflict as entertainment.

And Smith is very, very good at giving them what they want.

Which makes his outrage over the NABJ award difficult to take seriously.

Because Smith doesn’t just participate in conflict. He monetizes it.

He has also expanded his brand far beyond sports, increasingly weighing in on politics and appearing on conservative media, including Fox News. His political commentary has been embraced and amplified by Republicans and MAGA personalities who clearly have no problem with the version of Stephen A. Smith who criticizes Democrats, Black politicians, and other prominent Black figures.

Again, Smith is free to talk to whoever he wants.

He’s free to appear on Fox.

He’s free to criticize Democrats.

He’s free to criticize Republicans.

He’s free to tell Black voters they’re wrong.

He’s free to tell Black journalists they’re wrong.

He’s free to tell Black athletes they’re wrong.

And Black people are free to tell Stephen A. Smith that he’s wrong.

That’s the part that seems to get lost.

Never forget that white America has a history of propping up Black folks who will do the work for them. There has never been a shortage of Black people who are willing to admonish Black people for a moment to be spotlighted in the white gaze. And Smith isn’t just basking in it; he’s working for it. He’s literally tap dancing his way into the hearts of the MAGA movement, so much so that his name was even kicked around for a possible presidential run.

And good for him. Smith’s first business, even before sports, is ensuring that Smith remains highly paid at all costs. He’s had no problem making the move from “the down-to-earth brother” to a skinny Jason Whitlock. 

So miss us with this phony hurt-ego play where Smith tries to make it seem like he’s been wronged by his people. Especially after your original brand was about telling everyone to have a thicker skin, only to be offended when criticism drives down your street. You can’t constantly frame yourself as the guy who doesn’t care what anybody thinks and then act personally betrayed when an organization of Black journalists tells you exactly what it thinks.

And you certainly can’t spend years turning conflict with Black people into a defining feature of your brand and then pretend the people noticing that pattern are the ones creating the problem.

Stephen A. didn’t accidentally win this award. He worked for it. He earned it. He has been putting in the reps. Every heated debate. Every viral rant. Every Black woman turned into an opponent. Every time he decided that the most interesting way to make his point was to make somebody else the target. Every time he discovered that outrage was better television than nuance.

All of it counts.

And now NABJ has essentially handed him a participation trophy for the game he’s been playing for years.

SEE ALSO:

Stephen A. Smith Finally Admits He Was Wrong About Jalen Brunson

Donald Trump Is Now Beefing With Stephen A. Smith, And, Well, That’s Interesting

Stephen A. Smith Apologizes To Jasmine Crockett