Did ESPN fire Stephen A. Smith? Viral post debunked

On Tuesday, October 21, an X page that goes by @TheNBACentel posted a tweet sharing that Stephen A. Smith had been fired by ESPN. The tweet also mentioned Wind Host ESPN as its source. 

It has since been going viral on X, with more than five million views, 25K likes, and 1K retweets. However, the news is untrue, with ESPN having done no such thing. The proof of its falseness lies in the fact that the page behind it is a self-declared parody acccount on X. 

BREAKING: ESPN has fired Stephen A. Smith

(Via @WindhostESPN) pic.twitter.com/jn1lWTD9qe

— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) October 20, 2025

Moreover, the page it has cited as the source behind the news has made no such announcement. And, if Smith were to be fired, it must've been covered by all mainstream sports media outlets, which is not the case. In other words, Stephen A. Smith is still very much an NBA analyst on ESPN. 

What's more noteworthy about the rumor is that this isn't the first time it has emerged. Back in June 2025, the rumors had first surfaced after a fan posted a video of Smith playing solitaire during the NBA Finals. Back at the time, the analyst had addressed the rumor himself, writing on X:

"Yep! That’s me. Who would’ve thought….I can multi-task. Especially during TIMEOUTS! Hope y’all are enjoying the NBA Finals. This is going 7 games now, peeps!"

The criticism Stephen drew from his solitaire video was also brought up during his appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio, where he remained unfazed by it, saying:

"I was doing what the hell I always do. And for those that don't like it, kiss my a**."

Yahoo! Sports reports that Stephen A. Smith joined ESPN more than 20 years ago, in 2003, when he served as an analyst on NBA Shootaround. The show has since been renamed to NBA Countdown.

Besides his ESPN gig, Smith also hosts his own show - which is named after him - and appears as a commentator of First Take. He is also the executive producer on the latter.

Stephen A. Smith called Savannah James "the first lady of basketball"

The rumor about Stephen A. Smith's dismissal at ESPN comes after his latest appearance on Carmelo Anthony's podcast, 7PM in Brooklyn (published on Monday, October 20).

Among other things Smith discussed with the host was his relationship with LeBron James and his family. While the sports analyst maintained that his bond with LeBron had soured further, he expressed his respect for his wife, Savannah James, saying:

"I happen to think that Savannah is the first lady of basketball. I think she's wonderful... it actually breaks my hear that I could have done anything to make her upset. I call with Gloria, his mon, who has always been wonderful to me. I got nothing to say about them, I got nothing to say about Bronny, who I think could be an NBA player someday."

Despite steering clear of LeBron James' family, Stephen didn't hold back from his claim that the athlete has tried to take his job away on multiple occasions.