America's most popular sports media figure tells it like it is in this
"raw, deeply authentic, and immensely entertaining" (Bob Iger, #1 New
York Times bestselling author and CEO of The Walt Disney Company) book,
not only dishing out his signature, uninhibited opinions but also
revealing the challenges he overcame in childhood as well as at ESPN.
Stephen A. Smith has never been handed anything, nor was he an overnight
success. Growing up poor in Queens, the son of Caribbean immigrants and
the youngest of six children, he was a sports-obsessed kid who faced
struggles, from undiagnosed dyslexia to getting enough cereal to fill
his bowl. As a basketball player at Winston-Salem State University, he
got a glimmer of his true calling when he wrote a newspaper column
arguing for the retirement of his own Hall of Fame coach, Clarence
Gaines.
Smith hustled and rose up from a reporter on the high school beat at
Daily News (New York) to a general sports columnist at The
Philadelphia Inquirer before getting his own show at ESPN in 2005.
After he was unceremoniously fired from the network in 2009, he became
even more determined to fight for success. He got himself rehired two
years later and, with his razor-sharp intelligence and fearless debate
style, found the show he was destined to star in: First Take, the
network's flagship morning program.
In Straight Shooter, Smith writes about the greatest highs and deepest
lows of his life and career. He gives his thoughts on Skip Bayless, Ray
Rice, Colin Kaepernick, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Cowboys, and
former President Donald Trump. But he also pulls back the curtain and
talks about life beyond the set, sharing authentic stories about his
negligent father, his loving mother, being a father himself, his battle
with life-threatening COVID-19, and what he really thinks about politics
and social issues. He does it all with the same intelligence, humor, and
charm that has made him a household name.
A provocative and moving "blueprint of tenacity" (Fat Joe), this book is
the perfect gift for lovers of sports, television, and anyone who likes
their stories delivered straight to the heart.
