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Former ESPN colleagues Stephen A. Smith and Sage Steele reunited on the latter’s podcast to discuss a plethora of issues, one of which focused on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.
The discussion got rather contentious at first, as Steele asked Smith why it took him “three years” to speak out, but Smith clarified that he spoke about Lia Thomas at UPenn from “day one” on ESPN’s “First Take.”
In any case, the two do agree on the subject, and Steele asked Smith why he thinks men of power have been quiet on the issue.
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Stephen A. Smith speaks onstage during the 2024 HOPE Global Forum in Atlanta, Georgia, on Dec. 11, 2024. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
“Why do you think so many male athletes — we work with these men every single day, NFL, NBA, whatever it is, who’ve got not as much to risk – they’ve got $150 million in their pocket, or maybe it’s much less, I don’t care. This is common sense,” Steele asked Smith. “And many of them, like you, have daughters who are athletes. Are you going to let a young man at the volleyball net play against your daughter knowing what’s at risk? We have seen the injuries.
“And so there are way too many men… in prominent positions who have the financial security. This is not your $65,000-a-year job, someone who’s a janitor and is trying to talk in a school board meeting who really could lose his job for this opinion, which is insane. These men in sports who know damn well a woman could not compete are staying silent. Why?”
A protester for protecting women’s sports gathers outside the Supreme Court on January 13, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Groups from both sides of the debate gathered on Tuesday morning to protest while two cases that prohibit transgender girls from joining girls’ and women’s sports teams are heard inside the Supreme Court. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
SAGE STEELE RECALLS HOW STEPHEN A SMITH WARNED HER AGAINST SPEAKING OUT WHILE STILL AT ESPN
“Some guys, some people, and this is very, very sad, some people don’t care about a damn thing unless it affects them directly. We just got to call it like we see it,” Smith obliged. “Some of us are conscientious enough to say, ‘Bump that, I got this public platform, ain’t no way I can sit silently and say nothing.’ Some people, when it comes to politics, it’s a cesspool. It’s been a cesspool. This is the latest issue.”
Smith’s answer seemed to take Steele by surprise, as it’s been studied that nearly 80% of people agree that transgender athletes should not compete against biological females.
“This is the one thing that I actually believe would bring more people together. I said this from day one with women in my industry, if half of us sportscasters had stood up and said, ‘You know what? As women, we’re going to protect these women,’ we would not be in this position,” Steele answered.
“There’s plenty of women that didn’t, just like there’s plenty of men did not,” Smith hit back. “So in other words, Sage, what that means is those who are courageous enough to put themselves out on front street and tackle issues for the betterment of the whole of others are few and far between.”
Smith last week said “Real Time with Bill Maher” that “biological men should not be competing against biological girls in sports, period.”
Stephen A. Smith looks on from the field during warmups prior to the NFL game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Nov. 3, 2025. (Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
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“What about protecting the young ladies? Young ladies going up against biological men — biological men — there is no excuse for that.”
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