A recent edition of the sports talk show "First Take" on ESPN may have shown one potential downside of not having a second chance to shoot a segment. During a live debate between polarizing talking head Skip Bayless and reporter Stephen A. Smith, the latter may have dropped an expletive during an animated rant about LeBron James.
While discussing whether James will ever regain popularity, Smith grew increasingly agitated -- as is his style -- and said that the two-time MVP should be more liked than Kobe Bryant. In the middle of his roll, many people thought that they heard Smith accidentally drop a racial slur. From Sports Grid:
"He is too supremely talented. He may be the best talent in the world. You know what? You just got to get that heart man! Stop walking around like the Tin Man syndrome. I mean what is wrong with you!? This Nigga. Come on man. He got it in him. Just peel it out. Suck it up. Wear the black hat."
Although it can be difficult to say for certain that Smith in fact said the n-word The Big Lead and NESW Sports both think that he did.
What do you hear?
WATCH THE VIDEO AT THE TOP
UPDATE Stephen A. Smith denied using the word on Twitter, calling it "patently false."
UPDATE: The original version of this story stated the video was from Thursday morning. It was uploaded to YouTube on Thursday morning but was from an earlier episode of "First Take."