Stephen A. Smith sounds off on unauthorized stories

With Ian O’Connor’s Aaron Rodgers book coming out next week, unauthorized biographies have come to the forefront. The discussion stemmed from a conversation that WFAN had with the New York Jets quarterback. The 40-year-old Rodgers stated that he didn’t ask for O’Connor to do the book, and while he lamented that there might be stuff in there that’s not based on facts, he did praise the best-selling author for the research put into this highly-touted project.

While Stephen A. Smith echoed those sentiments and showered praise on O’Connor, formerly a columnist and senior writer for both ESPN and The New York Post , he can’t exactly get down with unauthorized biographies. That’s not to say that he himself won’t read O’Connor’s book, it’s more about how he feels personally.

And Smith delivered his unfiltered thoughts on his The Stephen A. Smith Show earlier this week.

“I have to confess, I have mixed emotions about this,” Smith began. “And I’m bringing this up because No. 1, it’s Aaron Rodgers. No. 2, that’s somebody that I’d love to interview… When I see this particular story, I’m torn. Ian O’Connor is one of the nicest human beings you’ll ever meet, by the way — class personified. One of the greatest writers I have ever seen. Ian O’Connor is a spectacular talent as a writer, spectacular — he just is. And if you want somebody to write something on you, you want it to be Ian O’Connor.

“When you think about the top five people, the great Mike Wilbons of the world. I remember Bill Lyon, formerly of The Philadelphia Inquirer ; god rest his soul. This dude was phenomenal, just poetry in motion. I mean, there are certain writers that are absolutely, positively spectacular, and I just gave you three of them. Ian O’Connor is one of those people. He’s special. He’s a good person. He’s decent. He’s a consummate professional. He’s thorough. He’s all of that. So, go and get the book just ’cause of him.

“My issue is that I’m one of those people; I’ve never, ever had a desire to write a biography that was unauthorized. Everybody knows how tight I am with Allen Iverson. Everybody knows that I’ve covered him for years. And I know things about him that most people don’t know, just like I know things about Kobe Bryant that most people wouldn’t know… They know better. I would never, ever write anything in terms of a book that’s unauthorized. Me talking about what you’re making news for or your performance on the field, or something like that is entirely different than me getting into your personal business.”

Smith added that he needs to be authorized to do something like that.

“I’m not down with that; that’s just me,” the First Take host continued. “I’m not knocking Ian O’Connor or anybody else, but that’s just me. I’m not down with that. And Aaron Rodgers, to his credit, didn’t excoriate or disrespect Ian O’Connor in any way. He just said he did his homework… Aaron Rodgers didn’t seem to have much of a problem with it. Fair enough. That’s just not me. If it ain’t authorized, I’m not writing about somebody’s personal life without having their authorization. That’s just me.

“The other side to it is I don’t know much about Aaron Rodgers’ family because I don’t know it on purpose. I don’t want to know. That’s his business. I remember a number of years ago, I got pissed off because his brother (Jordan) was on The Bachelorette . But all I remembered was his brother talking about him negatively. And I’m like, ‘What nerves. Who the hell was thinking about you?’ If you ain’t Aaron Rodgers’ brother, you probably wouldn’t have been on the damn show. And then to come on the show and be talking about your brother like that, that’s pretty jacked up.

“Now, everybody’s different. But let me tell you a little something about Stephen A. Smith here. I’ve got four older sisters. I’ve got 15 nieces and nephews. I have two daughters. And contrary to what some might think, I have pretty much nothing to hide. I don’t give a sh*t. Anybody and I mean anybody, that talks about my personal business in an unauthorized fashion is cut the hell off. I don’t give a sh*t who you are… I don’t play that. I don’t play that at all. Because you know what Stephen A. not gonna do? I’m not gonna talk about other people’s personal business in a public forum. I’m not doing that.”

Smith said we live in a cold, impersonal world, which is why he was so angry when Stephen Jackson called him a snitch for calling the league office about Russell Westbrook’s “nonsense” during the playoffs. He emphasized that he doesn’t engage in that kind of behavior with anyone.

“And to me, people who are comfortable doing that, it’s just an uncomfortable feeling,” Smith says. “I’m not talking about Ian O’Connor here because, obviously, he went to Aaron Rodgers… Let’s be fair to Ian O’Connor here. But I’m just using this as an opportunity to talk about a general principle that I think has been vastly ignored.”

[ Stephen A. Smith ]

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