One big thing kept Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith from reuniting at ESPN

Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith were this close to a television reunion.

The legendary sports commentators, who worked together on ESPN’s “First Take” from the mid-200s until 2016 when Bayless departed for Fox Sports, nearly rejoined forces at the World Wide Leader.

“We tried in 2020, to his credit,” Bayless revealed on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast this week. “My deal was up after my first four years. So I’ve been there from 2016 to 2020. He did his darndest, and I did my damnedest to reunite with him. And [ESPN] did make an offer. I was unaware I had a matching clause somewhere at the very bottom, in very fine print, of my contract that was standard to all contracts. I was told I had one at ESPN that I was not aware of.

“And not only did Fox match, they did sweeten the pot. Thank you to Lachlan Murdoch for that. So they tried to make it happier for me to stay. But I tried everything in my power to rejoin him because I missed him dearly. No disrespect to Shannon, I’d done four years with Shannon, and I wanted to go back with Stephen A.”

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Bayless’ comments come just months after he departed FS1’s “Undisputed” after eight years on air, as reported by The Post , sending shockwaves throughout the sports media world.

In the aftermath of Bayless’ career move, Smith dismissed any chance that the pair meet again on camera as a “far cry away.”

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“Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, together as partners, working across from each other on a debate show, is over. It’s been over,” Smith said in July. “This is not the first time I’ve said it. There’s no negativity or shade being shown at Skip Bayless. I have moved on.

“… I’m past all of that. And me connecting and reigniting things with Skip Bayless is not what I want my future to be. That is a past that I’ll always celebrate and be appreciative of, but that ain’t where I’m at now. I got bigger plans for myself that don’t include him nor anybody else as a partner.”

Bayless struck a different tone on the podcast appearance this week, leaving the door open to a potential reunification with his former debate partner.

“You never know,” he said.

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