"Can't believe this man just said this": Stephen A. Smith once walked off set after Skip Bayless’ ‘Tim Tebow is a bigger draw than Kobe Bryant’ claim
Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless used to have heated debates on a daily basis when the two sat opposite one another. Although those days have long come and gone, it's shocking to look back at the heated on-air verbal battles the two men had.
Although Bayless has long been known for being a critic of LeBron James, one of his previous takes about Kobe Bryant sparked a fierce debate. At the time, Tim Tebow was the talk of the country. He was garnering significant attention.
In comparison, Skip Bayless alleged that Kobe Bryant wasn't a big box office draw.
When Bayless claimed that Tebow was a bigger draw than Kobe Bryant, Stephen A. Smith couldn't contain himself. He quickly walked off the set, saying that the show needed to go to commercial break.
"He's a bigger draw? Go to break. I wanna walk off this set right now, I can't believe this man just said this out of his mouth. ... Tim Tebow is more box office than Kobe Bryant? Than Kobe Bryant? Is Tim Tebow more box office than LeBron?
"I can't deal with him right now. I need a break.... I can't believe this man just said this."
Skip Bayless' other crazy Kobe Bryant claims
While Skip Bayless' comments about Tim Tebow being a bigger box office star than Kobe Bryant was controversial, it wasn't the only one.
Bayless also notably (and controversially) called Bryant overpaid, prompting another viral reaction from Stephen A. Smith.
Bayless stated that Kobe Bryant was massively overpaid after finding out that he made $27 million a year. While nowadays that figure wouldn't put Bryant in the conversation for the highest-paid players in the league, at the time, he was making $7 million more than the next highest-paid player.
“When I saw this list last night, it leaped out to me that Kobe makes $7 million more than anybody else in this league, $27 million… $27,000,0000 worth of nothing. I realized that you can make the case that it comes under old collective bargaining agreements.
"But, still…I’m still a prisoner of what I recently saw in the NBA Playoffs."
In addition, Bayless also notably irked his co-host, Stephen A. Smith, stating that Bryant looked fat before coming back from his Achilles tear. In that instance, rather than walk off-set, Stephen A. Smith simply took aim at his co-host, saying that Skip Bayless was pathetic.
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