Skip Bayless Re-Energizes ‘First Take’ in ESPN Return

Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless proved you can go home again as the former partners successfully reunited for the first time in 10 years on First Take.

Smith and Bayless showed they’ve still got it. Nobody has ever had better chemistry when it comes to verbal combat. Friday’s mano-a-mano was the best TV performance I’ve seen out of both of them in months. For years, they debated a succession of cream puffs who couldn’t keep up. They were often bored and producing boring TV. On Friday, they were engaged and ready to rumble. They bring out the best in each other.

The duo is an expert at inflaming an audience. Bayless wasted no time demoting LeBron James, his longtime punching bag, to No. 9 on his all-time list of NBA players. Genius. It was the kind of rage-bait opinion that Bayless specializes in. Smith (who had James at No. 2 behind Michael Jordan) said Bayless could be banned from TV for enunciating such “drivel” and “blashphemy” on TV.

Like the Eagles at The Sphere, these two know how to play the hits. Nostalgia is powerful. If you closed your eyes, you’d think you were back in 2012 as Smith and Bayless debated whether LeBron “The Frozen One” James possessed a “clutch gene.” Or whether Tim Tebow, an NFL bust with only one playoff win to his credit, could have been a superstar. 

Smith mocked Bayless’s pom-pom-waving support for the Cowboys. He laughingly showed a video of Bayless throwing his Dak Prescott jersey into a trash can like a disappointed little kid. Bayless countered by criticizing Smith’s support of the Knicks, complete with a bad attempt at a New YAWK accent. Bayless also reached for a golden oldie by calling him Stephen “NAY”-Smith after basketball founder James Naismith. As Barstool Sports personality PFT Commenter wrote on X/Twitter: “Skip unleashing ‘Stephen NAYsmith’ as a nickname for SAS after 10 years apart is some count of Monte Cristo shit. When a revenge plot comes to life.” 

They showed again that their on-air styles mesh. For all the talk about Smith being “Screaming A,” his sports takes are usually mainstream. Smith is at his best when he’s counterpunching. Bayless, on the other hand, is the best at coming up with outrageous opinions. That’s why Bayless making himself moderator of FS1’s old Undisputed didn’t work. He effectively neutered himself.

When Stephen A. counterpunches Bayless, it can be laugh-out-loud funny. Their dynamic reminds me of the classic Dave Chappelle skit where Charlie Murphy calls Rick James a “habitual line-stepper.” Smith is at his best when Bayless steps over the line—and Stephen A. calmly and decisively checks him.  

If ESPN is smart, they’ll bring back both Bayless and Shannon Sharpe as recurring song partners for Smith. It would create a murderers’ row of embrace debate TV talent during the NFL and NBA seasons. First Take has been No. 1 for 15 years. It would guarantee another decade of dominance in the show’s weekday morning time slot. It would keep Smith happy at a time when the network’s biggest star is weighing potential moves into politics, entertainment, and late night TV.

There’s nobody in sports TV more competitive than Smith. He’s the star and executive producer of ESPN’s biggest morning show. But the studio shows before and after First Take’s 10 a.m. to 12 noon time slot are gaining on him.

Take the most recent viewership numbers. In April, First Take averaged 491,000 viewers, up 6%, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. But Mike Greenberg’s Get Up averaged 447,000 viewers from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET. That was up 24%. And The Pat McAfee Show averaged 430,000 on linear/digital from 12 noon to 2 p.m. ET. That was up 29% on linear-only.

If ESPN walks into Disney’s upfront next week and announces both Bayless and Sharpe will regularly appear with Smith and new moderator Shae Cornette, Madison Avenue would love it. 

My ESPN sources say a return engagement by Bayless is not under consideration—at least not yet. Then again, the Worldwide Leader previously indicated Bayless was persona non grata. Yet there he was, larger than life on Friday, clearly relishing his return to the spotlight from the TV wilderness. 

It was also interesting to see Bayless, one of the most loathed personalities in sports TV history, draw praise on social media. “First Take isn’t my cup of tea but the show is just better with Skip on it,” tweeted Christine Golic.

There was a telling moment at the end of Friday’s show, when Smith chided Cornette for agreeing with Bayless’s opinion that he’d won the day’s debates. “I don’t know if he’s coming back or not. I gotta be nice,” she said with a smile.

As my FOS colleague Ryan Glasspiegel tweeted: “Crystal Ball. This won’t be Skip’s last time on First Take.” Following Friday’s performance and the reaction to it, it’s tough to disagree.