Max Kellerman Is Exactly Right About Stephen A. Smith | Bobby Burack

Four and a half years ago, ESPN removed Max Kellerman as Stephen A. Smith’s full-time debate partner. Until this Tuesday, Kellerman had never addressed the exit.

But first, a recap of the role OutKick played in it:

In 2021, ESPN announced it would remove Kellerman from First Take and put him into an afternoon time slot. Smith said on a podcast that he didn’t know the details. Our sources said otherwise.

On August 18 of that year, we reported that Smith had been pushing for Kellerman’s removal for "at least three years." We cited sources who said Smith’s issue was that Kellerman didn’t deliver the "hot takes" that allowed Smith to react theatrically. We also heard from people close to the show who believed Smith grew frustrated that Kellerman, a Columbia University graduate, made him look like the sidekick in discussions about social issues.

Smith initially denied our report on New York radio, calling it an "absolute lie." Later, he admitted he’d been pushing for the move for, wait for it, three years. Since then, he’s spent years bragging about having Kellerman removed and belittling his former co-host for not being a journalist or a former athlete.

That’s Stephen A.’s version. Finally, here’s Kellerman’s version.

Max Kellerman speaks onstage during Fanatics Fest NYC 2025 at Javits Center on June 22, 2025 in New York City.  (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

"If you’re doing a debate show and you’re a competitive person, why would you want me as a partner?" he joked in a podcast interview with Bill Simmons. "That’s bad. You want to go 15 rounds every day with ‘Muhammad Kellerman’? That’s just bad. It’s embarrassing."

In a more serious tone, he explained the problem with hosting a "hot-take" show alongside Smith.

"A hot take is a counterintuitive conclusion that, on TV, you state as the conclusion. You do analysis, come to that conclusion, and when you say it, people go, ‘What are you talking about?’ Then you explain it. At least you have a point of view."

"Skip Bayless is very entertaining, and I always enjoyed my interactions with him privately," Kellerman said of Smith’s former partner. "Stephen A. has no hot takes. I can’t think of counterintuitive conclusions he reaches. That’s not his job on the air. His job is to be the big reactor to a counterintuitive take. He’s there to hear the crazy conclusion that his partner has come to and be the everyman with a loud voice — ‘You’re crazy’ — and do it theatrically."

Smith and Bayless worked because Bayless delivered multiple hot takes each day on trendy topics, such as Tim Tebow, LeBron James, the Cowboys, and Johnny Manziel. More often than not, Bayless would say something absurd, giving Smith a chance to play the outraged defender of common sense.

In wrestling terms, Stephen A. was the babyface. Bayless was the heel.

That dynamic didn’t translate with Kellerman. Smith, as his recent overcorrections show, cares deeply about what he calls the opinions of the "black community." The problem: Max is far more woke than Stephen A.

For example, it was Kellerman, not Smith, who said Trump voters in the SEC "seem to be susceptible to very low quality information and easy to propagandize and almost immune to facts." Comments like that put Smith in the awkward position of defending white voters in the South. He didn't want to be in that position.

Those moments led to one of the show’s most infamous segments. During a debate about Colin Kaepernick, former NFL receiver Terrell Owens told Smith that Kellerman was "blacker" than him. From what we understand, that was the point of no return for Smith’s relationship with Kellerman, even though Kellerman wasn’t the one who said it.

After that, Smith began openly dismissing Kellerman on the show. People inside ESPN told OutKick at the time that it was uncomfortable to watch. 

Kellerman discussed that tension with Simmons.

"Whatever you feel about who you’re working with and what the situation is, a cardinal sin is betraying that on the air," he said. "You should always think about making the show entertaining. I think it reached a point where it was like, ‘Come on, the first priority is to make good TV.’ You don’t want to be undermined."

While Kellerman confirmed much of what we reported — and what the public already saw — he also cleared up the one part of the story that never made sense: his replacement, or lack thereof.

Since 2021, First Take has featured a rotating cast of debate partners, from big names like Shannon Sharpe, Michael Irvin, and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo to lower-tier contributors like Chris Canty, Bart Scott, and Monica McNutt.

According to Kellerman, the rotation was intentional.

"I also think that if you calculate that being perceived as a solo act means you can get paid at a certain level that you can’t as part of a duo, then you’d like to be a solo act, or at least perceived that way. Mike Francesa and the Mad Dog are a good example. They were together for a long time. Then whatever happened, happened. Mike got his own show and stayed on top."

Like Francesa, Smith eventually got paid as a solo act. In May, he signed a five-year, $100 million extension with ESPN.

To Smith’s credit, First Take has performed well in the ratings of late, and the move elevated his market value. When he shared a show with Kellerman and Bayless, Smith was viewed as less valuable than solo hosts like Colin Cowherd, Pat McAfee, and Scott Van Pelt.

There was risk in taking that route. Bayless, for instance, lost more than half his audience at FS1 when Shannon Sharpe left, and his solo venture on YouTube is a flop.

Ultimately, two things are true: Stephen A. won in the short term. And Kellerman is right about him. Smith is insecure and prefers to surround himself with intellectual lightweights. This is consistent with Jason Whitlock's reporting on Smith.

The second truth may prove more lasting. Kellerman is now part of Netflix, TKO, The Ringer, and Zuffa Boxing — and his reputation has quietly aged well. "Bring back Max" continues to trend on X, a day after his comments.

All you need to know about Max vs. Stephen A. is that one spent years publicly and illogically diminishing the other. The other waited for the right moment and calmly laid out exactly what happened.