I Ran Into Stephen A. Smith Down The Hall Last Week
Guess who I got to hang out with for a few minutes last week down the hall at our sister station, WMMR!
It was an old friend that I used to sit next to every night at the Philadelphia 76ers games by the scorers’ table.
He went on to become a household name over at ESPN afterward, but I still remember those days like it was yesterday.
A little before my midday show on WMGK, I took a walk down the hall to the WMMR studios to see what was going on.
Then a familiar face caught my eye.
It was Stephen A. Smith!
Stephen A. was a guest on The Preston and Steve Show last week, and you can check that out if you would like to listen right here.
He was there to promote his new book titled, Straight Shooter.
In the book, Smith talks about the highest highs of his career and lowest lows.
He writes about the biggest sports moments of his career but also lets the public take a look behind the curtain and dives deep into his personal life.
I can’t wait to pick a copy up for myself!
But back to last week.
I guess during one of the breaks he was just hanging out in the lobby area, and that’s when I had the chance to catch up with him.
It was awesome to see him again!
As I said, we used to sit next to each other during every Sixers game as I was doing the public address announcing and he was the team’s beat writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1997 through 2007.
It was actually his first columnist job as a writer!
This was back when I first started doing the PA announcer job in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Both Stephen A. and the late Phil Jasner were very helpful to me during games when I first started in 1997-1998.
I was and still am very grateful for them!
It was and still is very cool to see Stephen A.’s rise to fame from a small, local beat reporter to a national television star!
Rumor has it that he is one of, if not the highest-paid talents over at ESPN.
And it is well deserved!
I was stoked that I was able to run into him!
Go check out his book if you can!
I am sure it is a great read!
Congratulations Stephen A.
By the way, how about the Sixers during the last west coast road trip!
5-0!
MATT CORD
Join me weekdays 9am to 2pm right after The John DeBella Show and before André Gardner from 2pm-7pm. CONNECT 3 at 10am for FABULOUS prizes, Noontime Nuggets at 12noon, and you can win concert tickets throughout the show for many of the upcoming MGK Concerts. Text in your requests at MGKMGK or call 215-263-WMGK. I end every show with a voicemail from my late father Jack Cord because he always left the coolest voicemails on my machine and phone.
Also the PA Voice for the Philadelphia 76ers for the past 26 years, and the Voice of NBA2K22 and NBA2K23.
