Stephen A. Smith spends approximately 12 hours a day on television, firing off takes. For those other 12 hours of the day though, he is a father. On Thursday night before Game 6 of the NBA Finals, the two sides of Smith’s world met in the middle.
While appearing on SportsCenter ahead of tip-off of Game 6 in Indianapolis, Smith was briefly joined on screen by his daughter Samantha.
Surprising absolutely no one, Smith’s daughter took to the family business with an impressive degree of readiness, introducing herself and keeping the segment flowing until it was time to throw to break.
“I’m talking here,” Samantha said quickly as her dad tried to take the mic. “I’m so happy to be here. I’ve made so many friends.”
“You just got here five minutes ago,” Smith retorted. Given the amount of times Smith’s job counts on him speaking with expert knowledge of an event he is largely parachuting into, this is a great gag. Later on, in another hilariously on-the-nose turn, Smith scolds his daughter for interrupting Elle Duncan, who was also on mic.
If there’s one thing Stephen A. Smith won’t stand for, it’s someone interrupting someone else on ESPN airwaves.
Stephen A Smith's daughter Samantha embarrasses him on live TV, put her on the halftime show pic.twitter.com/fzN6sTawG2
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) June 19, 2025
Samantha wasn’t done there. Later on during the pregame show, she took to the airwaves once again, picking the Thunder to beat the Pacers on Thursday night to close out the Finals. She was, notably, picking against her father.
Stephen A. Smith’s face while his daughter gives her picks. 💀 pic.twitter.com/NhG5X9dlcq
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 20, 2025
Talking on camera is a family business, and the Smiths are very good at it.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Stephen A. Smith’s Daughter Crashes NBA Pregame TV Hit, Shows Instant Star Power.