First Take Is Reuniting Stephen A. Smith And Skip Bayless, And I Can't Wait For The Arguments

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Credit: ESPN/Fox Sports

First Take has gone throughout plenty of changes since its premiere on ESPN back in 2007. However, the era of the show that’s arguably most remembered by viewers is the one that saw Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless serve as the two main hosts. The pair dominated the daytime sports space for a while, though that ended in a less-than-ideal way years ago. But, now, in a surprising turn of events, Bayless and Smith are about to reunite on the show, and I’m already anticipating some pretty wild arguments.

It was reported on Monday that First Take would welcome back Skip Bayles this coming Friday, May 8. According to Front Office Sports, this reunion between Bayless and Stephen A. Smith is being billed as a “one-time show.” With that, it seems fans shouldn’t expect this to become a regular occurrence, though I wonder if that could change depending on how the ratings shake out. Regardless, the mere fact that Smith and Bayless will be together on a dais again is very surreal.

Bayless began serving as an analyst on First Take (which originally aired on ESPN2 until 2016) beginning in 2007, the year the show debuted. Smith joined the program in 2012 and, over those next several years, FT (which previously faced cancellation) became a ratings juggernaut for Disney’s flagship sports brand. As noted by FOS, the series essentially launched a new era of sports-centric talk shows, which attempted to replicate its debate-centric formula.

It’s due to that format that I’m very interested in seeing what Bayless and Smith end up discussing – and/or arguing about – during the broadcast later this week. There’s certainly plenty for them to talk about and, as a basketball fan, I’d be particularly curious to hear them debate developments within the NBA Playoffs. I can’t imagine the two would agree on everything when it comes to that postseason, and I can practically hear the back-and-forth in my head now.