Sports television is going through a seismic shift in 2024. The next season will mark the end of Inside The NBA on TNT, marking the end of an era. Another show has been vanquished due to the unforgiving business windmill of television programming – Undisputed. The FS1 show led by Skip Bayless saw a major decline in viewership, with its live TV audience almost halving since its debut in 2016. Consequently, Skip jumped ship from ESPN, ditching his partnership with Stephen A. Smith. But will there be another team-up between the two top names in sports tele?

Since Shannon Sharpe left Undisputed last year to join Stephen A.’s First Take, Skip’s show with a revolving cast of analysts failed to gain the traction it once had. The pairings of Keyshawn Johnson, Paul Pierce, Rachel Nichols and Richard Sherman drew 50,000 average viewers, primarily from the 18-49 demographic in April. Hence, the decision to chop the show from Fox Sports’ schedule leaves Skip Bayless to pursue new pastures. And Stephen A. Smith made it clear that he wants no part of it unless there’s a special case.

In a recently posted video from Barstool Sports, Stephen A. declared his openness to the idea of teaming up with Skip. But the once revered rating machines will not be doing things like they used to. Their team-up must happen on one condition and SAS named it during the episode of Pardon My Take. “Listen, man. I mean, if you talk about one final day with Skip Bayless, I’d welcome that any day of the week just to pay homage to what he’s done for me,” Stephen A. said when the host proposed the idea of him debating Skip on the day LeBron James retires. 

Skip Bayless has made a reputation of being a LeBron James hater and Stephen A. is a known Michael Jordan guy. So for them to debate over LeBron’s legacy and GOAT standing would be a television jackpot for any network. But talking about it, Stephen A. further clarified his doubts about whether the younger generation would really be invested in them. “If they (younger fans) never got to see it, why would they care? See, you want to see it. You want it bad because you know because you saw it. If they never saw it, why would they care?,” SAS concluded.

Since the pair broke off in 2016, Bayless has appeared on First Take as a guest analyst multiple times. But now, in 2024, there’s nothing, apart from nostalgic value, to their pairing from a decade ago. In this regard, Stephen A. has already made himself clear over any doubts about a potential return for Skip in the ESPN show.

Stephen A. Smith closed the door on Skip Bayless’ return to ESPN

It’s done and over with, there will be no Stephen A x Bayless reunion on ESPN. At least that was the case till the last month before this recent nod. When asked about a possible team-up on ESPN, Stephen A.’s message was clear- “Skip and I are finished as a TV tandem.” There are already enough rants about the 56-year-old set to become the first $100 million man on sports television. The analyst and ESPN were in a contract stalemate with Stephen A. demanding improvements on his previous $18 million-a-year deal before the network decided to improve that.

So if they’re welcoming Stephen A. back with that amount of money, there isn’t probably space to fit in Bayless. Barring assumptions, Stephen A. also clarified that he is unwilling to put Shannon Sharpe in a difficult position again after his exit from Skip’s show. “I’m not going to front, y’all. I wouldn’t do that to my man Shannon Sharpe, either. That’s right, I said it,” Stephen A. told Front Office Sports. Despite their split, Smith and Bayless have remained on good terms, referring to each other as their “brother from another mother.” So don’t be surprised to see the duo back together for one last ride if things really go in that direction.