ESPN
Skip Bayless returned to First Take for the first time in 10 years, and it didn’t take long for him to annoy Stephen A. Smith.
Earlier this week, ESPN announced that Bayless would return for a “one-time reunion” on the show.
On Friday, Bayless returned to ‘First Take’, and it didn’t take long for the two to get into it.
Wild: Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless immediately started going for each other’s throats, reuniting on First Take for the first time since 2016.
Skip: “I’m back. Here I dressed for your funeral.”
Stephen A: “It would be your funeral.”
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 8, 2026
Of course, Smith and Bayless had to debate LeBron James’ greatness, and things went south quickly.
During their debate, Bayless refused to rank LeBron higher than ninth all-time because he was “born without a clutch gene.”
“LeBron James, to me, has proven over many, many years to be the most mentally fragile superstar I have ever closely observed. I mean, the poor man, as gifted as he is, was born without a clutch gene.
So he’s lucky to be in the top 10 because he’s a liability and always has been at the late-game free-throw line. You can just look it up. By superstar standards, he is a poor free-throw shooter for his career at 74%, and an even poorer three-point shooter at 35% for his career.”
“And you wanna talk about launching LeBricks? He’s launched a lot of LeBricks in his day.”
“LeBron James, to me, has proven over many, many years to be the most mentally fragile superstar I have ever closely observed. I mean, the poor man, as gifted as he is, was born without a clutch gene.So he’s lucky to be in the top 10 because he’s a liability and always has been… pic.twitter.com/4bh1fKUb95
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 8, 2026
Smith was noticeably disgusted with Bayless’ take.
Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith reunite on First Take:
“You’ve already elevated LeBron James all the way up to No. 2 on your NBA all-time list? I have him at 9!” pic.twitter.com/RVPmEjlL9u
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 8, 2026