Skip Bayless Returns to First Take, Debates Smith

Sports commentator Skip Bayless returned to ESPN's First Take on Friday for the first time since leaving the show in 2016, engaging in a lively debate with host Stephen A. Smith on several topics including NBA rankings and NFL legacies.

Bayless, who co-hosted First Take with Smith from 2012 until his departure to Fox Sports 1, opened the segment by expressing pride in Smith's success. He quickly transitioned to familiar rivalries, criticizing some of Smith's past on-air statements as "asinine." The pair, known for their heated exchanges that helped define the show's format since its 2007 launch, revisited debates that drew significant attention a decade ago.

A focal point was Bayless's ranking of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James ninth on his all-time NBA greats list, behind Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell, Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird. Bayless described the players ahead of James as "cold-blooded basketball killers" he would trust in crucial moments, adding that James had shown himself to be "the most mentally fragile superstar I have ever closely observed" and was "born without a clutch gene." He acknowledged...