SAT . Stephen A. Smith Pulled From ESPN’s ‘NBA Countdown’ Lineup For Rest Of Season, First Joined Show’s Precursor ‘NBA Shootaround’ In 2003
Wow: an end of an era…for now. On Monday (November 17), ESPN announced the lineup for its ‘NBA Countdown’ team, and it noticeably didn’t include one of the show’s reoccurring hosts, Stephen A. Smith, 58.
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Now, Smith first joined the network in 2003, appearing as an analyst on the ‘NBA Countdown’ precursor ’NBA Shootaround.’ In 2012, the show was later renamed to its current title. Despite the name change, Smith continued to feature on the ESPN program throughout its continued run.
That is until the 2025-26 season. Despite Smith’s absence from the show, he still obviously remains one of ESPN’s biggest stars and faces of the network
ESN Reveals New Look At ‘NBA Countdown’ Team For 2025-26 Season, Stephen A. Smith No Longer In Lineup
According to ESPN Press Room, Senior Writer Brian Windhorst, 2023 NBA Champion head coach Michael Malone, and 2008 NBA Champion Kendrick Perkins will join Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania and show lead Malika Andrews.
ESPN reports that Windhorst joins as he recently signed a multi-year extension with the network. He, along with Malone and Perkins will serve as analysts. As Andrews continues to lead the show as host, for her third season, Charania will continue making regular appearances and contributing news and information as a reporter.
The show will lead pregame and halftime coverage for select NBA on ESPN game nights throughout the 2025-26 season. The new team will make their debut this Wednesday (November 19) at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and the ESPN app.
For the latest season of the show, which will be recorded at the state-of-the-art ESPN NBA studio in Los Angeles, viewers will see some new technological enhancements. This includes Virtual Reality 2.0 for the ‘NBA Countdown‘ and ‘NBA Today‘ analysts. According to the network’s press release:
“The VR technology takes fans into a virtual NBA environment where Michael Malone, Kendrick Perkins and Chiney Ogwumike (‘NBA Today‘) will be immersed in the virtual NBA action. This technology made its debut during ESPN’s 2025 Western Conference Finals coverage and returns with an upgraded version featuring photo realistic player avatars and a stabilized first person POV.”
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