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VIEWS: Everyone Loves Looking at Stephen A. Smith's Suits Except 'Mad Dog' Russo

Russo roasted Stephen A. Smith on First Take on Wednesday.

Stephen Douglas

Photographers chronicle Stephen A. Smith's fit ahead of Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Photographers chronicle Stephen A. Smith's fit ahead of Game 5 of the NBA Finals. / X / ESPN

Audience. Ratings. Eyeballs. Attendance. Pageviews. Clicks. These are the things that make the sports world go 'round. How many people are watching something? How many people saw something and where did they see it? 

What is or isn't getting engagement? Why are people watching a certain clip or show? These are the things we will investigate with VIEWS as we try to figure out what is and isn't working in the world of sports media. If you've ever wondered about any of this, we will try provide you with answers.

The NBA Finals are over and thus, so is Stephen A. Smith's traveling fashion show. Some of the most viral scenes from ESPN's coverage of the 2024 Finals were simply videos of their biggest star arriving at the games looking like he's one of the players. For three out of the five games Smith's fits inspired individual social media posts that were overwhelmingly successful.

It all started with this SportsCenter tweet two hours before Game 1 tipped off. More than six million people viewed this video showing Smith entering the arena in a lilac suit.

Then another 5.1 million watched him walking around the court before Game 3 in a fuschia/pink ensemble. This one was posted to the main ESPN account, complete with a star-struck emoji.

By the time Game 4 started, ESPN was keenly aware of how many people were checking out Smith's fits and they stuck a watermark on the video posted on the main ESPN account along with the fire emoji. It turns out it was a good call because another 6.2 million people saw the clip.

These clips were all shared more than anything else on ESPN's social channels and it's not even close. The only tweet to go over one million views in the last 24 hours was a graphic announcing the death of Willie Mays. Payton Pritchard's buzzer-beater in Game 5 only has 1.2 million views. The Anthony Rizzo collision a day earlier had two million views. For the most part, ESPN's tweets get around 200K-500K views.

The three SAS fit check posts each did at least 10 times that. A quick look at the quote tweets suggest he was getting roasted online, but would anyone tell him that in person? Who at ESPN - besides Monica McNutt - has the courage to speak truth to power? Mike "Mad Dog" Russo. That's who. During his recurring "What Are You Mad About Segment?" on Wednesday, Mad Dog addressed SAS's entrances and it was incredibly satisfying.

"This is ridiculous. He thinks he's playing," said Russo. "How about him walking into Game 4 with the Celtics on Sunday night in Dallas. Stephen. I mean this is... Steve. Steve. This is stupid. You've got a guy behind you. You've got cameras. What do you think you're going to score 36 this night with the sunglasses on? I mean this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life. How about going to a ballgame with a t-shirt on and a pair of shorts, sitting in the upper deck having a beer with the fellas? Why are you doing this? Look at this! This is laughable!"

As ridiculous as some people might think this seems, there's obviously a market for it and the likelihood that ESPN starts posting someone up in the First Take parking lot every morning to catch the hosts arriving seems like a true possibility.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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