First, I want to start off by saying that no matter how you feel about Stephen A. Smith, for what he does, he’s the top in the business. I don’t care what you guys think either. Either you like, you know, the content he creates and what he does on First Take, or you don’t. You can’t take away the fact that he’s probably one of the most polarizing figures on TV.

With that being said, sometimes I think that rather than just instantly making the right decision and being informed about some type of topics or subjects, I just find it hard to understand the situation with Lane and how everything played out.

The crazy thing about it is, in my opinion, the position he’s in, he doesn’t even have to do all the research himself. When you get to that level, you have a research team. You have people that literally are looking not just at what’s on established legacy media outlets and news media outlets, but they’re going on Twitter pages, they’re going on social-media pages, Reddit pages, and they’re getting all the information that’s available to them.

And there was a, um, I think her name is Kimberly. She was on First Take, and I think she was trying to kind of let them know there’s some stuff going on, Stephen A., just leave it alone.

And for him to stand on that mental-health topic, I don’t think necessarily he is someone that doesn’t believe in mental health, and I don’t think it’s a situation where he doesn’t believe it’s a big thing. But I think he was just so into the sport element of this conversation, rather than recognizing that there are a lot of individuals that are going through some difficulties.

And a lot of times with men, a lot of men feel that their feelings are not taken seriously, that people don’t care about men’s mental health and the things that men deal with and battle with.

And based on what was publicly discussed, it appeared that Lane was going through some difficult things behind the scenes. So when Stephen A. said, you know, “Why did you even come back?” before the apology came, that’s where I think the conversation becomes much more complicated.

And I think it’s up to sports media, because I think what tends to happen sometimes — and I don’t know if it’s just a case — but I think sometimes individuals will move with a level of, “I don’t have the information,” so that they can just have that take, only to walk it back on their other platforms.

And basically, everybody’s going to tune in.

“Is he going to apologize? He’s not going to apologize. He’s going to stand on it.”

And individuals that do those things and end up getting more viewership on the various platforms — I get it. These individuals are in the content-creation business. Some of them have work for a company, they work for a company everyone knows, and then they have their own content creation outside of the major platform.

But I sometimes think that Stephen A. Smith prioritizes the hot take over pretty much going more with the research first.

And I know sometimes people don’t want to always hear just the information. The information is not always being viral. Being informed isn’t always viral.

But I think when you have these types of topics and these types of dynamics, you have to be more careful.

And then Stephen A. has been in some hot water for the comments that he has made. People have literally called him out on his platform, and he sometimes appears very sensitive.

Which is ironic from the fact that usually an individual that can always tell anybody anything, and say anything about anyone, but the moment someone says anything about him, he doesn’t ever want to deal with them again.

And he says he just doesn’t like when people go personal.

A lot of times, they don’t go personal. A lot of times they’re going off of what you put out there in the atmosphere, and they are adding their take and reaction off of what you’re saying.

No different than what Stephen A. Smith says.

He’s talked about Kawhi Leonard. He talked about Kyrie, even though he’s apologized to him, and countless others. And I think you’ve got to get to a point where you are someone that gets on TV, and it’s up to you to be informed.

It’s up to your team to be informed. It’s up for everybody to have all the information that they need to have, and you go on there and platform.

That’s on you.

That is on you.

You knew that you had a segment on your show. You should have got as much information, your team should have got as much information as possible.

He could have even walked it back during that episode, but no, I’m gonna walk it back on my platform.

And many people say, “Well, that’s, you know, that was the best way to do it.”

And many people say that sometimes they feel that Stephen A. Smith is quicker to apologize for, you know, one person, but another person, it’ll take him years to apologize to them.

And again, that’s my opinion based on how I have viewed some of these situations. I’m not saying that I know what’s in Stephen A. Smith’s mind or what his intentions are.

He had some really strong views towards Kyrie Irving. Strong.

And from my perspective, there was a point where it wasn’t even just a take anymore. It felt more like, “I personally don’t like him.”

And then, from what has been publicly discussed, there were some things going on behind the scenes involving Kyrie, his father and Stephen A. And they’ve, they’ve, they’ve figured it out.

But, you know, there’s always been news about the LeBron spat back and forth with Ronnie and him, you know, going at Stephen A. Smith.

And again, I think Stephen A. Smith has to understand that what you say, your words have power.

And your words ain’t — you’re not just on some YouTube page with five people following your YouTube page. You probably have a million followers.

First Take has a lot of views that are generated off of that production, and people clip it up and it’s everywhere.

So, in my opinion, when you have that type of platform, you have to understand the weight that comes with it.

This isn’t me saying Stephen A. Smith can’t have an opinion. Of course he can. That’s literally what he’s paid to do.

But I think the responsibility is to make sure the opinion is based on as much information as possible, especially when the subject involves someone’s mental health or personal struggles.

That’s ultimately what I’m saying.

I’m not saying Stephen A. Smith is a bad person. I’m not saying he doesn’t care about mental health. I’m not saying I know his intentions.

I’m saying that, from my perspective, I think sometimes the hot take comes before the research, and when you’re dealing with situations like this, I think the research should come first.