Stephen A. Smith On Messi’s Genius, Knicks Fans, Latinas & His Soccer Roots

Stephen A. Smith pulls up to The Late Run with Ocho and Raheemovic and goes everywhere. He picks Messi as the soccer GOAT, doubles down on his "Messi in MLS is LeBron in the G League" line, and tells the wild story of how a 1991 Winston-Salem Journal assignment turned him into a Wake Forest soccer beat writer for two seasons before ESPN. Then he switches sports and delivers the full Jordan-over-LeBron stat package: 6 Finals, 6 rings, 6 Finals MVPs, never a Game 7.Stephen A. weighs in on whether American athletes could compete in soccer if they had Ronaldo's training regimen, drags Knicks fans for not having "a license to be passionate," and commits to attending the 2026 World Cup with Ocho — Miami, Argentina, Colombia, Morocco, Brazil, Croatia all on the table. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices