May 8, 2025
The sports analyst plays a character who is discovered dead ‘leaving the squad with a trail of suspects who wanted him gone’
When Stephen A. Smith appears in an upcoming episode of NBC’s Law & Order, the television show comes up with a storyline that many people may fantasize about: a murder mystery surrounding the controversial sports analyst.
According to People, the ESPN host will play “a tough-love sports agent” who “is found stabbed to death, leaving the squad with a trail of suspects who wanted him gone,” on the episode titled “Tough Love,” which will air on May 8.
The sportscaster said that the series has always been one of his favorites, as he has watched every episode from season three through 21. He’s been watching the show since Sam Waterson played the top prosecutor when he appeared on the long-running television drama.
“I really enjoy the show. I’ve been watching it for years, and when I was approached by a writer, who[m] I ran across here in Los Angeles, about making an appearance on the show, it’s something that I jumped at,” the controversial host told the media outlet.
Although we can be certain that he will not appear again in this role, as his character is killed, like many athletes he critiques daily, there is a trail of suspects the character has pissed off.
“That was fun for me. I knew I would know how to do that because I’ve been dealing with agents my entire career. So I know how they talk, I know how they act, I know how they feel. I know the nuances that come with their profession to some degree because I’ve experienced it. And so I just tried to bring that to the scene and tried to make it as real and as authentic as it possibly can be. And they say I was successful, so we’re going to go with that.”
He did say that he would have preferred playing a lawyer, but due to the current schedule (the NBA Playoffs are currently taking place) and the number of days the show films, he wouldn’t have been able to commit to the time needed to play a different role.
Although Smith has acted before in a recurring role on General Hospital (which started in 2016), he assures us that he will not be leaving the sports arena just yet.
“I’m always going to love sports and doing what I do. I mean, it’s made me who I am. Being synonymous with sports and giving sports commentary, and being a sports journalist and broadcaster spanning the last three decades, is obviously going to come first. I’ve never considered myself an actor or anything like that.”
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