IF anyone knows how to get under the skin of First Take's Stephen A. Smith it's Chris "Mad Dog" Russo. Russo first joined First Take as a guest analyst in 2022, appearing weekly alongside hosts Smith and Molly Qerim ever since.
And as was evident on Russo's most recent appearance on the popular ESPN sports talk show, he knows exactly which buttons to press to irritate Smith . Russo joined the droves of social media users, as well as Qerim , in mocking Smith for his dramatic entrances into NBA Playoff games this past season. He even went so far as to call them "the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life.
" Russo later appeared on The Dan Patrick Show , where he was asked just how to get under Smith's skin. "If I get into something with the NBA , historically, that's what gets him annoyed," Russo explained. "He threw a bone at me yesterday with the top-five duos of all time, and he brought in (Bob) Cousy and Sam Jones, and I think he did that for me.
"But he left (Jerry) West and (Gail) Goodrich out - the year they won 39 in a row, they had 69 wins, and they killed the teams in the postseason, both were unbelievable. "And I think he got a little annoyed." Later, Russo recalled the aforementioned mockery of Smith's NBA games arrivals'.
"Yesterday, I had some fun with him when he walked into the gym with these beautiful suits on like he was about to be a player and score 35 [in] a ballgame," he said. "He loves it when you have fun with that. "But I think when I have fun playing t.
