Stephen A. Smith Shares Harrowing Memories Of Murder From His Youth

Stephen A. Smith is known for his outspoken personality and presence on television, but in a new interview, the ESPN star is opening up about a much darker chapter of his life, one he rarely discusses publicly. Speaking candidly with Graham Bensinger, Smith reflected on his upbringing in Queens, New York, revealing how poverty, academic struggles, and exposure to violence shaped the mindset that ultimately helped him succeed.

Long before becoming one of the most recognizable voices in sports media, Smith was the youngest of six children growing up in Hollis, Queens, where financial hardship was a constant reality.

Stephen A. Smith has previously shared that his family sometimes lived without heat and struggled to afford basic necessities. His father was emotionally distant and largely absent after Smith was young, leaving his mother, who was a nurse, to carry the responsibility of supporting the household.

That environment, he has said, instilled both resilience and motivation, pushing him to create a different future for himself.

Smith also faced significant educational obstacles during childhood, including severe reading difficulties that led to him being held back twice in school. He has long suspected dyslexia contributed to those struggles, and classmates often mocked him because of it.

Rather than breaking his confidence, those experiences became fuel. Over time, Stephen A. Smith turned the ridicule into motivation, ultimately developing the work ethic and determination that would define his career.

During the interview, Smith spoke bluntly about the violence he witnessed growing up, including shootings and deaths involving people he knew. “Of course, a couple of my friends got killed," he revealed. "I've seen a couple people get gunned down. I've seen some people get killed. I've seen somebody get shot."

Stephen A. Smith then opened up about one specific event. "I remember one time, one of the guys that I grew up with, I wouldn't say that he was a close friend, but we knew one another," he explained. "He was joking around arguing with this guy and they were making jokes towards one another about each other's mother who could tell the best jokes or whatever."

"And this one guy got the better of the other guy," the ESPN personality continued. "The other guy goes up to him and shoots him in both kneecaps, and said, ‘I told you to stop f-cking with me.’ Dropped the gun and walked away. That's the kind of stuff that I grew up seeing. I grew up seeing one of my boys gunned down in the nightclub. Guy walked up to him, blew his head off just because he didn't like him.”

Stephen A. Smith explained that growing up around violence forced him to develop a heightened awareness of when to speak and when to stay silent, decisions that could carry life-or-death consequences.

“Well, unfortunately, you don't like to say these things, but you know what? You keep your mouth shut," Smith revealed. "People talk about snitching, no snitching or whatever. But, you see something like that, you open your mouth, you might be next. And so that's the kind of environment we grew up in. One of my boys, his house got shot up, and his little sister, five years old, got killed because they were after him, because it was a territorial battle…”

He continued by describing how those experiences shaped his mindset and behavior, telling Bensinger, “This is the kind of stuff that I grew up seeing, not every day, not every week, but it's happened. There's a few dead bodies that was around us and stuff like that, and you kind of learn what to avoid."

"You got to learn when to speak, when not to speak, who to speak to and when. You see 5-O and stuff like that. You get seen talking to the police, that's not a good look for you when you growing up in the streets and you see some of the things that we've seen," the ESPN personality went on to say. "And so all of those things are things that contribute to your mindset: What you see, how you communicate with folks, what you're willing to convey, what you're willing to stay away from, stuff like that.”

Despite the chaos around him, Stephen A. Smith said he made a conscious decision to avoid the dangers that consumed many people in his neighborhood. “And I was the kind of person that I stayed away from all of that, and basketball was my haven," Smith said.

Sports ultimately became his pathway forward, eventually leading him toward journalism and broadcasting.