Fans noticed it when Stephen A. Smith neglected to mention a particular name as he addressed the recent ESPN firings on his podcast this week.

The Worldwide Leader in Sports laid 20 employees off last Friday, including some of the more popular on-air personalities such as Jalen Rose, Max Kellerman, and Jeff Van Gundy.

ESPN’s parent company, Disney, is looking to cut costs this year and the plan is to terminate around 7,000 jobs. That they would let the three aforementioned go was quite surprising given what they brought to the company. And, speaking n the video below, Stephen A. suggested that they deserved better.

While he mentioned several of his ex-colleagues, fans noticed that he did not say anything about his former First Take co-host. You can see some of their reactions right below:

He still hate Max cause TO said Max was blacker than Stephen A lol ?

— Goo⚜️⚜️ (@VeeMoe_) July 4, 2023

I don’t understand all the hate you have for Max being that y’all had a successful show together for years! How do you not mention a co-worker you worked with everyday unless you hate him? I can’t see u being jealous of Max but it sure looks like it ever since that TO comment ?

— Goo⚜️⚜️ (@VeeMoe_) July 4, 2023

@maxkellerman deserves better. Hoping to hear him and @marcelluswiley are back together soon. First sports podcast I listened to.

— DieselBlue (@Pauliepark) July 4, 2023

Much love for SA, but he did Max wrong

— Roy da 5’7″ (@roytheautomator) July 4, 2023

Don’t forget about Max Stephen A.He had a pretty good show.I enjoyed it.Max will definitely find another gig fa sho.

— Billy Ward (@BillyWa35606315) July 4, 2023

Well, they are correct on some fronts. Max was a huge asset to First Take, and Smith makes no mention of him in the video above. However, someone let them know they were technically wrong as he spoke about Max for over a minute in another segment you could check out here.

It’s going to be interesting to see where Max lands next. He’s way too talented to be without a job for very long and it’s likely that we’ll be seeing him on television again soon. Who knows? Maybe he’s already gotten a call from Skip Bayless…

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