ESPN is paying Stephen A. Smith to run for president

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Stephen A. Smith is $100 million richer today. ESPN's leading man signed a new deal with the company on Thursday, making him the worldwide leader's highest-paid personality.

Here's the kicker, though. Smith is going to be talking less about sports with this new deal.

First Take will remain his priority at ESPN and he'll also still be appearing on other shows around the network, like SportsCenter and the network's NBA coverage. But, as our Andrew Joseph points out, his new contract makes more room for him to appear on other networks and dive into *gulp* politics.

That's right, folks. ESPN is paying Stephen A. Smith $100 million to run for president.

I'm just kidding! Kind of.

That's the clear angle here, right? There's no other reason to include any specific clauses or requirements about appearances on political shows. Smith already appears on news networks and political shows as is. The only reason those appearances would be baked into a contract with ESPN is because he's about to pick up even more of them. Why would he do that, you ask? Because he's seriously considering that presidential run in 2028 that everyone keeps talking about.

What makes that funny is that Smith, himself, said he didn't belong in the conversation for president just last week. He pointed out that he doesn't have the expertise and hasn't run for office before. The only reason he's being considered is that he's really good at yelling about things on television.

Yet, here we are. We live in a world that doesn't value expertise anymore. Celebrity trumps everything else. We don't need to know that you can coherently do the job. We don't even need to know if you can do the basics. We just need to know you. If we do? You're good money. If we don't? Take a hike.

Is that a dangerous place for society to live in? Absolutely. But hey, man. What do I know? I'm just a lowly sportswriter who makes unfunny jokes in newsletters for a living.

Anyway, the only regret — well, uh, no, actually, I have a lot of regrets about this — but the biggest one is that ESPN didn't include a clause setting up Smith to talk more about Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z.

At least we'd all get to laugh while the world is burning.

Today in "Draymond Green is awful" news

Sometimes it's OK to admit that you're wrong, man.

Draymond Green unleashed a weird rumor about Karl-Anthony Towns on his podcast after the Warriors played the Knicks. Towns sat out the game and was noticeably absent from the bench in the Knicks' loss.

Green said he'd heard a rumor that Towns was ducking Jimmy Butler, his former Timberwolves teammate who he's had beef with in the past. As it turns out, Towns missed the game because he was supporting his girlfriend, Jordyn Woods, who'd just lost a friend to breast cancer.

Did Green apologize for being a chatty patty? Nope. He just clarified that "that's what he heard."

Gross.

Kevin Durant 🤝 MLB Spring Training

Who knew that Durant was this big of a baseball fan? The NBA star pulled up to a White Sox vs. Brewers spring training game with Ryan Dunn.

Ryan Dunn is KD's teammate on the Suns. His brother, Justin Dunn, also pitches for the White Sox. Justin was asked about linking up with KD at spring training, and, well, apparently, KD is just a White Sox fan. Who knew?

I always love it when sports intersect with each other in weird ways. Seeing one of the best basketball players ever pull up to a spring training game to watch the worst team in baseball play might be as weird as it gets.

Never stop being a sports junkie, KD.

Photo Friday: The Skis to Heaven

This is Johan Andre Forfang from Team Norway, competing at the FIS World Ski Championships. The light in the background makes it look like the homie is floating in the heavens. What an awesome shot.

Quick hits: Our NHL trade deadline live blog ... Lots of beef ... and more

— Follow Mary Clarke as she follows the NHL trade deadline here via our live blog! This is something new we're trying. We'd love your support.

— Stephen A. Smith confirmed that LeBron James confronted him about Bronny at the Lakers game on Thursday. Bryan Kalbrosky has more on that.

— Meanwhile, Charles Barkley and Kendrick Perkins have also reignited their beef. What's in the air today, folks?

— Christian Kirk is a Texan now. Here's Christian D'Andrea with more on that.

— Here's Prince Grimes with why prediction markets coming to sports could be bad for business.

— Speaking of the NHL trade deadline, you can follow all of our trade grades here.

That's a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic weekend. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️