Sports columnist Skip Bayless and TV personality Stephen A. Smith were recently spotted together. Viewers might remember the duo working together on ESPN's First Take from 2012 to 2016. Meanwhile, the two were seen at Nate’n Al’s deli on November 29. Bayless also posted a photo on X. He captioned it:“My brother Stephen A and I and Ernestine had dinner last night in Beverly Hills. Great to see him, catch up, talk past/present/future.”Social media users reacted to the photo of the two, with one X user commenting:“Just need Jay Crawford now.”Escobar Furious Esq. 🌐 @EscobarFuriousLINKJust need Jay Crawford now.A netizen pointed out Smith’s phone case, saying:“We can tell by that phone case on your hip that you’re an undercover cop Stevie.”Another netizen reminisced about the old days, writing:“I grew up watching them go head to head every morning. A much simpler time.”An X user said that it would be a huge affair if Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless made a comeback, mentioning:“If yall ever came back together … It would be cinema.”An online commentator wrote about Skip’s posture, claiming:“Skip forever standing like a super vilian ol green goblin a** ninja.”Another social media user praised them, writing:“Yall change the game. Idk if for the better as far as journalism lol But def altered the history of sports talk. Everyone following what you two started.”At the restaurant, an X user (@grpwins) met them and even posted a selfie with Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith, and Ernestine. George “Riley” Panagakis wrote that around 6 p.m. the previous evening, they were at a deli in Beverly Hills. They heard Skip’s voice, walked over to take a photo, and saw Stephen A. Smith sitting with him. He wrote that both of them were nice when the user asked for a picture.Stephen A. Smith was also a guest on Skip Bayless’s podcast this yearEarlier in March 2025, Stephen A. Smith was a guest on The Skip Bayless Show. Looking back on yesteryears, Bayless mentioned an incident from 2014 when Smith got his ESPN deal. Skip Bayless said he was happy for Smith at that time because he had worked hard to achieve the feat. Smith said:“Thank you. It's been a climb. It's been a struggle and I think that you know sometimes you know you're just forced to sit back reflect and you think about the things that it takes to get to where we've both have gotten in this industry.”He added:“And there's so many things that's misunderstood. There's so many things that people don't see. There's so many things that are said and stigmatized about us being in the chair.”Stephen A. Smith told Skip Bayless that they both came from a journalism background, so their opinions were informed by knowledge and many years of work. He explained that just like athletes rely on their time in the locker room, he and Skip relied on their time covering teams, sitting courtside, traveling, going to games, and talking to players, coaches, and team leaders.He said he often laughed when people acted like he didn’t know anything because he had been doing this for 30 years. He added that the only difference now was that he no longer had to chase people for information as they reached out to him.