Dan Le Batard reacts to 'fascinating' Skip Bayless return, awaits rebuttal from Stephen A. Smith and ESPN

Skip Bayless introduced his new “dream team” on FS1’s “Undisputed” on Aug. 28, representing a new era for one of the pillars of sports media.

Dan Le Batard, another prominent voice in the sports media space, gave his initial thoughts about the new “Undisputed” crew on his podcast “The Dan Le Batard Show” on Aug. 29.

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Le Batard has been critical about the sports debate space that Bayless pioneered saying that it has made sports television “dumber,” but he seems a little more intrigued about the direction Bayless has chosen with his show’s latest iteration.

“Either they've made the mistake or had the genius of putting Richard Sherman, Michael Irvin, and Keyshawn Johnson in his studio for a first show back after two months off,” Le Batard said.

The trio are all accomplished NFL stars, similar to Shannon Sharpe, who they’ve replaced after Sharpe left in mid-June. Sherman is also notable because he had a public dispute with Bayless over a decade ago on ESPN.

Le Batard pointed to the athletes and their past relationships with Baylees as what he finds “fascinating” about the direction of FS1’s debate show. He said that Bayless has benefited from being “the greatest hater of this toxic age of judging the hell out of athletes,” but says that Bayless has now allowed those same athletes he’s crushed to sit next to him.

“Every athlete he's been killing and crushing for 20 years sits next to him now, and they want the mic and they want the ball,” Le Batard said.

The first episode of “Undisputed” was also talked about on social media because of the airtime all three new hosts received, which seemed to have cut down on the presence of Bayless, who reportedly wanted to ensure that his new hosts would not overshadow him.

But Le Batard’s co-host Stugotz believes that Bayless will find a way to develop the program such that his voice will be heard more, or else he will make drastic changes.

“[Skip] is doing it with three guys who are very, very good at this, but I don't think Skip wants to be made fun of,” Stugotz said. “I think Skip wants to be the guy that dominates that show and will be the guy that dominates that show. Otherwise, he will get one of them fired. I believe that."

More Sports Media:

• Skip Bayless returns to Fox, introduces his new 'dream team'
• Stephen A. Smith and Dan Le Batard Get Another Authentic Response From Stugotz, Le Batard’s Own Team
• ESPN officially announces overhaul to its broadcasting lineup for NBA coverage

Le Batard also said to look out for what Stephen A. Smith has in store as a response, whether at ESPN or outside of it.

“Stephen A., watch him closely because that dude’s a conqueror,” Le Batard said. “He's already creating something outside of ESPN, just in case something falls apart. He's talking a lot about I might be next and he's just building his own thing and it's gonna be fun, and it's gonna be different.”

Le Batard and Smith have had a back and forth for several months about their respective roles in the evolution of sports media. Both have seemed to acknowledge respect for the other person’s ability to create waves in the space.

Smith and ESPN were able to pull in Sharpe to join the fold at “First Take,” but Smith has also teased another major announcement coming potentially over the next week.

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