If you’ve never seen Stephen A. Smith dance and want to keep it that way, read no further. Go outside. Read a book. Play some Rocket League or something until you forget that dancing is a recreational activity some people enjoy and Friday morning television on ESPN can get weird sometimes.
Those of you that are still with us, prepare yourselves for one of the most bizarre things you’ve seen in at least the last 12 hours. Smith and Co. took the First Take show on the road to Las Vegas for the fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather on Saturday.
Somehow, this involves the dance troupe known as Jabbawockeez. The masked, gloved and generally spooky-looking gang takes the stage for a dance number that seems normal. Well, as normal as a Jabbawockeez dance number can get. Everything is fine until a figure appeared from behind a large poster of Floyd Mayweather.
Smith creeps into view at the 38 second mark of the video. Before that, it was an unremarkable display of dancing by some fellas in masks. But Smith’s appearance truly transcends the medium.
The members of the dance troupe mostly just stand still and stare at Smith while he moves around. Perhaps they are evaluating the choices they’ve made to put themselves in this position. Maybe they wonder if that guy looks like someone they’ve seen on their favorite soap. Perhaps they simply wonder what hath God wrought.
Either way, Smith’s performance is nowhere as smooth as Shaq’s 2009 All-Star introduction with the Jabbawockeez. He gets introduced to the home Phoenix crowd while the dancers dance, and he actually has some rhythm and chemistry with the group. He’s also not wearing a button up, which probably helps.
When he’s done Smith takes off the mask to reveal that it’s him. He seems satisfied, as if the look on his face said something like — take a look, y’all.
