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Stephen A. Smith Shares Update Amid Solitaire App Controversy

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Escarpio | Last updated Dec 5, 2025 3:58 PM ET

Stephen A. Smith is one of the biggest sports personalities in all of America.

He is known for his one-of-a-kind takes on ESPN's "First Take."

Each year, Smith is part of the NBA Finals coverage on ESPN. He sits at the desk and is part of the pregame and postgame shows.

At the 2025 NBA Finals, Smith was seen playing Solitaire on his phone during the game. He didn’t appear locked into the action like everyone else, and a fan sitting behind him snapped a photo that later went viral.

Papaya Gaming, which owns the app he was playing solitaire on, took that as the perfect opportunity to enter into a partnership with Smith afterward.

Fast forward to today, and Smith has officially ended the partnership.

After months of promoting Solitaire, he felt it was best to cut ties after Papaya's recent legel setback with Skillz, a rival gaming platform.

ESPN analyst Stephen A. SmithKirby Lee-Imagn Images

"Papaya will continue to vigorously defend itself and contest Skillz’s false and unjustified accusations," a Papaya statement said. "In the meantime, Papaya will continue to lead the industry through innovation while remaining focused on our mission to provide players with fair, skill‑based competition."

Smith has plenty of other partnerships, including FanDuel, General Motors, Subway, Amazon and more.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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