Stephen A. Smith (born October 14, 1967) is an American sports reporter for ESPN, columnist, radio host, and television personality. He currently hosts The Stephen A. Smith Show on ESPN Radio 710 Los Angeles and ESPN Radio New York 98.7FM and is a featured columnist for both ESPNLA.com and ESPNNY.com. Smith also is a regular on ESPN's First Take along with Skip Bayless.

Smith was raised in the Hollis neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. He lived with his parents and four older sisters.

He attended Winston-Salem State University, a historically black university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. While in college, he played some basketball under Hall of Fame coach Clarence Gaines. He later wrote an article for the university newspaper suggesting that Gaines retired due to health issues.

In 1993, Smith was a sportswriter for the Daily News in New York City.

Since 1994, Smith has had a position as a writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He was initially a general sportswriter for the Inquirer before he gained positions as their reporter for the Philadelphia 76ers as their NBA columnist, and eventually, as a general sports columnist. On August 23, 2007, the Inquirer announced that Smith would no longer be writing columns and would instead be demoted back to the position of general assignment reporter. Prior to his job with the Inquirer, Smith has had positions with the Winston-Salem Journal, the Greensboro News and Record and the New York Daily News. In 2008, the Inquirer ended its relation with Smith, which coincided with Smith starting his own blog. In February 2010, Smith returned to the Philadelphia Inquirer after winning an arbitrator's ruling that he was to be reinstated, but having to agree to remove all of his political views from his website and from cable news shows.

Stephen Arnold Douglas (23 April 1813 – 3 June 1861) was an American politician from Illinois. He was a U.S. Representative, a U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee for President in the 1860 election, losing to Republican Abraham Lincoln. Douglas had previously defeated Lincoln in a Senate contest, noted for the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. He was nicknamed the "Little Giant" because though short in physical stature, he was a forceful and even dominant figure in politics.

Douglas was well known as a resourceful party leader, and an adroit, ready, skillful tactician in debate and passage of legislation. He was a leading proponent of democracy, and believed in the principle of popular sovereignty: that the majority of citizens should decide contentious issues such as slavery and territorial expansion. As chairman of the Committee on Territories, Douglas dominated the Senate in the 1850s. He was largely responsible for the Compromise of 1850 that apparently settled slavery issues. However, in 1854 he reopened the slavery question with the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which opened some previously prohibited territories to slavery under popular sovereignty. Opposition to this led to the formation of the Republican Party.

American Dad!'s first season aired from February 6, 2005 to May 14, 2006. The season consisted of twenty three episodes. The first half of the season is included within the Volume One DVD box set, which was released on April 25, 2006 and the second half is included within the Volume Two DVD box set, which was released on May 15, 2007. 19 episodes were produced during the first production cycle with production numbers 1AJxx. However, to continue running episodes for the full season (23 episodes) that began earlier than normal (May versus September) four episodes from the second production cycle (2AJNxx episodes).

The season and series premiere; Pilot, premiered after Super Bowl XXXIX. The premiere episode was broadcast as part of an animated television night on Fox, following an episode of The Simpsons. The episode was watched by 15.1 million viewers, In addition, the season was nominated for a Golden Reel Award for the episode "Homeland Insecurity".

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. He decided to declare his eligibility for the NBA Draft upon graduation, and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest.

Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. A heated feud between the duo and a loss in the 2004 NBA Finals was followed by O'Neal's trade from the Lakers after the 2003–04 season. Following O'Neal's departure Bryant became the cornerstone of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, setting numerous scoring records in the process. In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in NBA history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. He was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2008. After losing in the 2008 NBA Finals, Bryant led the Lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, earning the NBA Finals MVP Award on both occasions.

LeBron Raymone James (/ləˈbrɒn/; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a sophomore at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School. He was selected with the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Listed as a small forward, James has set numerous youngest player records since joining the league. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003–04, was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2009, 2010, and 2012 and has been both an All-NBA selection and an All-Star every season since 2005. In 2010, a much-publicized free agency process ended with James signing with the Miami Heat.

James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 through 2010. In 2007, the Cavaliers advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2011, James and the Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals but lost to the Dallas Mavericks. James has been a member of the USA national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and gold at the 2008 Olympics.