Channing Frye addressed Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James‘ recent conflict on an episode of the Road Trippin’ podcast.
Frye requested that Smith, along with others at ESPN, be a little more careful about how they represent certain facts, referencing how Smith incorrectly suggested that LeBron James wasn’t at Kobe Bryant’s funeral and how he didn’t explain LeBron James actually missed Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame induction because he was with his son, Bronny, at the Mayo Clinic just weeks after the latter’s cardiac arrest.
“I get different perspectives from both Bron and Stephen A. All I ask from both parties… The Stephen A. Smith side – if you’re going to have an argument, please don’t lie. Please don’t make sh*t up. If you have a problem, don’t make sh*t up and go ‘Why weren’t you at Kobe’s memorial service?'”
“Just fact-check yourself. The beef is not fun when we know you’ve run out of things to talk about. I think this whole thing is hilarious, personally. But you bring up a memorial service, and then you bring up another ting about D-Wade and Bron, and why he ain’t doing this? Just ask somebody where LeBron James was, then. It’s LeBron James! People probably know where his airplane is at all times.”
“Just don’t lie to try and win an argument or to make yourself look better. If you don’t like him and you say ‘I don’t like you because of ABC,’ I get it. Some people are going to like it, some people aren’t. But don’t start making sh*t up. That is way personal and has absolutely nothing to do with the beef that started when you said, ‘I’m pleading with you as a father.’ That one sentence is the whole reason for this whole thing.”
“For you to then just say, ‘Oh, I’m just talking basketball,’ when you say… That has nothing to do with basketball. That’s dad-to-dad, man-to-man, and then the basketball stuff is to the side. Let’s keep it however you want to keep it. I don’t care if you don’t like each other… Just don’t lie and make sh*t up to keep this going.”
“We do have the facts. He was at the memorial service. There are multiple films of Diana Tarausi pointing to and talking to him. He said I didn’t want to be on camera.”
“Bronny had his heart issue, and he was at the Mayo Clinic that same week. So to be like, ‘Oh, why weren’t you at D-Wade’s thing?’ Well, he was in the hospital with his son… Please get your facts right so we can continue talking about this and not basketball.”
This is a very measured and fair response from Frye. He is not against either party for starting or even continuing their public spat. But all he asks from both sides, particularly Stephen A., is that neither fabricate stories just to get the upper hand in this argument.
Smith issued a retraction to his comments about James not being at Bryant’s memorial service. However, yesterday morning’s episode of First Take was absolutely appalling, as they dedicated over half of the programming to address LeBron James’ comments rather than any actual updates on games happening in the NBA or other sports leagues.
