LeBron James and ESPN’s most popular media figure, Stephen A. Smith, are at war right now following their viral confrontation at a courtside Los Angeles Lakers game. After hearing LeBron troll him again on the Pat McAfee Show, Smith responded with a heated statement of self-defense.
“I don’t consider anything that LeBron has said a laughing matter,” said Smith. “My issue is with LeBron James. I just wanna say for the record, LeBron James is full of it. In this particular instance, as it pertains to his son, he is a liar.”
This whole ordeal began because of Bronny James, someone who Stephen A. Smith questioned should even be in the league. In a viral rant, he called out LeBron as a father for putting his son in the spotlight prematurely and setting him up to fail.
The two men have had their issues for years but their beef peaked during their encounter at the Knicks game, when James confronted Stephen A. on the sidelines with a warning to back off his family. Smith says he wasn’t given an opportunity to respond after being blindsided courtside.
“When he approached me while I was sitting courtside at that game against the New York Knicks, I didn’t know he was gonna roll up on me. When he said what he had to say, I was in no position to give any kind of retort without making a scene. It was during the third quarter, fresh out of a timeout, it was on national television, and had I done something, what do you want time to do? Had that man put his hands on me, I would have immediately swung on him.”
LeBron James was so upset because, in his eyes, Stephen A. went beyond basketball when he came at his son, Bronny. That was the moment when LeBron had enough, but Stephen A. insists it was never about bashing Bronny.
“I was not clapping back at his son. There’s been plenty of second-round picks who have had to work their way up the rank,” said Smith. “Me pointing that out about this son and talking about how his son has been put in the forefront is not denigrating his son, it’s simply highlighting what we already knew: he’s not ready yet. This is not about Bronny. This is about LeBron.”
In perhaps his most controversial segment of the show, Smith accused LeBron of lying and tricking the fans into taking his side and believing his narrative.
“LeBron James continues to lie. He hoodwinked y’all into thinking that he was upset about criticism of his son,” said Smith. “If your son is a professional basketball player and I was talking about your son as a basketball player, you just said on the Pat McAfee show that you can’t knock anybody for criticizing the game, then what is it that I said? What I said was, as a father stop. I wasn’t talking about you as a father, as somebody that’s home, minding their business, and I just call you out because your son is in this position.”
Stephen A. Smith even openly admitted to not liking LeBron and explained why the feeling was mutual. Apparently, he sees LeBron as a shady figure who turns on anyone who doesn’t fit his narrative.
“His *ss lies a lot. And there’s a lot of shady stuff that he does. One of his things is the passive-aggressiveness and the two-facedness and the stabbing you in the back. I happen to know that about him, and he don’t like me. But it doesn’t stop me from being fair and calling it like I see it. What did you bring your son up in there for? What did you bring your family in there for? Then you’re gonna go on the Pat McAfee Show and talk about you gonna protect your house. What are you talking about? Your son ain’t at the house, he’s at the Crypto.com arena, where you put him.”
Finally, Stephen A. defended his colleague Brian Windhorst after LeBron blasted him in the interview. Considering Windhorst has been a defender of King James, it was completely unnecessary for him to throw Windy under the bus like that.
“Never once did he say that LeBron was his best friend,” said Smith. “As a matter of fact, years earlier, it was LeBron who sat in front of the microphones who said, ‘Nobody knows me better than Brian Windhorst because he’s been covering me since junior High School.’ Brian Windhorst is an exceptional commentator, and he is one of the elite people covering this game in the world. Nobody defended LeBron James more than that man.”
Stephen A. Smith has had problems with players in the past, but his ongoing feud with LeBron James is on another level. This thing has really taken a life of its own, and now it’s pitted the ESPN journalist against the most prominent player in the NBA.
It remains to be seen if they will ever make peace, but LeBron is at a point now where he’s done letting people speak freely about his name. He’s going to shut down anyone who tries to come at his family, just like Stephen A. Smith will do anything to defend his name and reputation.
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