Who will have the last word on the confrontation between LeBron James and ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith that occurred during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 113-109 win over the New York Knicks at Crypto.com Arena last Thursday?
Smith staked his claim on finalizing the matter during an appearance on Gilbert Arenas’ “Gil’s Arena” podcast, taking issue with James approaching him courtside between the third and fourth quarters of Thursday’s matchup about remarks the commentator made about his son, Bronny, on ESPN.
“I thought it was weak, I thought it was some bulls***,” Smith said. “But, in the moment, I knew that I was listening to a father.”
Lip readers interpreted that James was telling Smith to “keep my son out of this s***, bro,” when he approached the pundit.
“I turn around and he’s right here in my face and says, ‘Yo, you gotta stop talking s–t about my son,'” Smith added with Arenas. “‘You gotta stop f–king with my son. That’s my son, that’s my son!'”
On Friday’s edition of ESPN’s “First Take,” Smith acknowledged James was sticking up for his son and seemed to empathize.
“That wasn’t a basketball player confronting me,” Smith said on Friday. “That was a parent, that was a father. I can’t sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in any way in that regard.”
However, Smith had a less diplomatic tone when recounting the incident with Arenas.
What changed was how James framed the incident in a brief conversation with ESPN game analyst Richard Jefferson before the Lakers’ 111-101 loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday, according to Smith. Audio of the exchange caught James saying to Jefferson, “Once he talks about, ‘I’m pleading you as a father,’ I can’t.”
Yet according to Smith, he was criticizing LeBron in his on-air remarks, not Bronny, and to say otherwise was disingenuous.
“I thought that he misrepresented the argument, I was glad he did,” Smith added. “Because what he was really talking about, which was confirmed with his conversation with Richard Jefferson, is that I was talking about him as a father. Had he said that to me, I wouldn’t have been thrown off. I would’ve came right back at him — ‘Yes I was, I was talking about you, you did this s***.'”
The exchange was the latest example of bickering between the two with Smith disputing James’ “B.S.” about how those who cover the NBA do nothing but criticize the league and its players. Both figures have a platform and don’t appear interested in backing down on their strong opinions, so the friction may continue as the NBA season moves toward the playoffs.
