Stephen A. Smith is breaking down the details of his courtside confrontation with LeBron James.
The ESPN broadcaster — who was seen in a heated conversation with the NBA star during the Los Angeles Lakers-New York Knicks game on Thursday, March 6 — says he has issues with James’ timing of the talk, among other things.
“My point is, rather than come up to me at courtside, all you had to do was say, ‘Yo, I need you to stay, don’t leave this game I need to see you after the game,’ ” Smith, 57, said in a guest spot on former NBA star Gilbert Arenas’ podcast Gil’s Arena on Tuesday, March 11. “That’s all he had to say to me.”
But according to Smith, the 40-year-old Lakers legend approached him during a third-quarter timeout in the game.
“[LeBron said] ‘You f—in’ with my son.’ No I wasn’t. I was talking about you. It wasn’t about your son. I know he’s No. 55,” Smith said, referring to Bronny James, who was selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft. “I know he got work to do, I believe he got potential to go pro, I truly believe that. It’s gonna be tough, but I think he can pull it off.”
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Smith continued, “And by the way, I’m rooting for him, I ain’t rooting against nobody.”
Instead, Smith is taking issue with how LeBron has framed his son’s entry into the league.
“But I’m talking about your ass, you did this,” Smith added. “You the one who had us as reporters, as a league, as an NBA franchise, we got to sit back and be quiet and capitulate to your s—, you did that.”
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On First Take last week, Smith first spoke out about the interaction, and said that he didn’t blame LeBron for defending his son.
“I really understood where he was coming from,” Smith said. “He was very, very upset. I could tell. But he could’ve called me. I’d have came to see him. I’d have had a conversation with him. He could’ve been just as upset face-to-face, man-to-man as opposed to being courtside at the game. I had no idea that everybody saw it until I woke up this morning, but it is what it is in the end. Like I said, as a father, I get it. I’m not offended. I’m not insulted. I don’t have any animosity or animus towards LeBron James for this, nothing like that.”
Smith continued, clarifying : “If I was in his position, I can’t definitively say I would not have done the same thing. I’m not blaming him one bit, I understand it. And there’s a part of me that aches and hurts because of it. But unlike a whole bunch of people with their podcast and beyond that talk about the NBA, I cover the NBA. And it’s my job to talk about the subjects and the subject matters that matter.”
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