Another day, another embarrassing statement from Stephen A. Smith involving LeBron James. For those unaware, this has been an ongoing spectacle dating back to early March.
LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith sharing some words after the game tonight
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 7, 2025
Looks like Bron’s telling him “keep my son out of this sh**.” 👀
(h/t @LADEIG, via @legendofwinning) pic.twitter.com/QyOBAWO0p1
James got in the face of Smith at a game when the Lakers hosted the New York Knicks. The conversation was said to revolve around the treatment of his son, Bronny James. The ESPN analyst appeared on the air the next day to address the matter. Smith then proceeded to make countless more appearances after the fact and spin the narrative in all sorts of directions thereafter.
LeBron's recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show highlighted the matter and the Los Angeles Lakers superstar spoke candidly about the situation.
James' comments on The Pat McAfee Show
"He's on a Taylor Swift tour run right now," James told Pat McAfee. "He completely missed the whole point. ... When you take it and you get personal with it, it's my job to not only protect my damn household, but protect the players."
Unfortunately, James commented on understanding how certain members of the media, including Smith, will enjoy seeing the four-time NBA champion paying this much attention to this whole debacle.
LeBron concluded, "He's gonna be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him. ... He's gonna get home and grab some ice cream out of the f***ing freezer and sit in his chair, in his tighty whities on the couch. ... Relax, bro."
Smith quickly takes to YouTube to offer a response
It feels difficult to not sympathize with James' frustrations around the matter. However, Smith was never going to be that considerate of someone else. The man who issued an apology to Kyrie Irving for attacking him on air after having issues with his father was never going to be level-headed in this instance.
On the most recent videos posted to his YouTube channel, Smith commented the following statement. It was as difficult of a listen as one would imagine.
The ESPN personality said, "What do you want me to do? Want this to be a reincarnation of Will Smith and Chris Rock? Let me assure you, it wouldn't have gone down like that. I would've gotten my ass kicked, because if that man put his hands on me, I would've immediately swung on him. Immediately. That, I'm not going to tolerate. But I knew he wasn't going to do something like that."
Clearly, Smith mistook the NBA arena he was at for a UFC octagon. Handling the situation like a kid at the school yard would have been embarrassing enough. However, for those sitting at home that enjoy their fair share of sports betting, it would be tough to disagree with James being the heavy favorite in that showdown.
This story has overstayed its welcome in the NBA world. Unfortunately, if Smith has anything to say about it, and the man usually does, it will still have its fair share of time in the spotlight for the near future.
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