It looks like LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith will continue to take shots at each other until one of them taps out. Ever since LeBron stepped to Smith at a Lakers game to defend his son Bronny and inform Smith to stop talking negatively about him, the two larger-than-life stars have been throwing shots back and forth.
LeBron seemed to take the high road after the initial confrontation, but Smith kept going on various platforms and talking about LeBron and still criticizing him.
LeBron James Spends His Wednesday Putting Full Court Press On Stephen A. Smith
But James had a heck of a Wednesday, and in this cat and mouse game Smith and James are playing, the NBA star won the day.
First James appeared for a one hour interview with Smith’s direct competition on ESPN, Pat McAfee. It was a power move on Smith’s part to go on McAfee’s show and help his ratings blow up.
Then, later that night, James hit the game-winning tip-in for the Lakers, before shooting more flames at SAS on Instagram later that evening by mocking his fighting skills.
Stephen A. Smith Says He Would Have Swung On LeBron
Earlier that day Smith went on a rant about how he “would’ve swung on LeBron had the NBA’s all-time leading scorer put his hands on him during their Crypto.com Arena confrontation a few weeks back.
That comment raised eyebrows and, although SAS also admitted that he would get whupped by LeBron, King James made sure Smith knew he heard the comments … sharing an old video of one of his infamous boxing sessions, which has been the joke of social media for some time.
LeBron Trolls Stephen A. Smith’s Boxing Skills
“🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 WHOMP WHOMP WHOMPPPPPPPP,” James said in his Instagram caption, then other athletes and supporters flooded the comments, including Kevin Love to Tristan Thompson, Draymond Green and Paul Pierce, clearly showing their allegiance in this brewing battle.
It looks like LeBron and Stephen A. Smith have realized that this engaging war of words between the two iconic figures is really great theatre for fans and the sports world at large. People love to see them troll each other. Smith has various platforms that he can go on each day and do his trolling. LeBron represents the face of the league and has to be more strategic about his moves, but he had no problem dropping his share of profanities of McAfee’s unfiltered show.
LeBron Seems Fed Up With Stephen A. Smith’s Tough Talk
Fans have seen LeBron get ticked off in the past and take direct shots at people, even the President. But he’s really leaning into his beef with ESPN’s $100M man. The fans are noticing.
“Lebron has had enough never seen him like this,” said one fan on X.
The fan attacks on Stephen A. Smith continue.
“Bro my wife swings better than ol buddy,” another said in reference to the boxing video showing a winded Smith exhibiting some questionable form.
LeBron Goes On Pat McAfee Show To Spite Stephen A. Smith?
It also had to be a gut blow to Smith, for LeBron to go on McAfee’s show, and that was LeBron’s intention. Just weeks ago, prior to Smith signing his $100M contract, there were questions about which ESPN personality would be the first to that century mark. McAfee left a $120M deal on the table with Fan Duel to sign a 5-year/ $85M deal with ESPN in 2023.
Bron not only went on the show, but he was trolling and clowning hard on SAS. No holding back.
“He’s going to be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him again. Oh my God. He’s going to get home and grab some ice cream out of the fucking freezer and sit in his chair in his tighty whities on the couch,” James told McAfee.
Bronny James Has Been Cooking Since His Dad Stepped To Stephen A. Smith
Let’s not forget that since LeBron approached SAS in front of the cameras at courtside to defend his son’s honor, Bronny has more than done his part, scoring a career-high 17 points in an NBA game, even cooking All-NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo along the way, and then dropping 39 points in a G League game.
LeBron definitely got the upper hand this past week in his ongoing drama with Stephen A. Smith, and the social media drama mixed with the thrilling performances on the court with LeBron and Luka Doncic are one big recipe of promotion for the NBA. Just last month everyone was arguing over how poor the product was. Now lies are being drawn between LeBron’s NBA family and Smith’s rising power in the media.
