LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith saga really created a firestorm of opinion about everything from parenting to present fathers, media and privilege.
While LeBron James had plenty of support for stepping to ESPN reporter Stephen A. Smith during shootarounds prior to a NY Knicks and LA Lakers game to address him about comments LeBron felt were negative towards his son, Bronny James, there are plenty of fathers, especially Black fathers, who don’t agree with how the face of the NBA handled the situation.
Dominique Easley: LeBron James Set Bad Example About Accountability For Young Generation
In fact, NFL veteran Dominique Easley respects LeBron James as a man and father, but believes he missed a valuable moment to teach kids about personal conflict within life and sports.
“What LeBron James has done, he just gave every child that idolizes him a reason to have an excuse or be a victim,” said Easley on The Shadow League “Locker Room” podcast hosted by former Houston Texans running back Jonathan Wells.
“Lebron, your son is a grown man. He’s in the league and he has to take responsibility for who he is. You can’t come to his savior every single time and if you want to do something like that you do it off record, off the camera if you really feel like that.
We already live in a world where kids consider themselves to be victims, always making excuses, the transfer portal is crazy going now. I think he just enhanced that to another degree. I’m a father of five and I don’t believe in that.”
Jonathan Wells: LeBron Is Doing What Any Father Would Do To Advance Child
Jonathan Wells wasn’t trying to hear it. He’s a member of the LeBron can do no wrong contingent.
“I’m a LeBron guy and what I didn’t like is Stephen A. Smith coming at him as a father… What is he doing to his son besides helping him get to the NBA?” Wells asked, before blaming SAS’s unfavorable commentary on his various platforms for the beef.
Smith has continuously said that he has been criticizing LeBron’s role as a father in the Bronny saga and never Bronny, who he feels is an innocent victim of his father’s ego.
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“I thought we were all supposed to do that as fathers,” Wells argued. “You can’t come at my fathering skills and not see me. Is Stephen A. Smith not the same guy who sits on TV and says, ‘If you got a problem, I’m at every game. You can see me whenever you want to see me?’ Well (LeBron) saw you,” Wells said.
It’s Not LeBron’s Job to Speak For Another Grown Man: Stephen A. Smith Is A Media Person
Easley countered by explaining why the confrontation courtside and Smith ripping athletes while working is not the same.
“Stephen A. Smith is doing his job,” Easley said. “He’s supposed to do that. His job is to stir up and make entertainment for us in the media. And he did that. He reeled him in, and he did that. I can’t blame Stephen A. for doing his job, but it’s not LeBron’s job to step in and talk for another grown man (Bronny).
Whether that’s your son, your find, or foe. It doesn’t matter. You are a grown man, and this is one of the things the world is getting messed up by. Men don’t know how to be men anymore and sadly enough men aren’t being raised by men anymore and we are lacking in that.”
LeBron Could Have Used His Voice In A Beneficial Way That Kids Without His Resources Can Emulate
“Everybody doesn’t have the resources like LeBron has to be able to raise his kid and do things like that. LeBron has a voice, so he’s able to do that. But you also have to understand that as an idol, people are going to follow that and they don’t have the same resources to do that,” Easley explained.
He says the kids who look up to LeBron with much less clout, will think that they can handle setbacks like he does.
“People on his side don’t understand that this is going to affect kids back in our hood. Kids who are always making excuses and complaining about not getting playing time.”
Dominique Easley Says As Youth Football Coach He Sees Entitled Parents and Players
Easley says he just got into coaching youth football in Florida, and he sees how entitled attitudes hurt kids and parents who need the grit, discipline and humility to rise above challenging situations the most.
“We just saw on the news that a Florida father shot a volunteer coach because his son is not getting playing time. This is continuously happening. I’m not thinking about that situation; I’m thinking about the rest of the world. LeBron is not living in that world.”
Maybe he has a point.
