The Lebron James and Stephen A. Smith beef enters its second week and while LeBron is laying low and nursing a groin injury he sustained in a loss against the Boston Celtics over the weekend, Smith is still getting on the mic and discussing the confrontation that he had when LeBron stepped to him during shoot arounds prior to the Lakers and Knicks game.
According to reports, LeBron apparently warned Smith to keep Bronny’s name out of his mouth. Smith says Bron also told him he was “ f—ing with my son.”
Stephen A. Smith Appears on Gil’s Arena To Further Explain LeBron James Confrontation
Smith addressed the situation on “First Take” and on his podcast. On Tuesday, ESPN’s $100M man he appeared on the latest episode of Gil’s Arena to further air out his grievances with King James.
After being introduced to the show with a serenade as two women dressed in African attire and looking like cast members from Eddie Murphy’s “Coming To America,” dropped rose pedals for him to walk over, Smith again addressed the courtside incident with LeBron James.
With some time to spare and a very unscripted and unfiltered atmosphere on the show, Smith offered further details concerning the initial confusion about what exactly James was upset about.
Stephen A. Smith Calls LeBron James Beef “Weak”: Wouldn’t Have Been Professional To Escalate
Smith didn’t hold back, saying that he thought what LeBron said was “weak” and “bullsh—“. Smith suggested that Bronny had a “sad look on his face,” while sitting on the bench that in some way motivated LeBron to say something to him.
Smith, who previously said he was taking the professional high road by not allowing the situation to escalate, elaborated on that sentiment on Gil’s Arena.
“Had he said that to me then I wouldn’t have been thrown off,” said Smith. “I’d would have came right back at him. Yes, I was. I was talking about you. You did this sh–, which I’ll get to in a second. But because he didn’t do that I said fine and let it go. Mind you, I just agreed to my contract. I’m courtside. That day was when it was announced. It’s all over. All over everywhere. It’s a nationally televised game. The cameras are rolling. And I’m like if I do anything it’s gonna be a scene.”
“Now we can sit up here and front all we want to and act like we don’t work for somebody,” Smith continued. “Dammit, I work for Walt Disney. And if I had gotten into some sh*t with him at courtside right there in that moment, no matter how right I would have been, it would have been wrong. And I was like, I’m not gonna do this, but once I saw the tape of him talking to Richard Jefferson Saturday night in Boston that was when I got really pissed because that was confirmation.”
Stephen A. Smith Says LeBron Wasn’t Clear With What He Was Talking About
So Smith maintains that LeBron wasn’t clear with what he was talking about when he approached him. Smith says he didn’t get the opportunity to respond and clarify that he was criticizing LeBron and not Bronny.
“Rather than come up to me at courtside, all you had to do was say yo, I need to see you after the game,” Smith explained. “You didn’t do that sh–. You said you f—ing with my son. No I wasn’t! I was talking about you. You did this I know he’s number 55. I know he got work to do. I believe that he got the potential and by the way, I’m rooting for him. I ain’t rooting against nobody! But I was talking about your a–! You! You did this!”
Smith has been vocal about the fact that he understands LeBron is a father protecting his son, but at the same time it was LeBron who thrusted his son into the center of such criticisms by insulting other NBA players to boost Bronny and bragging about how his son will be in the NBA regardless of what anyone says.
LeBron used to have a podcast with JJ Redick. Maybe he gets the band together while he’s healing up and gives another response to Stephen A. Smith.
