The most viral highlight from the Los Angeles Lakers’ comeback victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday night didn’t come from LeBron James and Luka Dončić but rather LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith.
At some point during the Lakers’ win, the 4-time MVP and ESPN star were spotted having a heated courtside chat. While it was unclear what James or Smith said, several novice lip-readers believed that the Lakers superstar was telling the First Take host to keep his son, Bronny James, out of their beef.
Damn LeBron stepped to Stephen A Smith👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/ZJIDcPU4dL
— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) March 7, 2025
As one might have expected, Smith didn’t shy away from addressing the confrontation on Friday’s episode of First Take. And as a result, we now have ESPN’s new $100 million man‘s side of the story.
“That was LeBron James coming up to me, unexpectedly I might add, to confront me about making sure I mind what I say about his son,” Smith said. “I can’t repeat the words because they ain’t suited for FCC airwaves. That’s what he was doing.”
Smith proceeded to state that he didn’t plan on addressing the confrontation publicly until it went viral overnight. He also added that he was sitting courtside with Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David for Thursday night’s game.
Stephen A. Smith begins First Take confirming that LeBron James confronted him at last night’s Lakers game over comments about Bronny James.
“That wasn’t a basketball player confronting me, that was a parent, that was a father.” pic.twitter.com/QTWmScRIGF
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 7, 2025
While Smith said that he “can’t sit here and be angry or feel slighted” by James, he also noted that the NBA’s all-time scoring leader had the opportunity to reach out to him privately but chose to do so publicly. He went on to explain that none of his previous criticism was directed toward Bronny, but rather LeBron himself, calling attention to previous comments that James had made about his oldest son and how they only added to the pressure that the Lakers’ second-round pick is facing in his rookie season.
“I wasn’t talking about Bronny,” Smith said. “I was really talking about him.”
Smith also showed sympathy to James’ position as a father, admitting, “if I was in his position, I can’t definitively say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing.” The former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, however, said that he isn’t backing down from his criticism, noting that issuing such opinions is what he’s ultimately paid to do.
“I also get paid to call it like I see it. And what I said at the time, I stand by what I said,” Smith said. “It wasn’t even reporting. The facts were out there. And what I was saying about LeBron is fact-based because of what he said and the things that he said leading up to his son being drafted and ultimately being in the NBA on the same team as him… there is no way around that. And when you’re raised as a journalist professionally, you don’t want enemies, but you ain’t paid to make friends. You’ve gotta call it like you see it.”
Finally, Stephen A. Smith concluded his monologue about the LeBron James confrontation by defending his credentials as a journalist and saying he stands by his previous comments about Bronny James.
“I don’t want enemies… but I also get paid to call it like I see it. What I… pic.twitter.com/KBPodCY4mP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 7, 2025
James and Smith’s confrontation came one week after the two engaged in a back and forth regarding the 21-time All-Star’s comments regarding the “face of the NBA” discourse. While James stated that Smith’s response proved his point (we agree), Smith accused the Akron, Ohio, native of spewing “b.s.,” although he was willing to retire the GOAT debate between James and Michael Jordan as a sign of respect to the 40-year-old forward just a few days later. How novel.
As for Bronny, Smith made headlines in January when he urged James to “stop this” with regard to his son’s playing time with the Lakers. The former Quite Frankly host later claimed that James’ camp had reached out to him regarding the comments, with the 4-time NBA champion taking it upon himself to do the same personally on Thursday night.
