LeBron James publicly addressed his spat with Stephen A. Smith for the first time in an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” that aired Wednesday, telling McAfee that his ESPN colleague made things personal in remarks about his son Bronny.
James’s comments stemmed from months of criticism by Smith regarding how he manages his son’s career, as well as Bronny James’s on-court struggles since being taken 55th by the Los Angeles Lakers in last year’s NBA draft. Their tension came to a head earlier this month, when James confronted Smith over his coverage of Bronny during a game between the Lakers and New York Knicks. Smith appeared on several podcasts and shows starting the next day to discuss the confrontation.
“He’s on a Taylor Swift tour run right now,” James teased. “It started off with, ‘I didn’t want to address it; I wasn’t going to address it, but since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.’ Motherf—er, are you kidding me? If it’s one person that couldn’t wait until the video had dropped so you could address it, it’s your a–.”
In October, LeBron and Bronny James became the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA, realizing a dream long held by the elder James, who turned 40 in December. Bronny James, who has been assigned to the Lakers’ NBA G League affiliate several times, is averaging 2.3 points in 5.9 minutes of action across 23 NBA games this season.
Smith has been critical of LeBron and Bronny James throughout. In January, Smith said he wishes Bronny “nothing but the best” but suggested LeBron’s commitment to play with his son — and the latter’s subsequent lack of production — left Bronny exposed to envy and unnecessary criticism.
“I am really, really trying to be as respectful as I possibly can be toward LeBron James,” Smith said. “I am pleading with LeBron James as a father: Stop this, stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.”
Smith listed Bronny James’s stats at the time later in the segment before continuing his point.
“You know what people are saying. You know what they’re going to do to this kid. You know what these numbers mean. You know what it’s going to do to your son, to people who are missing out on opportunities. … You’re exposing your son like this.”
More than a month later, the confrontation between LeBron James and Smith was captured on camera and went viral on social media.
Smith appeared on ESPN the following morning to describe it. He said James was “very, very upset,” adding that the two “don’t necessarily vibe” and that “it’s been that way for years.”
“It was all about his son,” Smith said. “It was almost as if he was thinking that anything I said about Bronny was a result of him. In that situation, I wasn’t talking about Bronny; I was talking about him, because of the position that Bronny was in.”
During his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” James claimed he was open to criticism but felt Smith crossed a line.
“Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport, criticize players about what they do on the court. That is your job to criticize or to be in a position where if a guy isn’t performing — that’s all part of the game,” he said. “But 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.”
James had not spoken publicly about their dispute before appearing on McAfee’s show. During his appearance, which lasted over an hour, he also recounted his high school stardom, his 2010 move from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat and competing at an advanced age.
Eventually, their conversation shifted back to Bronny James.
“It doesn’t matter if he never scores ever; for me, as a dad, I’m just super proud of him” he said. “For me as a mentor and a teammate of his … I am super proud of his development to where he is now.”
