Stephen A. Smith didn’t hold back when discussing LeBron James’ heated confrontation with him during the Knicks-Lakers game, calling the incident “weak” and “some bulls—.”
On the “Gil’s Arena” podcast, Smith shared more details about the encounter, which occurred during the third quarter when James approached him angrily. According to Smith, the Lakers star got “right here in my face,” repeatedly telling him to “stop talking s— about my son.”
“I said, ‘Yo, let’s talk later,’” Smith recalled telling James. “But he kept going, ‘F— that, nah. F— that. You gotta stop f— with my son.’ So I said, ‘All right, though,’ and he walked off.”
The confrontation stemmed from Smith’s comments on ESPN’s First Take after Bronny James, LeBron’s eldest son, went scoreless (0-for-5 shooting) in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. At the time, Smith said, “I am pleading with LeBron James as a father: Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.”
Smith believes LeBron’s reaction may have been triggered by seeing Bronny’s emotional response during the game. “Bronny looked over at me, and he had this sad look on his face,” Smith said. “I’m imagining Pop saw that s—. It hit him. And he couldn’t hold it, so he rolled up on me.”
After the incident went viral, Smith’s bosses at ESPN asked him to address it on First Take. While acknowledging that James approached him as a concerned father rather than a player, Smith stood by his remarks.
“That wasn’t a basketball player confronting me. That was a parent,” Smith explained. “I can’t sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in any way in that regard.”
A separate video of LeBron discussing the situation with former teammate and current ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson added fuel to the fire. In the clip, James seemed to reference Smith’s plea by saying, “Once he talks about, ‘I’m pleading with you as a father,’ I can’t.”
For Smith, this confirmed that James was upset about how he was portrayed as a father—not just criticism of Bronny’s play.
“Had he said that to me, I wouldn’t have been thrown off,” Smith remarked. “I’d have come right back at him: ‘Yes, I was. I was talking about you. You did this s—.’”
The timing of the incident also factored into Smith’s response. That same day, news of his five-year, $100-million contract with ESPN had just broken. Being mindful of his position, Smith chose not to escalate the situation.
“If I had gotten into some s— with [James] at courtside right there, no matter how right I would have been, it would have been wrong,” Smith said. “I work for Walt Disney, and I’m not gonna do this.”
Smith admitted that watching the Jefferson clip later changed his attitude. “That was when I got really pissed because that was confirmation,” he said.
Despite the public spat, James has yet to comment directly on the confrontation.
