Skip to main content

Video: Stephen A. Explains His Issue with Viral LeBron James Moment at Lakers Game


LeBron James confronted ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith last Thursday during a game between the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers, unhappy with some of Smith's remarks about his son, Bronny.

On Tuesday, Smith shared his side of the story:

"A lot of people thought this was the end of the game, or something like that," Smith said. "This was in the third quarter. Apparently, LeBron had walked out of the timeout, and I turn around, and he's right here in my face. He said, 'Yo, you gotta stop talking s--t about my son. You gotta stop f--king with my son. That's my son. That's my son.' And I was like, 'What?' He said, 'Nah, f--k that.' I said, 'Yo, let's talk later.' He's like, 'F--k that. You gotta stop f--king with my son.' And I said, 'Aight dude.' And he walked off."

Smith said he didn't initially plan on speaking about the topic publicly, but once the confrontation went viral, he felt he had no choice and addressed it on First Take:

He also noted that he understood James, as a father, speaking up for his son.

It's a bit of an odd situation, blurring the lines between personal attachments and professional standards. It's fair to analyze Bronny's struggles as an NBA player, for instance, and question whether he'd be in the league if it wasn't for his father's NBA pedigree and desire to play with his son. Whether it's professional to question James as a father, on a television program, is more debatable (even within the context that Smith has arguably veered more into the role of entertainer, rather than journalist, at this point).

Likewise, James getting in Smith's face in the middle of a game is understandable from the context of a father sticking up for his son, but more questionable within the context of a professional athlete confronting a media member in that particular manner, at that particular time.

It's layered, and the entire situation provided plenty of space for a multitude of takes:

If nothing else, the ordeal probably further solidified James' belief that being the face of the modern NBA isn't a very enviable position.

"Why do you wanna be the face of a league when all the people that cover and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis s--t on everybody?" he told reporters earlier this season. "To have that responsibility is just weird. It's weird energy."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NBA Rumors: LeBron James' Son Bronny Is on Draft Boards of 'Multiple Teams'

Chris Coduto/Getty Images Bronny James' USC team has struggled this season, but that reportedly hasn't stopped the NBA interest in the son of legend LeBron James. "When I talk to people around the league, he's on the draft boards of multiple teams," Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Thursday: Charania noted teams around the league believe he is "further along" on the defensive side of the ball than the offensive side, which makes performances like Wednesday's all the more important. The USC freshman finished with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds while shooting 5-of-11 from the field in one of his best offensive showings of the season in a loss to Arizona. The only game that he scored more points in was a Dec. 30 loss to Oregon State when he finished with 15 on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Perhaps most importantly, James played a season-high 30 minutes against the Wildcats on Wedn...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Happened to the Rivalry Between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony? - Bleacher Report

They were two young stars with unique and special abilities on the basketball court. They had recently played in a high-attention scholastic contest against each other. They were both selected in the same draft. The LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony rivalry was supposed to be the best individual rivalry since Magic and Bird. But while the relationship between Bird and Johnson is dramatized in a new Broadway play , Anthony and James will meet for the 15th time in their careers and do so without much fanfare. James and Anthony first met in a USA developmental camp in 2001 . Much like how Johnson raved about Bird after they played together on a college All-Star team playing in an international tournament, James couldn’t stop talking about Anthony. The two squared off in a high school showcase game the following year that pitted the player regarded as the best senior in the country (Anthony) against the one that was the best junior in the country (James), a game Anthony’s team wo...
Post a Comment
Read more

‘So You Think You Can Dance’ 18 episode 3 recap: In ‘Auditions: Day Three,’ one hopeful was like ‘the LeBron James of dance’

"So You Think You Can Dance" season 18 ended the first stage of the competition on Monday night, March 18, with the last dance hopefuls looking for a spot in the choreography round. So far the bar has been set pretty high by standout performances from dancers representing a variety of dance styles, shapes, sizes and ability levels. So who stood out among the last crop of contestants? Did the show save the best for last? "We've put 25 people through," said judge Allison Holker at the start of the show. She singled out contemporary dancer Braylon Browner and gymnast Dakayla Wilson as standouts from the first two days of auditions. Comfort Fedoke agreed that Wilson is capable of anything a professional choreographer could throw at her. Maksim Chmerkovskiy was especially impressed by contemporary dancer Easton Magliarditi . But "there's so many other things outside of dance that we're also looking at." More from GoldDerby SEE ...
Post a Comment
Read more