Stephen A. Smith hits back at LeBron James!
ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith opened up on the on-court confrontation he had with LeBron James during the Lakers’ 113-109 overtime win against the Knicks. Smith also revealed that the criticism he has made was never for Bronny James, but LeBron himself.
Smith said that rather than approaching him on the courtside, James should have had a one-on-one word with him after the game. “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 said on the Gilbert Arena’s podcast. He added, “You didn’t do that sh**. You said you f***ing with my son. No I wasn’t! I was talking about you! It wasn’t about your son.”
The NBA pundit went on to say that he knows Bronny is a rookie and has a lot of work to do. Smith added, “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!”
Notably, during the Knicks game, James confronted Smith for talking about Bronny. According to Smith, James told him, “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.”
Revealing further details about the incident, Smith said that Bronny was also involved in the incident and made a “sad” face after he spotted Smith on the courtside in the first quarter. As per Smith, Bronny’s reaction may have provoked James to confront him.
“I remember, during a timeout in the first quarter, seeing Bronny, and Bronny looked over at me and he had a sad look on his face,” Smith said. “And I am imagining, pops [LeBron] saw that s**t. It hit him and he couldn’t hold it and he rolled up on me.”
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Smith called LeBron James ‘weak’ after knowing that the real reason the Lakers superstar called him out was because he picked on his parenting. The remarks came after James’ video with his former teammate and ESPN broadcaster Richard Jefferson went viral.
In the video, James was heard saying, “Once he talks about, ‘I’m pleading you as a father,’ I can’t.” Responding to it, Smith spoke on the Gilbert Arena’s podcast and said, “I thought is was weak, I thought it was some bulls**t. But, in the moment, I knew that I was listening to a father.”
Notably, earlier in January, when Bronny was featured in the Lakers’ 118-104 loss to the 76ers, Smith didn’t hold himself back and criticized the 20-year-old rookie. He 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. The first game of the season, opening night… father-son duo playing in an NBA game for the first time, an absolutely positively wonderful story.”
“And then reality sets in… Right now, Bronny James is averaging 0.3 points, 0.3 assists, and 0.4 rebounds.”
Smith concluded by saying, “How are you doing him favors? We know that he’s not ready yet.”
Talking about James, the 21-time NBA All-Star sustained a groin injury during the Celtics game and is likely to miss a week or two’s action.
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