LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is still seeing Stephen A. Smith of ESPN. The Lakers player discussed his motivation for addressing the longtime broadcaster during his appearance as a guest on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday. Smith, however, had different thoughts about what the four-time champion said about him and accused James of lying.
One of the things Smith said was what he would’ve done if the superstar athlete had put his hands on him. According to the 57-year-old media personality, he would’ve acted out and hurt the Lakers star with physical violence.
“If that man would’ve put his hands on me. I would’ve immediately swung on him. Immediately,” Smith said.
While Smith’s words garnered reactions from fans on X (formerly Twitter), the response that received a lot of attention was the one from James. On his Instagram account. the 6-foot-9 small forward posted two videos. The first video was a clip of the journalist practicing his boxing skills. The next video was a clip of a guy making mocking sounds with his friends.
“🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 WHOMP WHOMP WHOMPPPPPPPP” James posted on IG.
LeBron just posted this on IG 😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/IJUwJFXVsg
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 27, 2025
Their beef stems from the time Smith criticized Bronny James on one of his programs. This urged James to step up and defend his family when the journalist attended a Los Angeles Lakers game against the New York Knicks on March 6. The league’s all-time leader in points confronted the critic, who sat courtside.
The two have since exchanged accusations and explained their sides of the tale.
The Los Angeles Lakers star likens Smith to Taylor Swift
James’ appearance at McAfee’s show was filled with jabs at Smith. Many were awaiting for the Los Angeles Lakers star to talk about what he thinks of what happened between himself and the ESPN analyst. Since the confrontation, the four-time MVP has avoided talking about it.
However, he finally gave in and revealed his thoughts on the matter.
“He’s on like a Taylor Swift tour run right now. 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 I need to address it.’ Are you kidding me? If there was one person that couldn’t wait for the video to drop so you could address it, it’s your ass. Like seriously?” James said.
Additionally, he made it clear that he would not permit critics to not fulfill their duties by providing feedback on players. When his family is brought up, though, it’s a different story.
“But when you take it and you get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household, but to protect the players. And I think a lot of the media, including him — and I know he’s gonna be happy as hell, smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him — like relax bro, relax.”
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Follow me on X at @BarbecueBro, and follow us at @HardwoodHeroics and @GridironHeroics. You can also reach out to Reign Amurao via email at reignamuraonba@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
