The LeBron James-Stephen A. Smith feud is officially in marathon mode, with no signs of slowing down. It all started when Stephen A. Smith criticized Bronny James in January after the latter got the opportunity to play for the Lakers—a significant shift from the NBA G League—but Bronny went scoreless for 15 minutes against the Philadelphia 76ers. His performance prompted Smith to say, “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.”

No doubt, his statement stung LeBron James, and negative feelings have been brewing ever since. Cut to Saturday’s matchup between the Lakers and Celtics, James was seen talking to ESPN’s new lead NBA analyst Richard Jefferson. James went over to Jefferson and surprised him with a sneak attack, roughhoused with him, and had a close heart-to-heart talk. The interaction was posted online by ESPN, where their discussion wasn’t clear. However, NBA content creator LegendZ posted the same video but with subtitles and broke the internet.

The clip posted, at one point, suggested James said: “Once he talks about: ‘I’m pleading you as a father,’ I can’t.” If that’s really what James said, it sure points out to Smith’s statements from January. And Stephen A. Smith was not about to keep quiet. He came forward and shared his thoughts about James’ interaction with Jefferson. He said on ‘The Stephen A. Smith Show’:

“I’ve never, ever, ever been about being critical of Bronny. I’ve gone out of my way, being who I am in the position that I am in, to avoid even critiquing him for years out of respect for the James family. Rich Paul knows that… Maverick Carter knows that. Opposing agents and players, former and present, who had asked me why I wouldn’t do it, know my position. It was on the record. There are clips of it on First Take. That was my position. So when he said to me ‘Stop sh–ting on my son’, I am like what? What are you talking about?

“But then something happened. Something happened and a light bulb hit my ear. And that was him with Richard Jefferson… When he sat up there and said ‘When I was talking as a dad…, I can’t, I can’t…’ So it wasn’t about Bronny. It was about him. Those are his words. Once he said as a father, that was about him, which was my point January 29. It’s been about you. I don’t want to have a critical word about Bronny James at this stage of his career… It was never about Bronny. I wouldn’t do that to a kid. It was about his dad. And it wasn’t about his dad even wanting him in the NBA. It’s the things he said. And the things he maneuvered and manipulated in order to get his son to wear the same uniform as him.”

However, this isn’t the first time Smith has shared his opinions about James on a public platform. That is something he has been doing consistently. Smith made an appearance to discuss the situation on Gil’s Arena on Tuesday alongside his new First Take co-host, Gilbert Arenas. The conversation started with basketball talk, but it didn’t take long for things to shift to his back-and-forth with LeBron James. He discussed how James confronted him courtside at Crypto.com Arena last week, fueling even more drama which would lead to Saturday’s Lakers-Celtics showdown where James had a quick chat with Richard Jefferson.

At this point, Smith has talked about the incident everywhere. He kicked off First Take last Friday with a 10-minute monologue, then spent the weekend airing things out on his podcast. But on Gil’s Arena, his response had a different tone—more dismissive, more cutting.

And fans have definitely taken notice. Reactions flooded social media, with many calling out Smith for prolonging his interaction with the 4x MVP. Some people compared his handling of the situation to viral internet moments and mocked him for giving the feud too much airtime!

Top Comment by Spooby

seems like LeBron is trying to play daddy now that the Diddy parties are over

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Debate

Fans blast Stephen A. Smith for “milking” the LeBron James drama!

NBA fans are starting to believe that Stephen A. Smith is simply prolonging the issue so that he can talk about it more. One fan commented on social media:

• “This man is milking a 15-second interaction more than Hawk Tuah girl.”

Well, Stephen A Smith has turned his brief courtside exchange with LeBron James into a full-blown saga, stretching across multiple First Take segments, his own podcast, and now guest appearances on other shows. The comparison to the Hawk Tuah girl—a viral sensation is a hilarious on. Haliey Welch, the Hawk Tuah girl, started her own podcast after she went viral and has crossed 200k subscribers. She turned a single wild interview clip into instant fame. However, many fans are taking LeBron James’ side. One fan mentioned:

• “Sports media loves to dish it out but never wants to take it. Bron checking Stephen A. was long overdue.”

Here’s the thing. Sports analysts thrive on criticism—They call out players for bad games, question coaching decisions, and dissect every misstep. But when the tables turn, and an athlete pushes back, it suddenly becomes a major controversy. While analysts like Stephen A. Smith expect players to respond on the court, some fans feel it was refreshing to see the 4x MVP check him face-to-face. It raises the question: should media figures be just as open to scrutiny as the athletes they critique? We will leave this to the fans to decide.

• “Definitely didn’t have that same energy with Bron in his face!”
• “All he’s doing now is covering his a–. He already said Bron’s team reached out to him prior to the confrontation to tone it down. He mocked them for it on his pod, then Bron pressed him and he’s talking about ‘you should have told me privately’ lool… just milking the situation.”

Well, it looks like it is not just James calling out Smith. NBA fans are doing the same as the latter turned the issue into weeks of content. While Smith is going all out on podcasts, LeBron James doesn’t have a podcast anymore so he could respond.

• “Stephen A. Smith has spent years and years baiting players to confront him with disagreements, now he’s spent the past week on a media tour bashing LeBron James for doing it lololol.”

So fans are not letting this one slide. They are calling out the contradictions in his response and question whether he is truly upset or merely milking the moment for content. Meanwhile, LeBron James has largely stayed quiet, leaving everyone wondering if he’ll fire back or let Smith continue talking. One thing’s for sure—this saga isn’t dying down anytime soon. What do you think?