Stephen A. Smith Believes LeBron James Crossed the Line to Insult Him, Making the Beef Unfixable

“LeBron, I don’t have the greatest relationship with LeBron James. I don’t give a damn about not having the greatest relationship with LeBron James, but I know he’s great,” said Stephen A. Smith back in July 2024. Since he made those remarks, the tension between the ESPN sportscaster and the NBA star only increased, especially thanks to Smith’s remarks about Bronny James. The alleged ‘feud’ reached its height when LeBron James confronted Smith after a game to, as the sportscaster revealed, “making sure I mind what I say about his son”. Months later, Smith admits the duo is not yet at a reconciliation point. Nor might they ever be.

Stephen A. Smith was a guest on the recent episode of ‘The Dan Le Batard Show.’ During the conversation, the sportscaster confirmed that there was a “Zero” relationship between him and LeBron, but he did not care. In regard to people complaining that all he does is talk about the NBA All-Time Scorer, Smith defended himself by saying, “the only time I ever mention him is when I’m asked. You know, if nobody asked me about him, I won’t talk about him”. The ‘hate’ for each other was mutual earlier, and continues to remain like that. However, according to Smith, things would have been better with him and LeBron had the latter not ‘crossed the line’.

“And to me, what he did when he confronted me in the third quarter in the middle of the game court side, blaming me for something I did not do, and then tried to turn it into me being somebody that would go after somebody’s family and then coming on the Pat McAfee show thereafter just to insult me. That’s a line you don’t get to come back from,” said Smith.

The ‘Pat McAfee’ interview took place a few weeks after the clip of LeBron confronting Smith on the court went viral. The Los Angeles Lakers star defended his choice of words against Smith by stating, “He completely missed the whole point. The whole point. Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport and criticize players about what they do.” After that, he added, “But when you take it and you get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my d— household, but protect the players.”

Before he got to this point, LeBron James even mocked the sportscaster a bit by saying, “He’s gonna be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him. I know he’s gonna be happy as hell.”

Except for Bronny James, Stephen A. Smith has never commented on a member of LeBron’s family. The 57-year-old even once praised LeBron’s wife, Savannah, by calling her the ‘First Lady of the NBA’, and even said that his mom is “an absolutely wonderful woman”.

Being an NBA player himself, Bronny is an exceptional case. Notably, even before he entered the NBA, the young star faced allegations of nepotism. Despite that, Smith never attacked Bronny on a personal level and only questioned his basketball prowess. After Bronny recorded 17 points and 5 assists in 30 minutes of playtime against the Milwaukee Bucks back in March, Smith even admitted that “I was very impressed. I was very impressed because I saw an elevation in his level of confidence and poise”. The sportscaster even admitted that “I might have been wrong.”

Smith did not let the heated confrontation with LeBron prevent him from changing his opinion about Bronny. It did stop him from coming to a compromise with the 40-year-old star. However, in light of recent news, the sportscaster can at least attempt to end the ‘feud’ for the sake of his daughter.

Stephen A. Smith left speechless after daughter admitted to crush on LeBron James’ son

For many years, Stephen A. Smith hosted his personal show by himself. However, in one of his most recent segments, he had a co-host: his daughter, Samantha. The segment was filled with several fun moments, including the 16-year-old also taking a shot at her father’s hairline after the sportscaster got called out on it on social media. However, that wasn’t the only noteworthy moment from the episode.

During the segment when Stephen and Samantha were responding to fan questions, they came across one that asked the duo, “Do you hate LeBron🤣”. Smith looked away, while Samantha said, “I’m about to get clipped for this”. Instead of focusing on LeBron, she instead discussed the NBA star’s youngest son, Bryce James, revealing that “I remember Bryce James, he’s a great player, but there’s Bronny too. I remember I used to have the biggest crush on Bryce James like a year ago, so it was really awkward when there was a lot of beef.”

While Smith didn’t say anything, he did give his daughter a side-eye. However, after his daughter said that Bryce, not knowing who she was, got very “difficult” with her, Smith had to say, “What?”. After Samantha admitted she was joking, he responded with, “You better be”.

Bryce James recently enrolled at the University of Arizona and will be playing for the Arizona Cardinals Men’s Basketball Team during the next NCAA season. Smith briefly discussed Bryce back in 2024 by stating, “They say the younger brother Bryce has more potential. I don’t know. I haven’t seen either one of them.”

As he begins his college season, however, the younger James will be more on the sportscaster’s radar. Whether he chooses to go easy on Bryce, for his daughter’s sake at least, is something that remains to be seen.