The Lakers ran their winning streak to eight games on Thursday night, beating the Knicks in a come-from-behind win amid an electric atmosphere at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The game went to overtime, and the Lakers went on to a 113-109 win over the No. 3 team in the Eastern Conference.
LeBron James had 31 points in the game, but the story of the night circulating around social media that showed James, before the start of the game, confronting Stephen A. Smith of ESPN, who was courtside with actor/writer Larry David and agent Ari Emanuel.
James was not happy with what he perceived as slights against his son, Lakers rookie Bronny James, who has struggled in his first season as an NBA player and whose qualifications to be in the league have been frequently questioned--including by Smith.
In January, speaking on the ESPN show, "First Take," Smith said, "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."
On Friday, Smith went on a 10-minute deep dive into the back-and-forth he's had with James on the subject. He insisted he did not want to talk about it, but then talked about it extensively.
What bothered Smith, it seems, was not so much what James had to say--he said he could empathize with James as a father protecting his son--but how he went about doing it, in such a public forum.
"Clearly took exception to some of the things he heard me say, and confronted me about it," Smith said. "For the record, his agent and friend, Rich Paul, has my number. Maverick Carter, who works under him, has my number. LeBron James knows how to be in contact with me if he wanted to. He never called. But had he called ultimately, I would have accepted that call.
"Had he wanted to see me, I would have flown out and I would have had a conversation man-to-man. But that is not what he elected to do."
LeBron James had some words for Stephen A Smith
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— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) March 7, 2025
Smith insisted that he has never spoken ill of Bronny James, though that's not entirely true. He claimed that anyhting he's said about Bronny has been in the context of LeBron James putting too much pressure on his son.
Smith went on: "I have never would speak negatively about your son. I was talking to you, meaning you, LeBron James. ... When I said the things that I said, I wasn't talking about Bronny James. I was talking about the position he was put in by his dad.
"It was like he was saying, ‘Keep that between me and you.' Almost as if he was thinking that anything I said about Bronny was a result of him, and in that situation, I was not talking about Bronny, I was really talking about him because of the position that Bronny was in.
"I understood where he was coming from. He was really upset. I could tell. He could have called me. I'd have come to see him. I'd have had a conversation with him, he could have been just as upset face-to-face, man-to-man, as opposed to being courtside at a game."
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This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 10:28 AM.