LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith went viral for all the wrong reasons on Thursday night as the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the New York Knicks. This is after the cameras caught a heated sideline moment between the two wherein LeBron is seen confronting Smith during the game.
There was no audio of the intense moment between them which is why the folks on social media had all sorts of interpretations as to what James really said to Smith.
The renowned ESPN anchor has now broken his silence on the issue as he aimed to "put to bed" any "false" news that has stemmed from the incident. Smith denied the accusation that the Lakers superstar called him a "punk" or anything of that nature.
Damn LeBron stepped to Stephen A Smith pic.twitter.com/ZJIDcPU4dL
— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) March 7, 2025
Smith did admit, though, that LeBron was fuming over his son Bronny James.
"He was fiery," Smith started. "He approached me during the game and he said, 'Stop (expletive) with my son. That's my (expletive) son. Stop (expletive) with my son.
"I said, 'What?' [LeBron said] Nah, nah, nah, man. Straight up, man-to-man. Real talk, stop (expletive) with my son."
Smith stood up when LeBron confronted him and apparently, he was trying to de-escalate the situation. James was having none of it, though.
"I saw how furious he was," Smith continued. "And I said we can talk about it later. [LeBron responded] 'Nah, (expletive) that. (Expletive) that. Stop (expletive) with my son. That's my son. That's my son.'
"I said, 'Alright, dog. Fine. And he walked away. That's all he said."
Let's talk about it.
LeBron and me, Charles Barkley took a shot at ESPN, Kenyon Martin mad at me? My new contract, more
Full episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show is live now https://t.co/G6vB8fvuiCpic.twitter.com/IC0jBMHp6z
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) March 7, 2025
While it appears that Smith wanted to have a more cordial discussion with James later on, it seems like the NBA's all-time leading scorer had already gotten what he had to say off his chest at that moment.
It now remains to be seen whether Smith will heed LeBron's strong demand by laying off on his Bronny James criticism moving forward.
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This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM.