At Thursday night’s game between the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith was approached by Lakers star LeBron James, who was clearly unhappy with the sports analyst.
LeBron looked like he wanted to kill Stephen A. Smith 😳 pic.twitter.com/WmX5Dhxyw9
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) March 7, 2025
Before offering any details about the exchange, Smith posted on X on Friday morning and explained that he was going to speak about the situation throughout the day, but only because he had to. Miami Heat veteran Kevin Love questioned Smith’s post.
You have no choice? lol
Because it went viral? lol
You didn’t want to have to? lol
You wouldn’t have? lol https://t.co/u7g8PTF4Cj
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) March 7, 2025
Throughout the day on Friday, Smith did indeed share what happened, explaining that James told him to watch his mouth regarding his son Bronny.
At one point on Friday, Smith, who did say that he’s “very fond” of Love, reacted to the veteran’s post.
“I have no choice because of what I just told you about my bosses, Kevin,” Smith said, referencing each section of Love’s X post. “Because it went viral, Kevin, which I just explained. I didn’t want to. Why would I want to? I take no pleasure in something like this.
“… Let me explain this to Kevin Love in simplest terms. ‘First Take’ has been the No. 1 morning show for 13 consecutive years. And on this particular morning, it’s the day after I was in the news for a lucrative contract extension.
“So if I said that I didn’t have any intentions of doing it, I don’t have to lie. And I’m not starving for ratings. And respectfully, Kevin, you should know that I mean what I say. I don’t have to lie. So I’ll just leave it at that. Outside of that, feel free to support your boy.”
According to Smith, he was directly told by ESPN to talk about the topic.
Smith did indeed just land a major contract extension from ESPN worth at least $100 million. Between that and his claim about the performance of ‘First Take,’ it seems like he’s implying that there’s no reason for him to go out of his way right now to generate traffic.
But if a player of the elder James’ magnitude has a confrontation with an analyst like Smith, it’s bound to be a viral story, so maybe Smith should have expected that ESPN was going to have him talk about it.
Love and the elder James were teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers, so if Love’s post on X was his way of showing support for his former teammate, that would make sense.
Despite the confrontation, the elder James was able to lead the Lakers to a win over the Knicks on Thursday night, giving L.A. its 40th win of the season. On Saturday night, the four-time champion unfortunately suffered an injury as the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics. Los Angeles is now 40-22 this season.