The biggest rivalry in the NBA these days may belong to Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James. Things initially hit the fan when Stephen A. took to his popular debate show, First Take, to plead with LeBron to bring an end to what he deemed at the time to be a charade, with LeBron’s son Bronny being a rostered member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I am pleading with LeBron James as a father: Stop this,” Smith said at the time. “Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.”
This led to James confronting Smith in person when he noticed him sitting courtside at a Lakers game, where footage captured LeBron telling Smith to leave his son out of things.
James addressed everything in an interview on The Pat McAfee Show, which aired on Wednesday afternoon.
“Stephen A Smith is on a Taylor Swift tour run right now. He completely missed the whole point.. He got personal with it and it’s my job to not only protect my own household but also all the players,” James said.
It appears that Smith isn’t prepared to put the matter to rest, as he addressed things again on Wednesday, this time saying that he’d have gotten violent with James if he felt the need had arisen.
“If that man would’ve put his hands on me. I would’ve immediately swung on him. Immediately,” Smith said.
It’ll be interesting to see how James responds to this one.