The chances of LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith ending their ongoing feud became even slimmer with Wednesday's back-and-forth of insults and threats.
Since James angrily confronted Smith about the criticism of his son and Los Angeles Lakers teammate Bronny James, the star of ESPN's "First Take" had accounted for all of the post-incident talking. That changed with LeBron's appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Wednesday when King James addressed the public spat prolonged by Smith's "Taylor Swift tour run" of comments.
LeBron said Smith "missed the whole point" of his message, saying he's OK with criticism of what players "do on the court." He feels Smith crossed the line by getting "personal" with his remarks about Bronny.
"He's gonna be happy as hell. He's gonna be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him," LeBron said. "Oh my God, he's gonna get home and grab some ice cream out of the f---ing freezer and sit in his chair in his tighty whities on the couch."
That had McAfee and his crew rolling with laughter.
“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” @KingJames #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/LKKFmvtFWM
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 26, 2025
Later in the day, Smith shared more thoughts about LeBron on his podcast, "The Stephen A. Smith Show." He reiterated he has "not been talking about Bronny James." He has been critical of LeBron and how Bronny has "been pushed to the forefront" despite not being "ready yet" for the NBA as the No. 55 overall pick.
"This is not about Bronny," Smith said. "This is about LeBron."
The sound bite that got the most attention on X was Smith's claim he would've thrown a punch at LeBron if their run-in at Crypto.com Arena had gotten physical.
"If that man would've put his hands on me, I would've immediately swung on him. Immediately," Smith said.
Stephen A Smith says he would’ve swung on LeBron
“If that man would’ve put his hands on me. I would’ve immediately swung on him. Immediately.”
(h/t @gifdsports )
pic.twitter.com/PwMkLrRZYL
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 26, 2025
That tactic, even in a matter of self-defense, would've been highly suspect against someone listed at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds.
LeBron's buzzer-beating putback for a 120-119 road victory against the Indiana Pacers ended the Lakers' three-game losing streak. Before calling it a night, he got the final say on Wednesday's war of words.
In response to Stephen A.'s claim he would've taken a swing at him, LeBron posted video of Smith doing a boxing workout on Instagram. He wasn't being complimentary.
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