EPPN’s Stephen A. Smith and NBA superstar LeBron James are not happy with one another right now. The public spat started when Smith pleaded with James to take his son, Bronny, out of the NBA.
“I am pleading with LeBron James as a father: Stop this,” Smith said on his popular debate show, First Take. “Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.”
Incensed by Smith’s comments, LeBron confronted him in the middle of a Lakers game, which led to Smith going on a media tour of sorts condemning the move by James.
On Wednesday afternoon, the saga continued as James addressed things in an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
“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 in the interview, which lasted over an hour.
Thursday morning, Smith decided to fire back on First Take.
“I suggest that he be happy with the things that I haven’t brought up,” Smith said in a clip shared by Awful Announcing. “I never brought up really and never really discussed why you were not at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service. I never really brought up or discussed why you did not attend Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame induction when that man was directly responsible for you capturing a championship for the first time in your career.”
Smith didn’t stop things there, either.
“The day he came up to me was the day my new contract was announced. So he knows like everybody else, it’s going to be a little while before I go away. I was here before he got here in 2003. And in all likelihood, I’m going to be here when he’s gone. You gotta deal with that, bro. Plain and simple. It ain’t a crime for Michael Jordan to be a GOAT. But clearly, it’s something that’s a crime with him.”
It’ll be interesting to see if James responds.