Stephen A Smith Beefing with LeBron James: All You Need To Know

LeBron James is arguably considered one of the greatest players in the history of basketball. As an all-time great, James has never taken heed of all the criticism and comments that he might be hearing from the media. Dubbed as the ‘Chosen One’ since the start of his career, James defied all his doubters to prove himself as one of the most consistent and dominant players over the last 22 seasons.

Yet, there is a line where James draws that boundary. Anyone who closely follows the NBA knows LeBron James is a deeply-rooted family man, who chooses his kin over anyone else. That's the reason why he was more excited than anyone else when his son Bronny James was drafted as the 55th overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024. Though Bronny's performance in the league might not have been the best, it definitely gave the media enough talking points to create stories and controversies surrounding the James family.

Stephen A. Smith is a renowned sports analyst, who is a regular on ESPN's morning talk show, First Take. Smith is somewhat notorious for his hot takes and opinions on NBA stars, including James. With Bronny heading to the NBA, SAS had a lot of things to say about the young James Jr.'s performance, some of which were taken in bad taste by LeBron James. So, how did this turn into an ongoing feud that has all the NBA fans riled up? Let's find out.

What started the beef between Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James?

The beef between LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith is surely one of the hottest topics amongst NBA fans right now. It all started after a 29th January episode of the First Take, where SAS had some unpleasant words based on Bronny James' performance. Initially, Smith suggested Bronny should have played his rookie year in the G-League as he was not ready for the NBA. However, on the show that day, Smith outrightly insinuated Bronny was in the NBA solely because of his father.

Sure enough, most fans or viewers thought LeBron James might ignore this take too, like he does most of the time. However, any comments on his family, especially his son, is not something LBJ would take lightly.

Things started getting heated after the Lakers' 113-109 win over the New York Knicks on March 6. LeBron James found Stephen A. Smith by the sidelines and took the opportunity to confront the ESPN broadcaster on his comments about Bronny. From the looks of it, James definitely looked unhappy and the confrontation made it seem like things ended bitterly between SAS and LBJ following this conversation.

How is LeBron James reacting to this incident?

On Wednesday, LeBron James made a special appearance on The Pat McAffe Show where he discussed about this ongoing feud between him and Stephen A. Smith. Though James did not disclose any details of the conversation between him and Smith, he addressed the elephant in the room with tinges of humor and sarcasm.

“He's like on a Taylor Swift tour run right now,” James jokingly said. “It started with ‘I didn’t want to address it…but since the video came out I feel the need to address it.'” James believes Smith completely misunderstood his point and reasoning for for the confrontation. He added,

James believes that the feud has been quite beneficial for Smith's career as a media personality. He said, “[Smith]'s gonna be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him. I know he's gonna be happy as hell.” James has been responding further on this beef, by even taking a jab at Smith threatening to ‘swing' a punch at him through a series of Instagram posts and stories.

What does Stephen A. Smith have to say about this beef?

Bronny James has been quite consistent in his recent few performances in the G-League and the NBA. In the absence of the Lakers starters and key players on March 20, Bronny stepped-up to run the offense for the Lakeshow, despite their 29-point loss against the Milwaukee Bucks. Bronny scored a career-high 17 points in the NBA alongside career-high three rebounds. Reacting to this performance, Stephen A. Smith took the time to offer Bronny his flowers.

So, was SAS apologizing? On the ESPN network, it may seem so. However, Smith was far from apologetic in his appearance on the Gil's Arena Podcast and his own show. Smith disclosed details of his conversation with James, saying, "I turn around and [LeBron]’s right here in my face and says, ‘Yo, you gotta stop talking (expletive) about my son [Bronny]. You gotta stop (expletive) with my son. That’s my son, that’s my son!'"

However, after LeBron James' podcast with Pat McAfee was out, Smith wasn't going to let that slide without his two cents. On his Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith boldly claimed he would have “swung” on James, had he touched him. However, explaining why he does not get along with the four-time NBA champion, Smith added,

These statements go in contradiction of Smith's praise for LeBron James. For example, just a month earlier, Smith had claimed that Jordan never sustained a peak at the level LeBron James has at the age of 40. Nevertheless, the beef continues to ensue, with both James and Smith throwing constant jabs at each other.

And if we ask, who is right and who is wrong, that would leave fans divided. While most would claim James to be right in taking a stand for Bronny, others might take it as the Lakers superstar being 'too soft’ in facing criticism for his son. Perhaps, this debate can only be settled if Bronny continues to shine with his performance and prove all his doubters wrong.