Stephen A. Smith Clarifies LeBron James’ Confrontation Over Bronny James Criticism: “I Never Once Uttered a Negative Word”

Stephen A. Smith cleared the air on his long-standing tension with LeBron James.

Stephen A. Smith Clarifies LeBron James’ Confrontation Over Bronny James Criticism: “I Never Once Uttered a Negative Word”

Stephen A. Smith on Bronny James and LeBron James (Image credits - LA Times and Heavy Sports)

Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James are well known to have a tense, strained relationship. According to James, it was because Smith had gotten too “personal” with his criticism, while Smith believes it was about his criticism of Bronny James.

Bronny is LeBron’s oldest child. The Lakers drafted him as the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA draft, and he played alongside his father for two seasons. They became the first father-son duo to play in the NBA together.

However, Smith was not a fan of Bronny’s place in the Lakers. He called out the nepotism and was vocal about Bronny belonging in the G League.

During an interview with Cari Champion and Jemele Hill on their podcast, the sports media personality shared his thoughts on the whole James saga.

In January, his son is playing for the Lakers. The night before, he was in the G-League. The next night, he’s guarding Tyrese Maxey. You putting him out to slaughter. You can’t do that. I never ever once uttered a negative word about that young man ever. I said, ‘What you doing? You his dad, we got to cover this. You can’t put him in that position in front of us. That’s not good.

Stephen A. Smith on Flagrant and Funny podcast

Bronny James has not found life in the NBA easy so far. He has struggled for minutes in his first two seasons in the league. However, he did have some historic moments with LeBron during the playoffs last season.

Smith’s comments on Bronny did not sit well with LeBron. ‘The King’ confronted Smith courtside during a game between the Lakers and New York Knicks last year. He flamed out at the ESPN analyst and told him to keep Bronny out of it. Since then, Smith has never held back in attacking James on various platforms.

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Stephen A. Smith claims LeBron James dislikes him for other reasons

Stephen A. Smith has become one of the biggest and most popular figures in American sports media. He is the face of ESPN and has made a name for himself with his bold takes. His takes have led to beefs with several players over the years, including Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown.

When asked if his strained relationship with LeBron is about Bronny or if it went beyond that, Smith said:

I believe it is (about Bronny). But what I’m saying is that I never said anything about his son until that game and then two months later was when he rolled up on me. After that, I went on TV the next day and said, ‘I understand that was a dad talking. Let it go,’ until he went on the Pat McAfee Show just to disrespect me. That’s when the gloves came off.

Stephen A. Smith on Flagrant and Funny podcast

James’ comments on the Pat McAfee show were seen as an insult to Smith. The show is broadcast on ESPN and is scheduled right after First Take, which is Smith’s program. It will be interesting to see whether Smith talks about Bronny again after LeBron left the Lakers this summer.

Ranking LeBron James as the second-greatest player is the reason for their feud

Smith has always been vocal about where he stands in the GOAT debate. The debate between Michael Jordan and LeBron James on who is the GOAT has gone on for a long time. However, Smith has been clear from the beginning: he has labeled Jordan his GOAT.

Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James
Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James (Image credits – Fox News)

But according to Smith, his strained relationship with James and his team has a lot to do with where he stands in the eternal debate.

LeBron James, who I have number two all time all time. I said to Rich Paul ‘You act like it’s an insult. Y’all act like it’s an insult that I got the man number two.’ He says ‘It’s an insult.’ Then they start talking about things that have nothing to do with that when it has everything to do with that because that’s where it emanates from.

Stephen A. Smith on Flagrant and Funny podcast

The GOAT debate has split the NBA world into two halves. While some may throw in the likes of Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and others into the conversation, but it has always been between Jordan and James.

Smith believes that him picking Jordan over James is where their feud began. He revealed that Rich Paul, who is James’ longtime friend and agent, told him that ranking James second is an insult. It remains to be seen how much of James will be covered by Smith on First Take after his move to the Philadelphia 76ers last month.

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