Stephen A. Smith Criticizing LeBron James’ Choice of Clothes Frustrates Fans – “Really Slow Day on ESPN”

Stephen A. Smith has made it a habit of finding something or the other to criticize Lakers superstar LeBron James.

Stephen A. Smith Criticizing LeBron James’ Choice of Clothes Frustrates Fans – “Really Slow Day on ESPN”

LeBron James and ESPN's Stephen A. Smith (Image via FirstSportz)

In Short
  • Stephen A. Smith criticized LeBron James' fashion choices during a discussion on ESPN's First Take.
  • Fans expressed frustration over the unnecessary focus on LeBron's attire instead of basketball analysis.
  • The backlash highlights ongoing tensions between Smith and James, with fans concerned about media narratives.

LeBron James no doubt is still the ‘Face of the NBA’ as every fan or media outlet wants to cover anything and everything related to him for as long as they can.

Former teammate Kendrick Perkins was probably right to warn his colleagues that once the Los Angeles Lakers superstar retires from the game, they would have a hard time finding things to talk about.

The NBA may have had a resurgence of sorts, but no one can argue that nothing trends more than a story about the league’s all-time leading scorer.

That explains why every podcast, print media, and even entertainment shows across other spectrums try to link something about him. Even during the last Presidential campaign, there were enough references, even though the King himself said nothing until the very end.

Some outlets have been shameless at milking any rhetoric that, even though they face a backlash from fans, they tend to create new narratives about James. Stephen A. Smith seems to have become a master at it.

All that damn money LeBron and them making, you can’t dress better than that?

Stephen A. Smith said on First Take

The 58-year-old did not say this out of context. Rather, he was discussing Pat Riley‘s comments about how coaches should wear a suit and tie.

Smith was trying to say how he slays the suit every time he is at a game, and wondered why LeBron James would not do that, despite being a billionaire.

Fans tear into Stephen A. Smith for unnecessary barb at LeBron James

Basketball fans know that Stephen A. Smith has ‘beef’ with LeBron James ever since the latter confronted the ESPN analyst publicly about comments made about his son, Bronny James.

But they could not understand the need to drag the four-time champion into the suit and tie debate, especially since Pat Riley never said anything about players.

They felt this was the analyst and ESPN’s way of manufacturing trending stories just to keep their ratings up. Check out examples of those reactions below:

Fans believe that if this trend continues, both First Take and the NBA would be in a heap of trouble, as such narrative-inducing efforts are further proof that the 22-time All-Star continues to be the ‘Face of the NBA.’

LeBron James finds support from an unlikely source

Just as LeBron James has many fans and some in the media who speak highly about him, Stephen A. Smith is just the start of the plethora of media personnel who tend to criticize the Lakers star. But unlike the ESPN executive producer, James found some support from a familiar foe.

LeBron James endorsed Jaylen Brown for MVP
LeBron James endorsed Jaylen Brown for MVP (Image via ESPN)

I could not agree with him more on this.

Michelle Beadle said on Run it Back

For someone who tries to take advantage of every opportunity to find flaws in the four-time league MVP, it was surprising that Michelle Beadle agreed with James’ opinion on the MVP race.

The latter said after their game against the Celtics that the MVP race had become a popularity contest. He said this while suggesting that Jaylen Brown should be in the conversation.

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