Amid the continued backlash for his on-court confrontation with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and subsequent comments on the matter, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is setting the record straight on his end.
During Tuesday’s episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith candidly gave his assessment of the situation, declaring that the 40-year-old was misinformed about his previous comments on his son and Lakers rookie Bronny James, so he would have no issue if he never communicated with the NBA’s all-time leading scorer again.
“I was never s–tting on Bronny James. I would never do that to the James family,” Smith said at the 16:45 mark. “I was talking about one person, and one person only. We may never speak in life again. I’m fine with it.”
Smith called out the elder James a few weeks ago for his supposed over-involvement in his son’s basketball career. During a game between the Lakers and Knicks, James was seen on camera confronting Smith directly.
In addition to discussing the confrontation on ESPN’s First Take, Smith later went on the Gil’s Arena podcast and said of the incident: “I thought it was weak. I thought it was bulls–t.” That response drew the ire of some of James’ close friends like Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and former NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade.
Still, Smith defended his stance on the situation, saying on his show Tuesday that he was simply doing his job when he made those initial comments about James and his son.
“I get paid to talk about folks, not to them,” Smith added. “I cover the league. You play, I watch, dissect, analyze and broadcast. We ain’t gotta communicate, we damn sure don’t have to say hello to each other, we don’t have to do none of that. We don’t get along.”
Smith went on to state that he believes James doesn’t like him because of his refusal to give him the title of GOAT above Michael Jordan. Smith made it clear that the two of them aren’t close whatsoever.
“Me and LeBron don’t have a relationship,” he said around the 5:00 mark of Tuesday’s show. “LeBron don’t mess with me, and I don’t mess with him. I respect the hell out of him. He’s No. 2 on the list all-time, and I didn’t always feel this way about him.”
Smith eventually offered words of encouragement to Bronny James and apologized to his family for the ongoing incident.
“Bronny James, I’m gonna do my job, same energy. You mess up, I’m gonna mention it; you succeed, I’m gonna be there celebrating it. That’s what happens in the pros,” he said at the 21:35 mark. “You got nothing to worry about with me. All the best to you. I wish you nothing but the best. You’re a great kid who I believe is gonna be in the NBA someday sooner than later on a regular, consistent basis. To the James family, my apologies for all of this happening.”
