Stephen A. Smith was in for a shock during the Los Angeles Lakers’ matchup against the New York Knicks on Thursday night. Instead of interacting with his team in between quarters, LeBron James walked over to Smith to air out his grievances in front of everyone attending the game.
While we couldn’t hear what either person said, James doesn’t look happy, and it has led people to believe that he confronted the sports TV personality about his past criticism of his son, Bronny James.
On Friday, Smith addressed the moment James confronted him and confirmed that it was about Bronny.
“That was LeBron James coming up to me, unexpectedly, I might add. To confront me about making sure I mind what I say about his son,” Smith said. “That wasn’t a basketball player confronting me. That was a parent. That was a father. I can’t sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in any way in that regard.”
He continued, “Based on some of the comments he had heard, or shall I say he thought he heard. He clearly took exception to some of the things he heard me say, and he confronted me about it.”
Smith later said that if the two spoke in a different environment, he would “never” speak negatively about his son and would keep the focus on James. He also hopes that Bronny “flourishes” in his professional sports career.
Naturally, this led to some amusing reactions on social media, with some people saying that James played into Smith’s hands by giving him another viral moment.
However, others praised the future NBA Hall of Famer for calling out Smith, who has a reputation for constantly criticising players in today’s NBA, especially James.
@Travonne wrote on X, “bron played right into the plan.”
@Southside_Gunn posted, “Stephen A is trying to come off as a victim when LeBron did exactly what he was supposed to do as a father….”
@roadto80pct commented, “stephen a smith tried to say today that he never said anything about bronny and he was talking about lebron and that he supports and roots for bronny lol.”
This most assuredly won’t be the first time Smith speaks on James since he’s still the most popular in the NBA and is on a team that is contending for a championship. It’ll be interesting to see how Smith speaks about James and his son going forward after their heated interaction went viral.