Stephen A. Smith responds after LeBron James confronted him over comments about his son, Bronny James.
A clip has went viral of LeBron James seemingly having a heated exchange with Stephen A. Smith courtside after the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the New York Knicks on March 6th.
In the clip you can seemingly see James telling Smith to “keep my son out of this s***.”
Following the viral video, Smith addressed the conversation the latest episode of ESPN’s First Take. “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. “I can’t repeat the words because they ain’t suited for FCC airwaves. That’s what he was doing.”
“That wasn’t a basketball player confronting me. That was a parent. That was a father,” Stephen A Smith continued. “I can’t sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in any way in that regard. By all accounts, he’s obviously a wonderful family man and a wonderful father who cares very, very deeply about his son. Based on some of the comments he had heard, or shall I say I think he thought he heard, he clearly took exception to some of the things he heard me say. He confronted me about it.”
The back and forth stemmed from Smith stating that he believed Bronny wasn’t ready for more playing time. However, Smith did acknowledge Bronny’s potential, saying, “I think the kid will be in the NBA one day… he’s gonna be fine — eventually.”