It took no time for Stephen A. Smith’s courtside exchange with LeBron James to go viral. The Los Angeles Lakers star confronted Smith about his son Bronny James, and the video clip spread like fire on social media.
Smith addressed the confrontation a day later, admitting that it wasn’t an NBA player, but a father who reached out to him.
However, the analyst discussed the matter, eventually revealing why he chose not to say anything while the Lakers game against the Boston Celtics was on.
Stephen A Smith Had a Reason to Avoid Confronting LeBron James
While going into detail about what James said during the game’s third quarter, Smith also spoke about his situation. As per the analyst, he chose not to respond to James, mainly because of his newly confirmed $100 million, five-year contract with ESPN.
Stephen A. Smith gives his unfiltered version of the LeBron confrontation 👀 pic.twitter.com/X4TOV3155a
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) March 11, 2025
As per Smith, James ‘misrepresented’ the argument, which was later confirmed by James’ conversation with Justin Jefferson. Smith was ‘thrown off’ by James’ approach, but he was glad that he ultimately let it go.
“Mind you. I just agreed to my contract. I’m courtside that day was when it was announced. It’s all over, everywhere. It’s a nationally televised game. The cameras are rolling, and I’m like, if I do anything, this gonna be a scene. Now, we can sit up here in front or we want to and act like we don’t work for somebody. Damn it, I work for Walt Disney,” Smith said during his appearance on Gil’s Arena.
“And if I had gotten into some sh*t with him at courtside, right there at that moment, no matter how right I would have been, it would have been wrong. And I was like, I’m not gonna do this. But once I saw the tape of him talking to Richard Jefferson Saturday night in Boston, that was when I got really pissed, because that was confirmation.”
What Did Smith Think of James’ Confrontation?
Though James’ words weren’t clear for fans to decipher, many were able to identify a couple of curse words aimed at Smith.
During his Underdog interview, Smith revealed what exactly James said.
LeBron James tells Stephen A. Smith to keep his son name out of his mouth courtside at Lakers-Knicks game 😲 #lakers #knicks pic.twitter.com/b7LOrrKvRI
— Crown Nation Sports (@cnation_sports) March 7, 2025
“He said, ‘Yo, you got to stop talking sh*t about my son. You got to stop f**king with my son. That’s my son. That’s my son’. And I was like, ‘what?’ He said, ‘Nah, f**k that’. I said, ‘Yo, let’s talk later’. He said, ‘F**k that. Nah, f**k that. You gotta stop f**king with my son’. And I said, ‘I do’. And he walked off,” Smith revealed.
However, the NBA analyst thought James’ approach was ‘weak’, calling him out once the argument was done.