As another NBA season is about to begin, ESPN’s host and analyst, Stephen A. Smith, blasted Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, claiming he believes the basketball superstar is fake. Smith, recently unleashed a heated rant about King James, and he didn’t hold back with his remarks.
Smith is well known for his hot takes during ESPN’s “First Take,” some of which have taken aim at James, or other star players. However, he recently sat down for an interview for “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony,” where Anthony’s co-host, Kaz, brought up Smith and James’ beef.
“Let me get to LeBron. I don’t like his a**, not a little bit,” Smith said in part of his comments, also adding, “This dates back more than a decade.”
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The ESPN star said he believes that James acts “one way privately, one way publicly,” and mentioned that some of the things James has said to other people got back to Smith.
“The things he’s tried to do. If it were up to him, I wouldn’t be where I am at today,” he claimed, adding, “It’s some low, low s***.”
Smith mentioned the publicized incident where James confronted him at a Lakers game last season, which Smith said coincided with his contract renewal with ESPN. That arrived after Smith made remarks about James’ son, Bronny James.
Those remarks on TV featured Smith explaining how he felt James’ superstar status and pull played a part in the Lakers drafting Bronny, and ultimately giving him a roster spot so fast from the G League.
Smith suggested on the podcast that after he made those remarks, LeBron James showed up on “The Pat McAfee Show” so he could “dog” him over things. He said James should “be a man” and just say, “I don’t like [Smith] either.”
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“Nah. ‘I have to protect my family.’ That’s the narrative you playing?” Smith asked, regarding LeBron’s appearance on Pat McAfee’s show.
“You can’t measure the level of how pissed off I have been over that,” Smith said, adding, “There is no level of disrespect that hs every been accorded to me in my life more so than what he did.”
According to the ESPN star, he found it extremely “offensive” how James tried to “paint” him as someone “who would try to attack someone’s family.”
Those remarks are part of a larger interview featuring one of James’ NBA friends, Carmelo Anthony, who featured Smith for over an hour on his recent podcast. Smith admitted that while he and Anthony are close, he knows James and Anthony share a closer bond due to them being like family from the NBA.
The ESPN star also said he wasn’t “going there” when Anthony’s co-host asked if James attempted to get Smith taken off the air.
The new podcast arrived just a day before the Lakers take the court for part of an NBA season-opening doubleheader, where they’ll battle Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. LeBron James won’t be participating in the game due to a glute injury which will keep him out of action for several weeks.
Bronny James is also still on the Lakers’ roster, and received some preseason minutes. According to Lakers reporter Khobi Price, Bronny is also dealing with an ankle injury and was a limited participant in Sunday’s practice.
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