LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith’s situation has now entered its second week. While LeBron is sidelined with a groin injury sustained during a game against the Boston Celtics over the weekend, Smith remains active and appeared on the latest episode of Gil’s Arena on Tuesday.
During the show, Smith revisited his courtside exchange with LeBron, adding more details about the misunderstanding over what had upset James. He stated that he found LeBron’s reaction “weak” and “bullsh—,” suggesting that James may have spoken out due to seeing his son, Bronny, looking dejected on the bench. Smith also explained why the situation didn’t escalate further.
“Had he directly said that to me, I wouldn’t have been caught off guard,” Smith remarked. “I would’ve responded immediately—‘Yes, I was talking about you. You did this sh–, and I’ll get to that in a second.’ But since he didn’t, I just let it go. Mind you, I had just signed my contract. I was courtside that day—it had been announced everywhere, a nationally televised game, cameras rolling. If I reacted, it would’ve been a spectacle.”
Smith further elaborated on his reasoning, stating, “We can act like we don’t work for someone, but I work for Walt Disney. If I had gotten into it with him courtside, no matter how justified I was, it would’ve been seen as wrong. So I chose not to engage. But once I saw the tape of him speaking to Richard Jefferson on Saturday night in Boston, that’s when I got really pissed—because that confirmed everything.”
Smith also clarified that if LeBron had been upfront about his concerns, he would have explained that his criticism was directed at LeBron, not Bronny.
“Instead of approaching me courtside, all you had to do was say, ‘Yo, I need to talk to you after the game,’” Smith explained. “But you didn’t. Instead, you said, ‘You’re f—ing with my son.’ No, I wasn’t! I was talking about YOU. It wasn’t about your son. I know he’s number 55. I know he has work to do. I believe he’s got potential, and I’m rooting for him. But this was about YOU. You did this!”
Clearly, this situation is far from resolved. Unfortunately, LeBron no longer has a podcast to respond.