LeBron James finally broke his silence about the confrontation he had with famous commentator Stephen A. Smith on March 6, after Smith mentioned his son in his analysis of the Lakers and the NBA.
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“I beg LeBron James as a father: Stop this! Stop this! We all know that LeBron James is in the NBA thanks to his father,” commented Stephen A. Smith on January 29th on ESPN’s “First Take” program.
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So on March 6th, LeBron James went straight to the commentator and demanded him to stop mentioning his son. Since then, Stephen A. Smith has been talking about the incident every chance he gets: on ESPN, on his YouTube show, in interviews with other media outlets, and so on.
What did LeBron James say about his confrontation with the reporter?
“I turned around and found him right in my face and he said to me, ‘Hey, you have to stop talking sh** about my son [Bronny]. You have to stop messing with my son. He’s my son, he’s my son!‘”, Stephen A. Smith recounted on the podcast “Gil’s Arena.”
On the other hand, LeBron James, who granted a long interview on The Pat McAfee Show, also from ESPN, mocked the commentator by saying that he has been on tour like Taylor Swift: “He started with ‘I didn’t want to talk about it... But since the video came out, I feel the need to do it.’ You couldn’t wait for the video to come out to talk about it.”
He also clarified that he understands perfectly that the job of commentators is to criticize what he does on the field and that it should not be taken personally. However, there is a limit that should not be crossed, and that limit is his family, as it is his responsibility to protect them.
On the other hand, although LeBron James felt the need to clarify the misunderstanding, he knows that he is giving Stephen A. Smith and the media material to further extend the controversy.