Stephen A. Smith Says He May Never Speak To LeBron James Again

Stephen A. Smith is still taking time to speak on his confrontation with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. This time, he shared why he and James do not get along.

During The Stephen A. Smith Show on Tuesday (March 18), Smith detailed his version of their much-publicized interaction arguing that James misunderstood his commentary about his son, Lakers rookie Bronny James.  

“You see, I don’t run and hide. If I’m wrong, I’ll say I’m wrong,” he said. “If I’m right. I’m right. I was never sh*tting on Bronny James,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t do that to the James family. I was talking about one person, and one person only.”

He also said that he’d be fine if he and James never spoke to each other again.

“We may never speak in life again. I’m fine with it. I get paid to talk about folks, not to them. I cover the league. You play, I watch, dissect, analyze, and broadcast…”

Then he said that the reason James doesn’t like him is because he considers Michael Jordan the greatest NBA player of all time.

“We don’t get along. And there’s a multitude of reason why I have alluded to some of them, but we know what the biggest reason is,” Smith explained I ain’t Shannon Sharpe. It ain’t GOAT (greatest of all time) status this way.

“My GOAT is Michael Jordan. … [James] Ain’t my GOAT. I watch the game. I’m a student of the game. I know a GOAT when I see one,” he added.

Previously, Smith said that James’s approaching him during the Los Angeles Lakers matchup with the New York Knicks on March 8 was a “weak” move.

“I thought it was weak. I thought it was bullsh*t,” Smith said on Gilbert Arenas podcast Gil’s Arena.

During an episode of The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis, Draymond Green took exception to Smith calling James “weak.”

“So the problem that people have with media is, you go on there, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s weak.’ Weak? Like calling another man weak? That’s not basketball, which is actually what Bron was saying in the first place, ‘Let’s keep it basketball.’ Because calling a man weak, that’s not basketball, and you’re paid to talk about basketball,” Green said.

“You call Bron weak for stepping to you, but you’re taking shots at him as a father on TV, behind a camera,” he continued.”Most would say that’s weak. And then he will say, ‘I’m paid to do that.’ No, you’re paid to analyze, you’re paid to debate on the show.”