Copyright New York Post
Stephen A. Smith’s war against LeBron James took another turn on Monday when he accused the NBA superstar of orchestrating the caught-on-camera interaction when James confronted Smith at a Lakers game in March. The candid ESPN host declared “I don’t like his ass” when discussing James during an appearance on the “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast hosted by ex-Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and alleged that the tension between the two dated back over a decade. “I believe he’s one way publicly, he’s another way privately,” Smith said. “He might not be interviewed and not be quoted, but the things he says and the things he has said to people have gotten back to me. The things he’s tried to do. If it were up to him, I wouldn’t be where I am at today. It’s some low, low s–t.” James confronted Smith during a game between the Knicks and Lakers at Crypto.com Arena last March and Smith had previously stated that the incident stemmed from the ESPNer’s criticisms of James’ eldest son and Los Angeles teammate, Bronny. Smith had previously blasted the Lakers’ handling of Bronny and his development. During the podcast interview published on Monday, Smith accused James of setting him up. “The day that he rolled up on me courtside, it was the day my contract was announced that I had stayed with ESPN,” Smith said. “Go back and look at the camera angle… This is 2025, we got technology everywhere. TNT is a nationally televised game. How is it we got one angle, and the only angle you see was of him and his face, but you see the back of my peanut head?” During the interview on “7PM in Brooklyn” Smith said the “last straw” was James suggesting that he had to “protect his family” while appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN. “That’s the narrative you playing? When I tell ya’ll you can’t measure the level of how pissed off I have been over that,” Smith said. “There’s is no level of disrespect that has ever been accorded to me in my life, more so than what he did. To try to paint me as somebody that would attack somebody’s family knowing I’ve never done it, I can’t tell you how offensive I find that.” The latest salvo comes after Smith accused James of treating white and black journalists differently during a chat on “The Pivot” podcast. James has not publicly responded to either of the comments.
