Stephen A. Smith spoke on Thursday evening about his court confrontation with NBA -Superster LeBron James.
Cameras caught the ESPN personality and Los Angeles Lakers -star in a heated vocabulary with Smith Sat Courtside for the match against his beloved New York Knicks
James, the leading point scorer of the NBA, seemed animated when he came to the sidelines to speak with Smith after Los Angeles 113-109 had triumphed in Crypto.com Arena.
Smith addressed the courtside Clash during the episode of Friday of ESPN's 'First Take' when he revealed that James confronted him with comments that the analyst had made about his son, Bronny.
“That was LeBron James, who unexpectedly came to me, I could add to confront me to make sure I find it very much about his son,” Smith started playing after the clip of their interaction. “I can't repeat the words because they are not suitable for air waves.”
Smith also claimed that he was planning to prevent the fight to be publicly discussed, but after the clip had conquered the internet, he admitted that it was inescapable.
Cameras caught LeBron James with a heated exchange with ESPN star Stephen A. Smith
Smith addressed the fight in court during Friday's episode of his 'first take' show
“I have thought about this in the last few hours because I was not planning to talk about this at all,” he went on. 'The reason is because it was a one-on-one, I would not say it was a conversation, but it was a one-on-one confrontation. But then I wake up and everyone from ESPN and my agent and everyone told me that this thing had become viral, so in the end it was inevitable. That's why I have to discuss it now.
“That was not a basketball player who confronted me. That was a parent. That was a father. And I can't sit here and be angry or feel in any way through LeBron James in any way. In every way he is clearly a great family man and a great father who cares very, very deeply for his son. '
Smith seemed to take a cunning excavation with James when he suggested that the conversation should have taken place from the public eye.
The host claimed that James could have reached him earlier to discuss his issues, instead of allowing tensions to cook over in such an exhibiting way.
“LeBron James knows how to contact me if he wanted to,” Smith continued. “He never called. Because he had called and wanted to talk to me, I would have accepted that call. If he wanted to see me, I would have flown away and saw him and had a conversation man-to-man. But that's not what he chose to do.
'Instead, he chose to confront me while I was sitting at the court. He walked over to me and he said what he had to say. '
Initially, many NBA fans believed that the collision was a result of the words war that the couple allowed publicly by the media last week.
The Lakers-Star focused on members of the NBA media last week and claimed: “All people who treat our game and talk about our game on a daily basis of everyone.”
Smith addressed the fight in court during Friday's episode of his 'first take' show
Smith revealed that James' anger came from comments he made about his son, Bronny
Smith asked that – that tHis week A $ 100 million deal agreed with ESPN – to accuse James of talking 'BS'. He also claimed that NBA stars have become overly sensitive.
Smith, however, revealed that James actually acted as a protective parent. In recent weeks, Smith has criticized the son of James Bonny and wondered if the Rookie, who was drawn up at the Lakers of his father last year, deserves its place in the competition.
At that specific moment, in that setting, I would not confront, but if we had had that conversation, I would have said to LeBron James: “I would never speak negatively about your son. I was talking about you.”
'I have nothing but best wishes for Bronny James. I wish him nothing but the best. I hope he blooms in an NBA star. […] In every way he is a great child and I don't know anyone who roots against him and I am certainly not.
“He is a rookie, he is going to take some time to get himself together. He will be fine, especially with JJ Redick and the staff who coached him. I was talking about the position he was placed in. By his father. '
Smith claimed that James had put his son in the precarious position because of his own comments on the media in the construction of last year's design. He accused James of warning from other teams of drafting Bronny to let the Lakers dive into.
Bonny eventually became a Laker next to his father with Los Angeles who selected him with the overall Pick No. 55. James filled a lifelong dream in October when the couple became very first father-son Duo who fits next to each other in an NBA match during the Lakers' Season Opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
And Smith, after feeling the wrath of James, climbed to clarify his earlier comments about De Groentje.
James made no secret of his desire to play in the same team as his son prior to the design
“My point months ago was that because of who you are, one of the top two players in the history of basketball in my estimate, there is a huge amount of pressure that goes with it for his son,” Smith added.
'There will be a microscopic eye that is even more intensified on Bonny James because of his father and what his father had said. That's what I was talking about – the situation you put it in. I came from there. '
More to follow.
