LeBron James had a public confrontation with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith during a Los Angeles Lakers vs. New York Knicks game earlier this week.
The Los Angeles Lakers star was spotted confronting Stephen A. Smith, who was sitting courtside, during a Thursday night game in Southern California.
Video of the incident has gone viral. LeBron James, who typically avoids public confrontations, did not seem to hold back during his moment with Stephen A. Smith.
Damn LeBron stepped to Stephen A Smith👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/ZJIDcPU4dL
— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) March 7, 2025
But what was LeBron James saying to Stephen A. Smith? According to a lip reader, the conversation went as follows:
“I’ma tell you one time, bro. Keep my son out of this [expletive], bro,” LeBron could be seen saying, according to lip readers.
Stephen A. Smith has been critical in the past of Bronny James, who was taken by the Lakers in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft. Bronny James, a McDonald’s All-American, averaged less than 10 points per game during his lone season at USC. He’s played sparingly for the Lakers.
The ESPN personality has since confirmed that LeBron was speaking to him about his son.
“That was LeBron James coming up to me, unexpectedly I might add, to confront me about making sure that I mind what I say about his son,” Smith said on Friday’s “First Take” show. “Can’t repeat the words because they ain’t suited for FCC airwaves. That’s what he was doing.”
“That wasn’t a basketball player confronting me. That was a parent, that was a father,” Smith continued. “And I can’t sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in any way in that regard. By all accounts, he’s obviously a wonderful family man and wonderful father who cares very deeply about his son. And based on some of the comments he had heard — or shall I say I think he thought he heard — he clearly took exception to some of the things that he heard me say. And he confronted me about it.”
Smith has added that he has nothing but the best wishes for Bronny James.
“I have nothing but the best wishes for Bronny James,” Smith said. “I wish him nothing but the best. I hope he flourishes into an NBA star. … But in the same breath, in the time we were talking about him, he was percolating to such a degree that the Bronny James stories had gone viral. And so we had to talk about it (on “First Take”) and so when I said the things that I said, I wasn’t talking about Bronny James because my attitude is he’s a rookie, he’s gonna take some time to get himself together. He’ll be just fine, especially with J.J. Redick and the staff coaching him. I was talking about the position he was put in by his dad.”
Smith had previously said that he was “pleading with LeBron James as a father: stop this” and “we all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.”