Stephen A. Smith suggests ‘sad look’ on Bronny’s face sparked LeBron James spat

The Los Angeles Lakers’ thrilling 113-109 overtime victory against the New York Knicks last Thursday was overshadowed by LeBron James‘ confrontation with Stephen A. Smith regarding the ESPN analyst’s comments about his son, Bronny.

The heated exchange took place during a timeout in the third quarter with James coming over to Smith, who watched the game from the courtside row, and telling him to tone his criticism of Bronny down. Discussing the incident on ‘Gil’s Arena,’ hosted by ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas, Stephen A. suggested that an earlier interaction with Bronny may have sparked LeBron’s reaction.

“I remember, during a timeout in the first quarter, seeing Bronny,” he said. “Bronny looked over at me, and he had this sad look on his face. And I’m imagining pop [LeBron] saw that s— and it hit him. And he couldn’t hold it, and he rolled up on me.”

Smith also repeated LeBron’s words from the confrontation: “He said, ‘You gotta stop talking s— about my son. That’s my son.’ And I was like, ‘What?’

“He said, ‘Nah, f— that. You gotta stop f—— with my son.’ I said, ‘Yo, let’s talk later.’ But he just kept going, and then he walked off.” When asked to reflect on the incident, the ESPN star bluntly described it as “weak… I thought it was some bulls—.”

Smith hasn’t been holding back on his opinions about Bronny all season, particularly as the 20-year-old has had a tough time with the Lakers in the NBA despite showing glimpses of potential in the G-League. “I’m really, really trying to be as respectful as I possibly can be toward LeBron James, one of the top two or three players in the history of basketball,” Stephen A. said back in January after a rough cameo in LA’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I am pleading with LeBron James, as a father. Stop this. Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad. The first game of the season … father-son duo playing in an NBA game for the first time, an absolutely, positively wonderful story.”

Smith stood by his remarks when talking to Arenas. “The only reason I said ‘as a dad’ is because you marketed yourself as his dad to help him get into the league,” he insisted. The sportscaster also brought up James’ very public conversation with fellow ESPN analyst (and ex-Cleveland Cavaliers teammate) Richard Jefferson over the weekend, coming a few days after his viral face-to-face with the Lakers star.

Though no audio was released, lip-readers at X claimed LeBron seemed to say, “Once he talks about, ‘I’m pleading to you as a father.’ I can’t.” Smith didn’t take kindly to that exchange.

“Once I saw the tape of him talking to Richard Jefferson Saturday night in Boston, that was when I got really pissed because that was confirmation,” he confessed.

• Source: NEWHD MEDIA