Stephen A. Smith thought LeBron James who faced him was “weak.”
He also thought it was “some bulls.” “
Days after he spoke for the first time that James headed angry at the court during the third quarter of the Knicks Lakers game on Thursday, Smith had more to say about the match and its consequences in an episode of the “Gil's Arena” podcast. ESPN's personality said that the Lakers superstars got “right here on my face” leaving a waiting time and continued screaming to “stop talking s, about my son.”
“I said: 'I, let's talk later,'” Smith told the former NBA player Gilbert Arenas and his cohosts. “He is like, 'F— that, Nah. F— that. You have to stop my son. And I said: 'However, it's fine', and he left. “
James's eldest son Bronny is also his teammate. The Lakers wrote it last summer and the two became the first father-son duo to share a NBA court on the opening night. Since then, the youngest James has divided his time between the Lakers and the G League, averaging 1.4 points per game in the NBA.
Smith talked about the situation in the episode of January 29 of ESPN's “First Take”, the day after Bronny scored zero points in shooting of 0 by 5 while playing more than 15 minutes in a defeat against the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I'm supplicating LeBron James as a father: this,” Smith said at that time. “Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA for his father. “
In the game last week, said Smith, Bronny caught the attention for a waiting time for the first quarter.
“Bronny looked at me, and he had this sad look on his face,” said Smith. “I am imagining that pop saw that it hit him. And he couldn't hold him, and rolled on me. ”
After James's video went viral overnight, Smith said: “ESPN bosses” told him to address the matter. He did it in the episode of “First Take” Friday.
“That was not a basketball player who faced me. That was a father, ”said Smith. “That was a father. I can't sit here and be angry or feel belittled by LeBron James in any way in that sense. “
Smith also discussed the incident on his own podcast, “The Stephen A. Smith Show.” James has not commented publicly. During the weekend, however, James's video talking about that with Richard Jefferson, a former teammate and current ESPN analyst, made the rounds on social networks.
“Once he speaks, 'I beg you as a father', I can't,” James seemed to tell Jefferson before the Lakers match in Boston on Saturday.
That, Smith said in the Podcast of Arenas, convinced him that James's problem was not really talking critically about Bronny's work.
“What I was really talking about, which was confirmed with his conversation with Richard Jefferson, is that he was talking about him as a father,” said Smith.
If James accurately presented his complaints, Smith said, his own reaction would have been different.
“If I had told me that, then I wouldn't have been expelled,” said Smith. “I would have returned to him: 'Yes, he was. I was talking about you. You did this S … “”
Smith added: “But because he didn't do that, I said:” Well. “You let go.”
That day earlier, the new five -year contract and $ 100 million with ESPN was made public. That also affected his reaction, he said.
“Of course, I just accepted my contract. I am on the court. That day was when it was announced. Everything is over, everywhere everywhere, ”he said. “It is a televised game at the national level. The cameras are rolling. And I say: 'If I do something, this will be a scene'.
“Now, we can sit here in front, everything we want and act as if we don't work for someone. Damn, work for Walt Disney. And if I had gotten into some S— with [James] In court right there at that time, no matter how right it would have been, it would have been bad. And I thought, 'I'm not going to do this.' But once I saw his tape talking to Richard Jefferson [on] On Saturday night in Boston, it was when I got very angry because that was confirmation. ”
