ESPN star star Stephen A. Smith reportedly carries a lucrative contract extension with the network and tackles his recent interaction with four-time NBA champion LeBron James.
Smith was on hand for the Los Angeles Lakers' victory, which worked overtime for the New York Knicks on Thursday. However, the conflict between Smith and James masked the events of the game.
Smith said the exchange stemmed from concerns from the NBA superstar about the TV personality's comments about his eldest son, Bronnie Janes. Smith also described the incident as “unexpected.”
For sports coverage on foxnews.com, click here
Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James (image)
“That was LeBron James coming up to me. Unexpectedly, I might add to confront me about caring about what I'm saying about his son,” Smith said in “first take” in connection with the Lakers rookie.
LeBron James will be the first player to reach 50,000 career NBA points
“They're not suited to FCC radios so they can't repeat the words. That's what he was doing. And I had no intention of talking about this at all, so I've been working so hard on this over the past few hours,” Smith said. Virus moment.
The reason for this is that it was one-on-one. I'm not saying it was a conversation, but it was a one-on-one conflict. But I woke up and everyone sent me that this had gone viral from ESPN, my agent and everyone else, so it was inevitable in the end, so now I have to argue about it. ”
October 23, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA. Stephen A. Smith (Stephen Smith) is in Intuit Dome on the ESPN NBA Countdown Live set. (Kirby Lee-Imagn image)
Smith suggested that the interaction is between a father pair, more so than an exchange between a basketball player and a sports TV star.
The Los Angeles Lakers guard the warm-ups of Bronnie James (9) and forward LeBron James (23) before their match against the Phoenix Suns at Crypto.com Arena. (Jonathan Hui-imagn image)
“It wasn't the basketball player facing me, it was a parent and a father. I can't sit here and be mad or be neglected by LeBron James. He is clearly a great family man and father who cares very, very deeply about his son, and I think you've heard what he thinks he's probably heard of.
Click here to get the Fox News app
Smith also suggested that he would be open to further discussions with James in private conversations.
Follow Fox News Digital's x Sports Coverageand subscribe Fox News Sports Huddle Newsletter.
