Stephen A. Smith may (or may not) be taking into account the president's run. However, he won't get support from NBA superstars after a tense confrontation with LeBron James on Thursday night.
Smith sat courtside for the Lakers' showdown with the Knicks in Los Angeles, but it was this exchange where a visibly angry James confronted Smith and then left that ended up getting more headlines than in the game.
“It's LeBron James approaching me – unexpectedly, I might add – to confront me about what I'm saying about his son,” Smith said. Take it first.
“I can't repeat the words because it's not suitable for FCC radio waves. That's what he was doing. And I've been thinking about this for the past few hours that I've been long and difficult.
Smith continued, and the reason was that it was one-on-one, I wouldn't say it was a conversation, but it was a one-on-one conflict. But I woke up and sent me all the others that this had gone viral, so it was inevitable in the end.
“It wasn't a basketball player facing me. It was a parent, it was a father. I can't sit here and be mad or be downplayed by LeBron James. In all the explanations, he is clearly a great family man and father who cares so deeply about his son, and I think he thought he heard based on some of the comments he heard – a clear exception to some of the things he heard, and he confronted me about it.”
James seemed to have finished the conversation, but Smith closed by saying he was open to discussing more issues with the NBA superstar.
