American sports journalist Stephen A. Smith has finally revealed what LeBron James said to him when the pair were involved in a heated exchange on Thursday.
Smith, 57, and James, 40, were pictured discussing something when the LA Lakers beat the New York Knicks 113-109 on Thursday evening.
The journalist, who was courtside, was approached by the four-time NBA champion ahead of the fourth quarter.
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Fans debated the reasons for this, but Smith finally broke his silence about the incident on Friday.
"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 when speaking on First Take.
"I can't repeat the words because they ain't suited for the airwaves. That's what he was doing.
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"I thought long and hard about this over the last few hours because I had no intention of talking about this at all, and the reason why is because it was a one-on-one confrontation, but then I wake up, and everybody from ESPN and my agent were sending me that this thing had gone viral.
"And so ultimately, it was unavoidable, and that is why I have to discuss it now. That wasn't a basketball player confronting me; that was a parent, that was a father.
"I can't sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in any way in that regard. By all counts, he's obviously a wonderful family man and a beautiful father he cares deeply about his son.”
However, he did not reveal the exact words that were shared, with fans believing that LeBron told Smith, ‘Keep my son out of this s**t’.
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Smith finally addressed exactly what was said when speaking on The Stephen A. Smith Show later on Friday.
“He [LeBron James] was fiery,” said Smith.
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“He approached me during the game…he said, ‘Stop f-ing with my son, that’s my f-ing son, stop f-ing with my son.’
“I said, ‘What?’”
Smith then explained how LeBron repeated this and admitted that the NBA star was “furious” before adding how he offered to “talk about it later” although the Lakers man said, ‘F that, stop f-ing with my son, that’s my son, that’s my son’.
“I said, ‘Alright dog, fine,'” Smith added revealing that was all that LeBron said before he walked away.
Topics: Lebron James, Stephen A Smith, NBA, Basketball
Luke Davies