Stephen A. Smith has been called out by another NBA superstar after addressing his courtside spat with LeBron James.
James turned out for the LA Lakers on Thursday night, scoring 31 points as his side beat the New York Knicks 113-109 at the Crypto.com Arena.
But the big talking point out of the game was a viral video which saw the four-time NBA champion in a heated exchange with ESPN 'First Take' analyst Smith.
The clip blew up on social media and had fans lip-reading what James had said to Smith during the animated discussion.
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On Friday, the outspoken Smith said he would be commenting on his argument with James on First Take, as well as his own personal YouTube show.
Taking to X, the 57-year-old wrote: "I didn’t want to have to address this. I wouldn’t have, either, had it not gone viral. Now I have no choice."
He also added that "some things just have to be said".
But Kevin Love, who played with James at the Cleveland Cavaliers, had an extremely sarcastic reply to Smith.
He commented: "You have no choice? lol. Because it went viral? lol. You didn’t want to have to? lol. You wouldn’t have? lol."
Stephen A. Smith weighed in on exchange with LeBron James
On First Take, Smith was asked about what happened with James and confirmed that the former Miami Heat star was not happy about what he perceived to be unfair criticism about his son and teammate Bronny.
"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 revealed.
"I can't repeat the words because they ain't suited for the airwaves. That's what he was doing.
"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.
"Based on some of the comments that he had heard, or shall I say I think he thought he heard, he clearly took exception and he confronted me about it."
Smith claimed he was not willing to engage in that environment and later, on the Stephen A. Smith show, revealed that a "fiery" James had told him: "Stop f-ing with my son, that’s my f-ing son, stop f-ing with my son."
He said the 40-year-old was “furious” before claiming he offered to “talk about it later” - an offer which James did not accept.
Smith said he simply finished by stating, "Alright dog, fine" before James walked away.
Topics: Stephen A Smith, NBA, Lebron James, LA Lakers
Josh Lawless