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Stephen A. Smith still thinks about LeBron James’ on-court confrontation, and he explained to a former NBA star why he felt like he was “set up” by the league’s all-time leading scorer at the time.
Smith and James went viral earlier this year during a Los Angeles Lakers game, where the latter confronted the former in his courtside seat to seemingly respond to Smith’s criticism of how the Lakers treated Bronny James, the superstar’s son.
Smith revealed in March that the incident stemmed from his televised criticism of Bronny.
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Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James still have beef ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season. (IMAGINE)
“It wasn’t a basketball player facing me. It was a parent. It was a father,” Smith told ESPN at the time. “I can’t sit here and be angry or feel offended by LeBron James in this regard. Obviously, he’s obviously a wonderful family man and a father who cares very, very deeply about his son.
During a recent episode of “7PM In Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony,” Smith revisited the moment with the New York Knicks legend, saying the circumstances of the conversation with James as well as the way she appeared on camera still don’t sit well with him.
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“The day he was on the field was the day my contract was announced and I stayed with ESPN,” Smith explained on the podcast. “Go back and look at the camera angle… It’s 2025, we have technology everywhere. TNT is a national game show. How come we have one angle, and the only angle you see was him and his face, but you see the back of my peanut head?”
Smith believes that, given James’ star status, there would have been many more camera angles during the on-field meeting.
“There’s no way you’re in an arena, you’re LeBron James, and the only angle anyone sees is a straight shot of you facing me,” Smith added. “They don’t see any reaction. They don’t see anything. And it’s an accident?”
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith said Thursday that he doesn’t think there is a Democratic candidate capable of beating the Vance/Rubio presidential ticket in 2028. (By Griffin/Getty)
Smith delved into conspiracy territory here, but he held his ground in expressing his feelings about this potentially being an orchestrated confrontation.
“I sure do,” Smith quickly responded when asked whether or not he felt settled. “That’s how I feel. But it’s no big deal, no problem because I go on air the next day and I’m like, ‘That’s a father reacting to his son.'”
And in case you’re wondering, no, Smith and James have not reconciled. In fact, Smith made it clear how he felt about James.
Stephen A. Smith speaks on stage during the ForbesBLK 2025 Summit at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center Morehouse College on October 9, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (By Griffin/Getty Images)
“I don’t like his…, not at all,” he said. “This was over a decade ago. I’m not going to go into detail about what this man tried to do to me. You don’t understand how far this man would go… If it were up to him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. These are very low things.”
The beef is real between these two, and there doesn’t appear to be any patching up ahead of the 2025-26 season this week.
