Shannon Sharpe Explains Why He Can’t Defend LeBron From Stephen A. Smith and Russell Westbrook’s Criticism

LeBron James probably won’t play any NBA minutes for a few weeks, if not longer, due to sciatica. But he’s still managed to stay in the news, albeit for the wrong reasons. Well, it involves Stephen A. Smith. One that put even Shannon Sharpe, a lifelong Lakers fan and one of the most vocal supporters of James in the media, in a situation where he chose not to defend the 21-time All-Star.

The Laker forward has been at war with ESPN’s Smith for a while now. Their beef reached its peak earlier this year when LeBron confronted him court side after the ESPN broadcaster questioned his parenting for allowing his son Bronny to flounder on the NBA stage. The two had quite a bit of back and forth since then.

Those incidents were months ago. However, it looks like the feud hasn’t died down yet. Stephen A. addressed it again on Carmelo Anthony’s 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, accusing LeBron of trying to sabotage his career and having a fake public persona. Smith had some inadvertent help in the form of Russell Westbrook, who was briefly LeBron’s teammate on the Lakers for parts of two seasons.

An excerpt was released this week from the upcoming Yaron Weitzman book, A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers. It narrates how Westbrook viewed LeBron as fake and inauthentic. In it, Westbrook is quoted as saying, “I hate that fake s***,” after LeBron displayed his alleged two-faced behavior during a visit from actor Will Smith to the team facility.

In response, even Sharpe was a little lost for ideas. “All I know is how he is with me. I’ve never had a conversation with LeBron about anything else other than LeBron. That’s it,” said the NFL legend on the latest episode of Nightcap. 

“When people ask me how somebody is, like, ‘Man, what’s Magic [Johnson] like?’ What’s Magic like with me, or what would he be like with you? What’s LeBron like with me, or what would he be like with you? That’s all I can speak to,” added Sharpe, who refused to take the bait and talk about things that would create a stir.

Maybe LeBron is fake with some people, maybe he’s not. Sharpe can’t confirm or deny it based on his own experience with the man.

There is ample evidence by now that LeBron puts on a different face when the cameras are rolling. In Weitzman’s book, Westbrook is said to have mentioned how LeBron claims The Godfather is his favorite movie, but can’t quote a line. He also called him out for carrying a copy of Malcolm X’s autobiography but not being able to talk about its contents.

There are other iffy incidents involving LeBron. The internet has deservedly memed him to oblivion for claiming he predicted certain things, like Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game, for instance.

There are two sides to every story, though. And LeBron surely has valid reasons for not liking Stephen A. Given how Westbrook’s tenure with the Lakers was rocky at best, he probably has stories to tell on that, too.

Kudos to Sharpe for not adding fuel to the fire. But given Stephen A.’s eagerness to keep bringing LeBron up and the upcoming book release about LeBron’s time with the Lakers, this story is unlikely to be doused any time soon.