LeBron James probably won’t play any NBA minutes for weeks if not longer due to his ongoing sciatica, but he’s still managed to stay in the news, albeit for the wrong reasons. The Laker forward has had an ongoing beef with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith for a while now, one that reached a crescendo when LeBron confronted him court side after the ESPN broadcaster questioned his parenting for allowing his son Bronny to flounder on the NBA stage.
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The two went back and forth, with him accusing LeBron of not attending Kobe Bryant’s funeral and the 4x NBA champion trashing Stephen A. on an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. Those incidents were months ago, but it looks like the feud hasn’t died down yet after Stephen A. addressed it again on Carmelo Anthony’s 7PM in Brooklyn podcast.
The First Take host accused LeBron of trying to sabotage his career and having a fake public persona. He’s had some unlikely 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 that shows 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.
Shannon Sharpe is one of the more prominent Lakers fans out there, and as such has been one of the more vocal defenders of LeBron in the media. Even he couldn’t provide much of a defense on the 21-time All-Star’s behalf in light of what Stephen A. and Westbrook have said, though.
On last night’s episode of Nightcap, Sharpe said, “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. When people ask me how somebody is, like, ‘Man, what’s Magic 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.”
Sharpe is not taking the bait, and he’s not being sensational. 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 the 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.
The internet has deservedly memed LeBron to oblivion for claiming he predicted certain things, like Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game. 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 so rocky, he probably has stories to tell on that, too.
Kudos to Sharpe for not adding fuel to the fire, though 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 extinguished any time soon.
