The NBA season tips off tonight with a doubleheader between Western Conference contenders. First Kevin Durant and the Rockets will visit the defending champion Thunder, then Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and the Warriors travel to L.A. to take on Skinny Luka and the Lakers. LeBron James unfortunately won’t be in uniform, as he’s set to miss some time with sciatica.
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Even when he’s not playing, LeBron is usually in the news. This time, it’s because Stephen A. Smith is once again seeking him out. Stephen A. appeared on Carmelo Anthony’s 7PM in Brooklyn podcast this week, and as he likes to do, focused on his acrimonious relationship with the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
Stephen A. has made things personal with players before (Kevin Durant comes to mind), and he’s still not letting go of the time LeBron confronted him last year over comments he had made about Bronny Jr.
The fact remains though that LeBron had every right to be upset about Stephen A. going on First Take and saying directly to the camera, “I am pleading with LeBron James as a father, stop this,” in reference to his son Bronny getting minutes for the Lakers.
One would think Bronny was committing crimes on the regular or something with the faux gravitas that Stephen A. piled on. At the very worst, Stephen A. just felt that Bronny wasn’t ready for the NBA yet. Of course, he phrased it in a manner consistent with painting LeBron as a bad father for helping his son playing in the NBA.
LeBron approached him just over a month later at the Lakers-Knicks game about it. Now that some time has passed since then, the ESPN broadcaster has proffered a new conspiracy theory about that confrontation to Melo on the podcast.
“The day that he rolled up on me courtside,” he said. “It was the day that my contract was announced, that I had stayed with ESPN. Go back and look at the camera angles. I arrived there in the first quarter. He rolled up on me in the third quarter.”
“This is 2025,” he continued. “We got technology everywhere. TNT is a nationally televised game. How is it we got one angle and the only angle you see was of him and his face, but you see the back of my peanut head? How is that the only angle you saw? How?” he asked.
He accused LeBron of coordinating the confrontation to make to look good and make Stephen A. look bad, which is a bit on the nose, as far as conspiracy theories go.
Maybe LeBron does have a private persona that is far removed from his public image. It won’t be a far cry from what every other celebrity does. Besides, Stephen A. has had a history of poking the bear. He had brought up Kobe’s Bryant’s funeral as some kind of “gotcha” moment, saying that LeBron wasn’t in attendance.
He also recently got put in his place by Alexis Ohanian last week for his out-of-pocket comments about Serena Williams’ Super Bowl halftime show appearance.
So, while LeBron confronting him was a bad look for the NBA star, Stephen A. seems to have enjoyed the headlines it made him a part of. Not a bad consequence for being at the receiving end of a “coordinated” confrontation by LeBron at all!
