Stephen A. Smith spoke during his confrontation by the court with the superstar of the NBA LeBron James Thursday evening.
Cameras have caught the ESPN personality and the Los Angeles Star Lakers in an exchange of stormy words with short shorts for the match against his beloved New York Knicks
James, the top scorer of all time in the NBA, appeared animated while he was approaching the touch to speak to Smith after Los Angeles triumphed 113-109 in Crypto.com Arena.
Smith addressed to the shock of the court during the episode of Friday of “First Take” of ESPN when he revealed that James confronted him with the remarks that the analyst had made on his son, Bonny.
“It was LeBron James who came to me, unexpectedly, I could add, for confronting me to make sure that it bothers me what I say about his son,” Smith started after the clip of their interaction played. “I cannot repeat the words because they are not suitable for the airwaves.”
Smith continued saying that he intended to avoid discussing the altercation, but after the clip took the internet storm, he admitted that it was essential.
The cameras caught LeBron James having a heated exchange with the ESPN star Stephen A. Smith
Smith addressed the altercation of the court of the court during the Friday episode of his program `First Take ”
“I thought about it for a long time and hard in the past hours because I had no intention of talking about it at all,” he continued. “The reason is that it was head-to-head, I would not say it was a conversation, but it was a face-to-face confrontation. But then I wake up and everyone from ESPN and my agent and everyone told me that this thing had become viral, so in the end, it was inevitable. This is why I must discuss it now.
“It was not a basketball player who confronted me. He was a parent. He was a father. And I cannot sit here and be angry or feel despised by LeBron James in any way whatsoever. According to all the testimonies, he is obviously a wonderful father of the family and a wonderful father who cares very, very deeply of his son.
Smith seemed to take a sneaky excavation in James when he suggested that the conversation should have occurred in the public’s eyes.
The host said James could have contacted him earlier to discuss his problems, instead of allowing tensions to boil in such an exposed way.
“LeBron James knows how to get in touch with me if he wanted it,” said Smith. “He never called. Because if he had called and wanted to speak to me, I would have accepted this call. If he wanted to see me, I would have stolen and had seen it and would have had a man’s conversation to a man. But that’s not what he chose to do.
“Instead, he chose to have faced me while I was sitting in the courtyard. He approached me and he said what he had to say.
More to follow.