Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James opened up on his beef with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and shared that he believes the analyst “missed the whole point” of their exchange earlier this month.
“Stephen A Smith is on a Taylor Swift tour run right now 😂😂
He completely missed the whole point..
He got personal with it and it’s my job to not only protect my own household but also all the players” @KingJames #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/LKKFmvtFWM
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 26, 2025
“He’s like on a Taylor Swift tour run right now,” James said of Smith, who has spoken about the confrontation to multiple media outlets.
James continued.
“It started off with, ‘I didn’t wanna address it,’” James said, referencing what Smith said publicly following the confrontation. “‘I didn’t wanna address it. I wasn’t going to address it. But since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.’ Motherf—–, are you kidding me? If it’s one person that couldn’t wait until the video to drop so you could address it, it’s your a–.”
James then explained that Smith missed the message.
“He completely missed the whole point, the whole point,” James said. “Never in my – never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport, criticize players about what they do on the court. That is your job to criticize or to be in a position where, okay, if a guy’s not performing, that is all part of the game. That’s all part of the game.
“But when you take it and you get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household, but protect the players. And I think a lot of the media, including him – and I know he’s gonna be happy as hell. He’s gonna be smiling from ear to ear when hears me talking about him again.
“Oh my God, he’s gonna get home and grab some ice cream out of the f—— freezer and sit in his chair in his tighty whities on the couch. … Relax bro, relax.”
It’s pretty clear that the Lakers star isn’t a fan of Smith or how he has treated his son during the 2024-25 season. It’s also interesting to hear the perspective of James after Smith addressed the incident and explained what happened between the two.
This season, James has the Lakers in a prime spot to land a playoff bid in the Western Conference. Los Angeles is the No. 5 seed in the West heading into Wednesday night’s matchup with the Indiana Pacers.
James, who turned 40 during the 2024-25 campaign, has been dominant this season, averaging 24.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game. On top of that, James earned another All-Star nod for this play.
There’s no doubt that James is going to protect his son and his teammates when he feels that they aren’t being treated in the right way by members of the media.
Hopefully, he and the Lakers can prove any doubters wrong and make a deep playoff run in the 2025 postseason. The Lakers have not made the NBA Finals since James led them to a title in the 2019-20 season.
