Not long after former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade expressed to TMZ Sports that he supports his former teammate LeBron James in his feud with ESPN star Stephen A. Smith, one prominent media member has seemingly come to the defense of Smith.
Smith recently appeared on Fox News and spoke with show host Sean Hannity, who told Smith that if he had been at Crypto.com Arena when James approached Smith, he would have had his back.
Sean Hannity claims he would’ve had Stephen A’s back during his confrontation with LeBron
“If I was there, I would’ve had your back. I’m just saying.”pic.twitter.com/VpHkXHe8n0
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) March 13, 2025
The notion that James doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being a beloved figure in conservative media could have swayed Hannity’s decision to side with Smith in the feud.
James confronted Smith a week ago at this juncture. The Lakers took on the New York Knicks at home on March 6, and Smith was in attendance for the contest. Los Angeles beat the Knicks by four points in overtime to pick up what was its eighth consecutive victory at the time.
Smith later said that James warned him to watch what he says about his son Bronny, who has had a rocky start to his NBA career. But later on, Smith appeared to conclude that the elder James was actually upset about comments Smith made regarding the NBA veteran as a father.
The younger James was selected by the Lakers with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. He has hardly seen the floor in his first season in the NBA. He has appeared in only 18 of the team’s 63 contests to this point.
Since the beginning of the month of February, the younger James has logged just four games played with the Lakers. But he did have the best scoring performance of his NBA career thus far in one of those contests, as he dropped nine points while shooting 3-of-4 from the field and 2-of-3 from 3-point range against the Utah Jazz on Feb. 12.
There are reasons for optimism when it comes to the 20-year-old, highlighted by the fact that he has looked impressive in the G League for a good chunk of the season.
Hopefully, the younger James will see the floor for the storied Lakers franchise once again in the near future. The next game on Los Angeles’ schedule is a bout against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night.
