Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James added fuel to the fire of the beef between him and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith with some comments he made about the sports media star recently. On the “Pat McAfee Show,” James said the 57-year-old is “on a Taylor Swift tour run right now” and that he missed the “whole point” of their heated exchange earlier in the month of March.
On Thursday, Smith, while responding to what James had to say about him, brought up Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s memorial service and Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame induction as he took major jabs at the NBA’s oldest active player.
Stephen A. Smith vs. LeBron James continues on this morning with more personal jabs:
“I never really discussed why you were not at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service. I never brought up or discussed you did not attend Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame induction.” pic.twitter.com/BM0GaJDaFg
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) March 27, 2025
It’s worth noting that the Los Angeles Times reported around the time of Bryant’s memorial service that James was indeed in attendance. In light of Smith’s comments, the Los Angeles Times added a statement “for the record” on Thursday to provide some clarity.
“This report states that LeBron James attended Kobe Bryant’s memorial,” the statement read. “Whether James attended is unclear; Getty Images did not photograph him at the event.”
Bryant died in 2020. He and James are seen by many as two of the top players to ever wear purple and gold, though they were never teammates in the NBA.
Meanwhile, James played alongside Wade on the Heat for four seasons, and Miami won two NBA titles and reached four consecutive NBA Finals in that span. Wade was inducted into the Hall of Fame after he played 16 seasons in the league and earned 13 All-Star nods as well as eight All-NBA selections.
The beef between Smith and James became a big story when the former was in attendance for the Lakers’ overtime victory over the New York Knicks back on March 6. James approached Smith during that contest and seemingly had some choice words for him.
James and the Lakers are trying to leapfrog as many teams in the Western Conference standings as possible with the 2024-25 regular season nearing an end, and they picked up a win in their most recent game, which came against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.
James didn’t have a huge game from a scoring standpoint, but he contributed across the board with 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. He also converted a tip-in at the buzzer to secure a one-point victory for Los Angeles.
LEBRON GAME-WINNER pic.twitter.com/vxAbPXCrWl
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) March 27, 2025
The Lakers can win their second game in a row when they take on the Chicago Bulls on Thursday. The Bulls have been one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference of late, as they’ve won all but two of their last 10 contests.
