It looked for a while like the feud between LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith was finally starting to cool down, but perhaps we are now headed for a celebrity boxing match.
LeBron angrily confronted Smith while the ESPN analyst was seated courtside during the New York Knicks-Los Angeles Lakers game on March 6. James was unhappy with Smith over the way Smith has covered LeBron’s son, Bronny James. You can see the video here.
Smith has been more than happy to talk about the incident for obvious reasons. LeBron largely avoided the topic until he was asked about it during a Wednesday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” James joked that Smith was on “a Taylor Swift tour run” thanks to the publicity from the spat and added that Smith completely missed the point about why LeBron was upset in the first place.
Naturally, Smith then capitalized on the new opportunity to discuss the beef. He issued another response during his self-titled podcast on Wednesday that included the outrageous claim that he was ready to throw hands with LeBron.
“If that man would’ve put his hands on me. I would’ve immediately swung on him. Immediately,” Smith said.
The comments were too much for LeBron to ignore. He responded by sharing a video on Instagram that showed Smith sparring. Let’s just say Stephen A. did not look like the type of bruiser who is capable of defending himself against a 6-foot-9 opponent.
Like LeBron told McAfee, Smith is getting as much mileage out of the feud as possible. James is just helping him out at this point.
Smith is a master at generating ratings, which is why he recently got a new mammoth contract from ESPN. By addressing the altercation, LeBron has breathed new life into it. As the Lakers star said, no one is happier about that than Smith.
