LeBron James lost his battle with Stephen A. Smith from the very start

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LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in American history, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, the face of Team USA at the Olympics, an imposing figure with a legitimate claim to GOAT status.

And in his ongoing battle with Stephen A. Smith, he’s getting whomped like he’s an elementary school kid fighting a high schooler.

The after-school slapfight metaphor is the right one; at a time when we have some incredibly compelling sports stories — the NCAA tournament, Opening Day, NBA playoff pushes, Alex Ovechkin’s Gretzky chase — the Stephen A.-LeBron kerfuffle is soaking up an inordinate share of the oxygen in the room.

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(Yes, we know this article is only contributing to that. We’re aware of the irony.)

You know who the participants are in this little drama — James, the perennial All-Star and face of the NBA for decades, and Smith, the current face of ESPN who’s “opinionated” in the way the ocean is “damp.” Their current feud began a few weeks ago, when James approached Smith before a game to take issue with the way Smith had been railing on James’ son.

In military terms, James is still fighting the last war, and confronting Smith publicly was a serious tactical error. James came of age before social media, when an athlete’s glare was enough to send most journalists scurrying to craft an apology. These days, riling up an athlete — even by attacking their kid — is a straight path to some of that precious viral #content.

“That was LeBron James coming up to me, unexpectedly I might add, to confront me about making sure that I mind what I say about his son,” Smith later said on First Take, larding his words with absurdly over-the-top gravitas. “Can’t repeat the words because they ain’t suited for FCC airwaves. That’s what he was doing.”

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(Put aside the fact that James shouldn’t have been wasting time defending his son in the first place. In this, Stephen A. is well within his rights as a commentator — Bronny is a literal NBA player, not some anonymous kid trying to avoid the spotlight. The possibility for criticism — even misguided or biased…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/lebron-james-lost-his-battle-with-stephen-a-smith-from-the-very-start-175229782.html

Author : Jay Busbee

Publish date : 2025-03-28 17:52:00

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