Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith is speaking against his beef with NBA star LeBron James and says that if the athlete had tried to take their recent confrontation to a physical level, he would have fought back.
“When he approached me sitting courtside at that game against the New York Knicks when he rolled up on me, I didn’t know he was gonna roll up on me,” Smith said.
“I had no idea, but when he said what he had to say I was in no position to give any kind of retort without making a scene. It was during the third quarter, it was fresh out of a timeout, it was him walking to the basketball court. It was on national television, the cameras were rolling and had I done something what do ya’ll want me to do? You want this to be a reincarnation of Chris Rock and Will Smith?”
Stephen A Smith says he would’ve swung on LeBron
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 26, 2025
“If that man would’ve put his hands on me. I would’ve immediately swung on him. Immediately.”
(h/t @gifdsports )
pic.twitter.com/PwMkLrRZYL
James confronted Smith after the sports analyst criticized his son and rising ball player, Bronny James, for using his influence to get his son into the NBA during a First Take segment back in January.
Smith added that even though he would have gotten his “a– kicked,” he would have went down swinging.