Stephen A. Smith has no plans to squash his ongoing beef with NBA star LeBron James and is fine with never exchanging another word with the professional athlete again.
“There’s no situation and there’s no relationship,” Smith said on Gilbert Arenas’ “Gil’s Arena” podcast. “He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him.”
Smith’s feud with James became international news after the athlete confronted him on March 6th, 2025, during a Lakers game against the New York Knicks over criticisms of his son, Bronny James.
“There’s a lot of s-–t that I don’t say. And there’s a reason that I feel the way that I do. And the last straw was him approaching me and turning the Bronny thing into something about me attacking somebody’s family, when it was him I was talking about. Not Bronny, and then to go on ‘The Pat McAfee Show,’ which comes directly on after my show. On the channel that I work on. To insult me. Now, people can get into all kind of components that go into it and all that other stuff. I have nothing to say,” Smith continued.
“I’m never going to denigrate any employer, any partner, or myself by getting into anything excessively, unnecessarily, when it comes to him or anybody else,” Smith added. “I’m going to do my job. I’m going to cover the game of basketball but if I never, ever speak to him again in life, that will be OK. And I’m good with it.”
