Stephen A. Smith Details the Moment Lakers' LeBron James Confronted Him After a Game

Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James have never been close. But in March 2025, things went from quiet tension to a full-on courtside confrontation, and over a year later, Smith is still telling his side of the story.

The clip surfaced via the @NBA_Courtside X account, originally from Smith's appearance on the "Out the Mud" podcast. He walked through the whole saga, from the night LeBron approached him at Crypto.com Arena during a Lakers-Knicks game, to what made him feel things went too far.

It started with Smith's criticism of Bronny James during his rookie season. Smith had said on First Take that Bronny belonged in the G League. LeBron had heard enough, and when the two crossed paths courtside, he made sure Smith knew it.

Smith did not hold back on any of it:

"LeBron and I have never rocked with one another. You understand? And. We never, never you know, and I'm fine with it. And so is he. We good. But the point is this. His wife is the First Lady of the NBA. Class personified. Beautiful human being. I've known his mother for years. I haven't seen in a long time. Always, always wonderful to me. Mav, Rich Paul, Randy good people, good brothers. I've never had any issues with any of them. So my point was is that if you had a problem, all you had to do was get Rich Paul or Maverick or somebody else."

What Really Happened Between Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James Courtside

LeBron's camp had apparently reached out to Smith before the in-person moment, telling him LeBron was upset and wanted to talk.

Smith continued:

"Stephen A. LeBron pretty upset. He pissed. He want to see you. And I said to them, what would I have done? They said, you'd have been on the first plane to LA. I would have came and saw him that night when he rolled up on me. I said, yo man, we can go to the back. He's like, 'Fu*k that.' I'm like, 'we can go to the back. We go to the back and talk about it after the game. I'll wait.' He was like, No. And I said, go ahead, man. All right, man. No problem. Because I'm not going to make a scene court side in the middle of the game."

Smith said he could live with the courtside moment. What pushed him over the edge was LeBron taking it to television.

"So then after that wasn't bad. That wasn't enough, this dude goes on ESPN McAfee, and he went on there just to insult me. Now you done messed up."

Still, Smith was clear that the personal friction was not going to change how he covers LeBron.

"So I don't like what he did and I'm gonna be real and authentic with that. I thought it was very, very unfair to me personally. But I'm not going to allow that to stain who he is and what he has meant to this game."

He closed with this:

"I'm a professional journalist. I have an obligation to be fair and to appreciate his greatness and what he's brought to the game and how many lives he has touched in such a positive way that far, far exceeds any little thing that has happened between him and I. I'm over it and I wish him nothing but the best and damn it."

Bronny is now a sophomore, logging some playoff minutes as the Lakers push through the postseason. They beat Houston in six games in the first round and are now down 0-2 to the top-seeded OKC Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals. Smith said his piece. For now, it sounds like he means it.

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