What happened between Stephen A Smith and LeBron James? ESPN host says he is "good" with never speaking to the athlete again

ESPN host Stephen A Smith recently spoke up about his bond with LeBron James. According to The Neighborhood Talk, the two had previously engaged in a heated interaction during a Lakers game in March 2025. Smith was a recent guest on the Gil’s Arena podcast, where host Josiah Johnson asked him about the situation. Smith responded with:

“There’s no situation and there’s no relationship. He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him.”

He also said there was nobody who could mediate the situation between them. However, Stephen A Smith said he doesn’t talk about the situation unless he is asked to. At one point during the conversation, Smith said:

“But if I never ever speak to him again in life, that will be okay. And I'm good with it. And I want to say I'm not encouraging anybody else to feel that way about him, his peeps, you know, other people that have relationship with him, players, executives, coaches, all that stuff.”

The feud between the two erupted after Smith allegedly made certain comments about LeBron James’s son, Bronny. According to Sportsnaut, the TV host claimed that Bronny would never become a real player and was only in the game because of nepotism. This was followed by a confrontation at the March 2025 game.

According to the BBC, James said that although he was open to criticism, what he couldn’t tolerate was personal attacks. During a conversation with ESPN, James said:

“But when you take it and get personal with it, it's my job to not only protect my damn household but protect the players.”

Stephen A Smith later clarified during a show that the issue with LeBron James was not about Bronny but about LeBron.

Stephen A Smith also highlighted LeBron James’s achievement in the Gil’s Arena podcast

Stephen A Smith told Josiah Johnson that whatever happened was between him and LeBron James. Hence, he said he wouldn’t influence anybody else about him. He also said:

“But I'm man enough where if he ever wanted to speak to me, I would. But it wouldn't be the most pleasant conversation, at least initially. And that's just where I stand with it.”

Stephen A Smith explained that he only spoke about LeBron James because he was asked, and since talking about sports was his job, he couldn’t say “no comment.” He said he didn’t want to keep talking about LeBron, but he admitted that star was the second greatest basketball player in history, a four-time champion, and a four-time MVP.

He added that LeBron James earned respect through his achievements and had been a great representative of the game, but he was speaking only about LeBron as a player, not as a person. Smith added:

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“And all I would say is people don't know the things that have happened behind the scenes, things that have been said, who they've been said to, the kind of things that have been engaged in in an effort to hurt me along with contemporaries and others. There's a lot of sh*t that I know that I don't say, and there's a reason that I feel the way that I do.”

Stephen A Smith clarified that he was being serious. He said a lot had already happened, and after those two moments, he felt that was the final breaking point for him.

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