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Stephen A. Smith still thinks about the LeBron James courtside confrontation, and he told one former NBA star why he felt he was “set up” by the league’s all-time scoring leader in that moment.
Smith and James went viral earlier this year during a Los Angeles Lakers game, where the latter confronted the former in his courtside seat to seemingly address Smith’s criticism of how the Lakers were handling Bronny James, the superstar’s son.
Smith revealed in March that the incident stemmed from his televised critiques of Bronny.
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Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James still have some beef heading into the 2025-26 NBA season. (IMAGN)
“That wasn’t a basketball player confronting me. That was a parent. That was a father,” Smith said on ESPN at the time. “I can’t sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in that regard. By all accounts, he’s obviously a wonderful family man and father who cares very, very deeply about his son.
During a recent episode of “7PM In Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony,” Smith revisited the moment with the New York Knicks legend, saying that the circumstances of the conversation with James as well as how it appeared on camera still doesn’t sit right with him.
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“The day that he rolled up on me courtside, it was the day my contract was announced that I had stayed with ESPN,” Smith explained on the podcast. “Go back and look at the camera angle…This is 2025, we got technology everywhere. TNT is a nationally televised game. How is it we got one angle, and the only angle you see was of him and his face, but you see the back of my peanut head?”
Smith believes that, considering James’ star status, there would’ve been many more camera angles of the courtside meeting.
“There’s no way that you’re in an arena, you’re LeBron James, and the only angle that somebody sees is a straight up shot of you getting in my face,” Smith added. “They see no reaction. They see nothing. And that’s an accident?”
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith said Thursday he doesn’t think there’s a Democratic candidate that could beat a Vance/Rubio presidential ticket in 2028. (Paras Griffin / Getty)
Smith delved into the conspiracy realm here, but he stood his ground as he expressed his feelings about it potentially being an orchestrated confrontation.
“Damn right I did,” Smith quickly responded to a question of whether he felt set up or not. “That’s how I feel. But no big deal, no problem because I go on the air the next day and I’m like, ‘That’s a dad reacting to his son.’”
And in case you’re wondering, no, Smith and James have not made up. In fact, Smith said it plainly how he feels about James.
Stephen A. Smith speaks onstage during the 2025 ForbesBLK Summit at Ray Charles Performing Arts Center Morehouse College on Oct. 9, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
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“I don’t like his a–, not a little bit,” he said. “This dates back more than a decade. I’m not gonna go into detail at the stuff this man has tried to do to me. You do not understand the lengths this man would go to… If it were up to him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. It’s some low, low stuff.”
The beef is real between these two, and it doesn’t seem like there will be any patching it up heading into the 2025-26 season this week.
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