Stephen A. Smith issues fiery response to LeBron James ‘Pat McAfee Show’ comments

One day after NBA superstar LeBron James went on Wednesday’s The Pat McAfee Show and discussed his ongoing feud with Stephen A. Smith among other topics, the ESPN firebrand responded to kick off his own show.

Stephen A. Smith opened Thursday’s First Take with a nearly 20-minute diatribe in response to James’ extensive hour-long interview with fellow ESPN personality Pat McAfee, calling James “butthurt” while suggesting the entire feud stems from Smith’s refusal to call him the NBA’s “greatest of all-time.”

Stephen A. Smith says LeBron is “butthurt” over him not calling him the GOAT.

(Via: @FirstTake)

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“In the aftermath of that interview, what does (James) do? He puts out some (video) about me boxing from a decade ago. … Fine, no problem. It’s a very embarrassing video, I’ll be the first to say. … (But) that’s how petty you’ve become? You’re LeBron James and you’re that butthurt about the things that I’m saying that you’d post that video? … This man is in his feelings. I wonder why?” Smith said. “Could it be that I don’t believe you’re the GOAT, that I’ll never believe you’re the GOAT? Because I have you No. 2 at all times. Do I have to have ESPN and First Take put up the ticker tape right now and say, ‘Yo, could you put that up there please? (LeBron James is a) great father, great husband, great philanthropist, great businessman, great director, great producer, great host, great basketall player, great leader.’

“I mean, my God, I have done everything but put diapers and a bib on this brother. But it ain’t enough. Because one thing matters to him, and one thing only, and that’s him being recognized as the greatest of all-time. Well you’re not, in my book. That belongs to Michael Jordan.”

Smith then rattled off a lengthy list of all the reasons why he considers Jordan the “GOAT” over James.

“These are basketball things that I’m mentioning. Who got personal? LeBron. He’s lying when he says I attacked his son. When he came up to me courtside at the Lakers-Knicks game, he was lying then,” Smith added, referring to a postgame confrontation on March 6. “He threw me off guard because he said you can’t be pooping on my son, because we’re over FCC airwaves. I didn’t know what he was talking about, so it threw me off.”

Earlier in Thursday’s monologue, Smith doubled-down that his original complaint about James centered around how he allegedly “circumvented meritocracy” in the NBA to guarantee his son, Bronny James, was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft in order for the father-son duo to play at least one season together.

“I have never, ever gone after somebody’s family, and I’d never do that,” Smith said. “And (LeBron James is) creating this narrative because he can’t accept the fact that I won’t kiss the ring and acknowledge him as the greatest ever. Why? Because he is not.”

LeBron James fires back at Stephen A. Smith over handling of viral Bronny James confrontation

Earlier this month, Lakers forward LeBron James confronted ESPN‘s Stephen A. Smith during a game against the New York Knicks inside Crypto.com Arena. Smith later revealed James was outraged over his criticism of his son Bronny James, saying, “He feels like I was slighting his son.”

During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, James addressed the confrontation and explained why he took issue with Smith’s “personal” comments about his son.

“He’s on like a Taylor Swift tour run right now,” James said. “It started off with, ‘I didn’t wanna address it, I wasn’t gonna address it, but since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.’ Are you kidding me? If there’s one person who couldn’t wait till the video had dropped so you could address it, it’s your ass. He completely missed the whole point. The whole point. Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport and criticize players about what they do on the court. That is your job to criticize or being in a position to where if a guy’s not performing. That is all part of the game.

“But when you take it and you get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household but protect the players. I think a lot of the media — including him and I know he’s gonna be happy as hell, smiling ear to ear when he hears me talking about him, he’s gonna get home and grab some ice cream out of the f***ing freezer and sit in his chair in his tighty whities on the couch. Like, relax, bro. Relax. Seriously.”

— On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this report.