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LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith.Credit : LegendOFWinning/X

LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith were spotted having a fraught confrontation after James’ Lakers beat the New York Knicks on Thursday, March 6
Fans speculated that James was mad at Smith for his comments about James’ son Bronny James, and Smith confirmed that on Friday morning
Smith has frequently questioned Bronny’s place in the NBA since the 20-year-old’s debut in October

Stephen A. Smith is offering clarity as to what LeBron James said to him during a heated courtside discussion caught on camera Thursday night.

The 57-year-old ESPN personality was sitting courtside for the Los Angeles Lakers’ dramatic come-from-behind overtime win against the New York Knicks, which culminated with James, 40, getting face-to-face with Smith before leaving the court after the game concluded.

LeBron James; Stephen A. Smith.Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty; Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty

Video of the incident appeared to show James angrily yelling at Smith, drawing overnight speculation and tabloid reporting about what was said between the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and the outspoken ESPN personality, who has been critical of James’ oldest son Bronny James this season.

Bronny, a rookie, was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers and briefly teamed up with his father earlier this season before being sent down to the franchise’s G-League development team. The New York Post reported that LeBron has previously reached out to Smith and told the ESPN host to stop criticizing his son, leading to Thursday’s incident.

On ESPN’s First Take program Friday morning, Smith confirmed that’s what LeBron was yelling at him about, though he said he’s “not blaming” LeBron “one bit” for defending his son.

“I really understood where he was coming from,” Smith said. “He was very, very upset. I could tell. But he could’ve called me. I’d have came to see him. I’d have had a conversation with him. He could’ve been just as upset face-to-face, man-to-man as opposed to being courtside at the game. I had no idea that everybody saw it until I woke up this morning, but it is what it is in the end. Like I said, as a father, I get it. I’m not offended. I’m not insulted. I don’t have any animosity or animus towards LeBron James for this, nothing like that.”

Smith continued, clarifying : “If I was in his position, I can’t definitively say I would not have done the same thing. I’m not blaming him one bit, I understand it. And there’s a part of me that aches and hurts because of it. But unlike a whole bunch of people with their podcast and beyond that talk about the NBA, I cover the NBA. And it’s my job to talk about the subjects and the subject matters that matter.”