Clashes between LeBron James and the media—or former players—have become increasingly common. One of the most heated confrontations was with Stephen A. Smith from ESPN. What started as a professional disagreement has turned into a personal feud, and the TV host doesn’t hesitate to criticize the King of the NBA whenever he gets the chance.
A fan recorded the face-to-face argument between James and Smith, and the video went viral almost immediately. Since then, Smith has repeatedly tried to damage LeBron’s public image, and this time, he went as far as calling him racist.
A battle to control the public image
According to Firstsportz, Stephen A. Smith’s attempts to discredit LeBron James have apparently failed. The tension began after James appeared on an ESPN show and mocked Smith’s actions, prompting the analyst to respond with a mix of rants and half-hearted apologies.
Stephen A. Smith tells Ryan Clark that LeBron James would never confront white broadcasters the way he did with him and that LeBron still hasn’t apologized to him. Via the pivot pic.twitter.com/eX9yuvuV8V
— joebuddenclips/fanpage (@chatnigga101) October 17, 2025
James, for his part, has remained mostly silent, but his silence doesn’t mean agreement. That silence seems to have pushed Smith to continue speaking disparagingly about the four-time NBA champion. Recently, during an appearance on The Pivot podcast with Ryan Clark, Smith accused LeBron of racism.
During the show, Smith said, “Have you ever seen LeBron go after a white guy? Let’s call it what it is. Have you ever seen that? You’ll say you saw him come after me… I’m calling it what it is.”
Smith insisted that LeBron attacked him intentionally because, in his words, “it was easier since I’m Black.” He even claimed that James called Brian Windhorst, his longtime colleague, during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show to take a jab at him indirectly.
For now, it seems that the tension between Smith and James is here to stay. With both men standing firm, any kind of reconciliation looks unlikely. The question remains: Will LeBron respond to these accusations?
