Stephen A. Smith has sensationally claimed he would have punched LeBron James had the NBA star touched him during their recent courtside bust-up.
Cameras caught the ESPN personality and NBA star in a heated exchange of words during the Los Angeles Lakers’ matchup against Smith’s beloved New York Knicks on March 6.
‘Had that man put his hands on me, I would have immediately swung on him. Immediately. That, I’m not going to tolerate,’ Smith said on his YouTube show on Wednesday.
The ESPN star admitted he ‘would have gotten (his) a** kicked’ by the 6ft 9ins, 250lb player if he sparked ‘a reincarnation of Chris Rock and Will Smith’, when the film star slapped Rock on stage at the Oscars in 2022.
‘When he approached me while I was sitting courtside at that game against the New York Knicks, when he rolled up on me – I didn’t know he was going to roll up on me, I had no idea,’ Smith said.
‘But when he said what he had to say, I was in no position to give any kind of retort without making a scene… it was on national television, the cameras were rolling. You want this to be a reincarnation of Chris Rock and Will Smith?
Stephen A. Smith has sensationally claimed he would have punched LeBron James on court
Cameras caught the NBA star having a heated exchange with Smith at a March 6 Lakers game
LeBron took a savage swipe at ESPN star Smith over their courtside confrontation
‘Let me assure you, it wouldn’t have gone down like that. I would have gotten my a** kicked. Because had that man put his hands on me, I would have immediately swung on him. Immediately. That I’m not going to tolerate.
‘But I knew he wasn’t going to do something like that – there was no fear in my mind about it. It was shock.’
The ESPN star continued his war of words with James, adding: ‘ LeBron James is full of it. And in this particular instance – as it pertains to his son – he is a liar… he went on national television today and he lied again.’
His comments come after James finally broke his silence on the courtside clash in a brutal takedown on the Pat McAfee Show.
‘He [Smith] is on a Taylor Swift tour run right now,’ James, the NBA’s all-time leading point scorer, said in reference to Smith publicly discussing their confrontation.
‘It started off with, “I wasn’t going to address it. I didn’t want to address it but since the video came out I feel the need to address it.”‘ James continued, referencing Smith’s initial comments on the incident on First Take the day after the confrontation.
‘Are you kidding me? If there was one person that couldn’t wait for the video to drop, it was your a**. Seriously?’
When Smith first addressed the clash on the ESPN show, he revealed that James confronted him about remarks the analyst had made about his son, Bronny.
The analyst maintained that the four-time NBA champion had misconstrued his previous criticism on Bronny’s performance in the league but James dismissed those comments.
‘He completely missed the whole point,’ he added. ‘Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport, criticize players about what they do on the court. That is your job to criticize or to be in a position where if a guy isn’t performing. That’s all part of the game.
‘When you take it and get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my household but to protect the players.’
