LeBron throws Instagram jab at Stephen A Smith after talk show host said he would have “swung on him”

It’s not everyday that the biggest sports star in the world and the biggest sports talk show personality get into a back and forth feud, so sit back and get your pop corn and enjoy.

Faceoff in the Garden

The war of words between Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James has been going on for a few weeks now. Smith hasn’t shied away from criticizing LeBron not for his play, instead for the play of his son Bronny James. LeBron took notice and took exception.

The situation reached a boiling point earlier this month when LeBron got in the face of the “First Take” personality during the LA Lakers game against the New York Knicks at MSG. The league’s all-time leading scorer went up to Smith, telling him to stop talking about his son and stop disrespecting Bronny.

Smith would respond on his own personal talk show, saying that it was “bulls**t” the way LeBron came up to him and caught him off guard. It seemed like that was the end of that, and the saga would end there. But there was more.

Smith was ready to “swing”

LeBron went on the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday before the Lakers played the Indiana Pacers, and laughed off Smith and the confrontation saying “He’s on a Taylor Swift tour run right now,” James teased. “It started off with, ‘I didn’t want to address it; I wasn’t going to address it, but since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.’ Motherf***er, are you kidding me? If it’s one person that couldn’t wait until the video had dropped so you could address it, it’s your a**.”

As you could imagine, Smith couldn’t wait to get back on the microphone and sound off on the James interview with his ESPN colleague. Smith has maintained his stance that he was caught off guard, and was unable to “retort without making a scene.” Then he dropped the bomb that has since gone viral, saying, “And let me state for the record while we bring up that, let me assure you it wouldn’t have gone down like that. I would have gotten my ass kicked because if that man put his hands on me I would’ve immediately swung on him. Immediately. That I’m not going to tolerate.”

Smith may continue to talk about the matter since its racking in the ratings, but LeBron currently has the laugh last. Not only did he have the game winning tip-in against the Pacers on Wednesday, he posted a video of Stephen A. Smith doing some boxing training with the caption “WHOMP WHOMP WHOMPPPPPPP” next to a bunch of laughing emojis.

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