ESPN Has a Lot to Lose in LeBron–Stephen A. Smith War of Words

Kicking their public feud up to another level, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith targeted LeBron James with a 15-minute rant on Thursday’s First Take. 

While barely pausing for breath, Smith painted the Lakers superstar as a childish, petty, passive-aggressive phony and liar. He denied insulting Bronny James (the supposed reason for James physically confronting Smith at a Lakers game). Smith also asked why James was so “butthurt” despite the many times he praised him as a great player, father, family man, businessman, and philanthropist. 

“My God, I have done everything but put diapers and a bib on this brother. But it ain’t enough,” said Smith. “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.”

Then Smith went further, accusing James of disrespecting the late, great Kobe Bryant and former Heat running mate Dwyane Wade. 

“I suggest that he be happy with the things that I haven’t brought up. I never brought up, really, and never really discussed, why you were not at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service. I never really brought up or discussed why you did not attend Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame induction when that man was directly responsible for you capturing a championship for the first time in your career.” 

However, Smith was wrong about the presence of James at Bryant’s funeral. He posted this on X/Twitter Thursday afternoon: “My apologies and clarification. I misspoke in Hour#1 of @FirstTake today when I intimated that LeBron did not attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial. I corrected myself in Hour#2 when I acknowledged he was indeed in attendance. My mistake. Should not have even broached that subject. It was not my main point. I retract NOTHING else that I said. Have a nice day!”

Smith’s rant came the morning after he responded to James’s controversial interview with Pat McAfee. On his YouTube Show and podcast, Smith said he would have punched James if he were attacked during their courtside confrontation. James countered by posting a decade-old video of Smith awkwardly boxing to his 159 million followers on Instagram. “WHOMP WHOMP WHOMPPPPPPPP,” cracked James along with a laughing emoji.

James got his jabs in during McAfee’s show. And the Instagram video was a nice burn. But James could rue the day he challenged Smith to a war of words. 

As Smith noted, this is his lane. He can spend hours every week hammering James on ESPN’s First Take and NBA Countdown. Not to mention his own YouTube show, where he just won the right, contractually, to say whatever he wants about whoever and whatever he wants.  Smith, in the role of prosecuting attorney, could make Skip Bayless look like a LeBron apologist. In effect, Smith rope-a-doped James into playing “Embrace Debate” against the master. That’s a fight even King James can’t win. 

One media executive at a rival network was surprised James would engage in a war of words with Smith. “LeBron’s playing right into Stephen A’s hands,” he said.

Yes, this was a publicity win for ESPN—in the short term. On MLB’s Opening Day, the top trending topic on X/Twitter was Stephen A. vs. LeBron; not Aaron Judge or Juan Soto. That’s a win. But I think this feud could damage ESPN long-term. 

Does ESPN want the face of its network hammering the face of the NBA day after day? Especially when James is still one of the best players in the league at age 40? It would be the equivalent of Monday Night Football’s Troy Aikman publicly feuding with Tom Brady while he was still an All-Pro. If James fulfills his dream of becoming an NBA owner, he’d be a powerful enemy in the boardroom. Ex-ESPNer Michelle Beadle said James tried to get her fired from NBA Countdown, in favor of Rachel Nichols, after she made fun of The Decision.

ESPN will share NBA rights with NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video starting next season, thanks to the league’s new 11-year, $77 billion media deal. That means ESPN will be jockeying for the best games—and the favor of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver—with two rich, powerful business rivals. The NBA is already sensitive to the narrative that the biggest names at its current TV partners, Smith at ESPN and Charles Barkley at TNT, are more interested in ripping players than celebrating hoops. 

NBA commissioner Adam Silver seems to have noticed the spat. After the NBA’s Thursday Board of Governors meeting, he spoke about analysts’ tone around the league. “Sometimes it seems that in other sports that I’m a fan of, and when I watch the coverage, particularly around the games, it seems to be more celebratory,” Silver said. “I cringe at a lot of the coverage.”

Sports leagues have a way of punishing media partners whose talent or coverage they dislike. Just ask ESPN, which drew a poor NFL schedule for years due to its aggressive reporting on concussions and the ill-fated Playmakers series. 

When ESPN’s weekday morning show Get Up premiered in 2018, Beadle was co-host with Mike Greenberg and one of the biggest stars at the network. But after my colleague Ryan Glasspiegel wrote about Beadle saying she had stopped watching football (because she said the sport didn’t care about women) she was gone the following summer. 

Leave it to Shannon Sharpe—who nearly brawled with the entire Grizzlies roster—to play peacemaker. During his YouTube show and podcast, Sharpe said Smith should “let it go.” It was a curiously neutral stance by Sharpe, considering Smith fought to get him to ESPN after his messy split with Bayless and Fox Sports. 

At the same time, James would be wise to learn a lesson about sports media that some athletes never understand. As Smith said Thursday: “Unfortunately, [James] is going to find out you can influence the narrative. But controlling it is an entirely different matter. Something he will not pull off.”