Stephen A. Smith is looking out what he sees as a double customary in how LeBron James handles criticism from the media.
During his go to to The Pivot podcast, Smith mentioned his beef with LeBron James. In the course of speaking about it, Smith stated he is noticed that the basketball legend offers with journalists otherwise relying on their race.
“You ever see LeBron go at a white boy? Let’s call it what it is. You ever see him do that? You saw him come at me. Closest you ever came to seeing him do something like that [to a white journalist] was when he called out Brian Windhorst,” stated Smith. “What you calling out Brian Windhorst for? The man covered you since junior high school and has praised you repeatedly and you used the Pat McAfee situation to go at him. [T]hat’s the only time you ever seen LeBron James really go at somebody white. I’m going to call it what it is.”
Smith and James have had an advanced skilled relationship. While Smith has usually praised LeBron’s profession and affect, he has additionally criticized the star on points starting from management choices to allegedly influencing his son Bronny’s journey to the NBA. Tensions between the 2 resurfaced earlier this yr when LeBron took public difficulty with Smith’s remarks about Bronny on First Take and confronted him throughout a sport.
In August, Smith appeared on Gilbert Arena’s Gil’s Arena podcast and make clear the present standing of his relationship with James. Smith made it clear that he and Bron don’t like one another, and there will not be a reconciliation anytime quickly.
“There’s no situation and there’s no relationship,” stated Smith. “He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him. There’s nobody that can mediate. It’s ok. I will tell you that I don’t talk about him unless I’m asked.”
He continued, “I have no desire to talk about him at all. He is, in my mind, the second greatest player in the history of basketball. His respect has been earned, not given, and nobody can deny that. But that’s the basketball player, not the man — and all I would say is people don’t know the things that have happened behind the scenes.”