"Been a sucka for clicks since retirement": LeBron James fans lash out at Carmelo Anthony for handing Stephen A. Smith platform to diss Lakers star

Sports analyst Stephen A. Smith reignited his beef with LeBron James in Carmelo Anthony's podcast. Smith and James had been beefing with each other since the sports analyst called out the King's son last season. James didn't appreciate how critical Smith was of Bronny James and decided to confront the analyst in person.

Since that time, the beef between James and Smith has gone viral. It then led to multiple instances of the two personalities calling each other out either on TV or on social media.

Fast forward to the present day, Stephen A. Smith revisited his issue with LeBron James. Apparently, Smith still feels indifferent to the LA Lakers star.

Fans on social media didn't appreciate how Carmelo Anthony allowed Smith to talk negatively about the King once again. This is especially considering that Anthony and James are close friends in real life. It baffled fans how Melo gave the sports analyst a platform to lash out at LeBron.

Here's what some fans said on X:

BIG FAZO🛡️

@___fazo

@TaeDayyy giving @stephenasmith a platform to disrespect his “banana boat brudda” @carmeloanthony been a sucka for clicks since retirement

Patrick Jean

@icebergsli6

@___fazo I remember that…. Apparently Melo doesn’t

Dashawn Benson

@Dbenz125

@___fazo Let’s not forget when nobody wanted to touch Melo and sign him bron could spoke up but was quiet bron with all that power be doing things behind the scenes like when he got dwade out there in Cleveland or made Russ seem like the bad guy when it was a team thing they just sucked

MGS409

@Sampson_MG

@___fazo Shit Bron pulled him out the ocean

rsprags8 Davis

@rsprags8

@___fazo I remember Melo forgot!And saved him in ocean when their guides left Melo behind!It’s a sad day&I’m Not surprised at All by Melo or Russ that Jordan Brand got em turning on Bron!

ghost

@MrBigShot324

@___fazo lol he saved him from drowning too smh

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What did Stephen A. Smith say that made LeBron James upset?

Last season was a historic one for LeBron James as he and his son, Bronny James, became the first-ever father-son duo to both actively be playing in the NBA. While many believed that Bronny's entry into the league was a bit premature, there's no denying the magnitude of his pairing with his father.

However, similarly to his dad back in the day, Bronny faced a plethora of criticism. This included some harsh words from Stephen A. Smith. While it's no secret that Bronny still has a lot of development that needs to be done to his game, Smith called out the young James for nepotism.

"We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad," Smith said.

Smith also called out how poorly Bronny James was performing and even mentioned that he didn't belong in the big leagues. LeBron James clearly didn't appreciate the analyst's comments and got in Smith's face during one of his games.

LeBron told the analyst to keep his son's name out of it. He then dared Smith to say those hurtful things in front of his face to see what would happen. Threats between the two were thrown, and their relationship became tarnished.