"That was the final straw" - Stephen A. Smith gets blunt on LeBron James' single act that triggered his fiery public call out of Lakers star

The feud between sports talk show host Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James reached its peak in March. Smith and James traded shots on air. Smith called the LA Lakers superstar a “liar” after the four-time NBA MVP appeared on the “Pat McAfee Show.”

Smith, who appeared on “The Pivot” podcast on Friday, responded when asked by co-host Ryan Clark about his relationship with James:

“When that man went on Pat McAfee Show just to insult me, that was the final straw. … The closest that I’ve ever come to backing up in my life has evaporated. I won’t take one back step when it comes to him in life ever again because I’ve done my job. He took it personal and took it to another level to come to ESPN just to insult me.”

The beef started in January when Stephen A. Smith commented about the readiness of LeBron James’ son, Bronny James, to play in the NBA. Smith seemed to imply that the then-rookie was in the pros because of his father’s influence and name.

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer confronted Smith roughly a week later during a game between the Lakers and the New York Knicks. Smith called James’ approach “weak” when he had a chat with Gilbert Arenas on Gil’s podcast two weeks after the incident.

When LeBron James appeared on the “Pat McAfee Show,” he said that he wasn’t against Stephen A. Smith’s criticism of players. James continued that he needed to “protect his damn household" after the analyst allegedly made it "personal."

James also could not resist taking a shot at the “First Take” host. He told McAfee that Smith is “smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him.”

---

Stephen A. Smith blasted LeBron James for stat padding to build on GOAT contention

LeBron James will play in his record 23rd season when the 2025-26 NBA season opens. James, already the record holder in multiple statistical categories, is expected to reach more milestones.

Stephen A. Smith wasn’t impressed with what loomed for James. On his podcast, Smith blasted James (via NBA Central):

““He’s going to be 41, he’s in his 23rd year, stat-padding his way to make ignorant folks out there think that’s going to make him the GOAT over Jordan, not realizing that most of the stuff it took him 20+ years to do, Jordan did in 13.”

NBACentral

@TheDunkCentral

“He’s going to be 41, he’s in his 23rd year, stat-padding his way to make ignorant folks out there think that’s going to make him the GOAT over Jordan — not realizing that most of the stuff it took him 20+ years to do, Jordan did in 13.”😳 - Stephen A.

Smith said that he understands people have different opinions about the greatest of all time debate between LeBron James and Michael Jordan. According to the analyst, that discussion had been settled long ago. For him, James is only relegated to stat-padding.