"Stephen A. Smith & Russell Westbrook won't lie": Cam Newton picks sides after LeBron James' "fake" character comes in question

Veteran sports analyst and commentator Stephen A. Smith has been involved in an alleged beef with Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James since the start of the year. Another name that has made the news recently is LeBron James' former Lakers teammate Russell Westbrook.

Yaron Weitzman's book, A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers, that got published earlier this week, sheds light on Westbrook's fractured relationship with LeBron as he called out the Lakers great for being "fake."

Former NFL MVP Cam Newton weighed in on the situation on the "4th&1 with Cam Newton," picking Smith and Westbrook's side for calling out the Lakers icon's behaviour, something that has not been done previously.

"Everybody's seeing this and Russell Westbrook is a person I really fool with," Newton said (Timestamp 2:00 onwards). I work alongside with Stephen A Smith. So, dare I say, they lying because me knowing Stephen, he won't lie about that. Me being a fan of Russ and obviously knowing him, Russ won't lie about that.

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"And that's not to say Lebron James is a bad individual. What I am going to say is, 'Hey, those experiences can be true.' But on the same thing. We can't put people on these pedestals and not expect them to be real and authentic."

Cam Newton explains Stephen A. Smith's jabs at LeBron James

Stephen A. Smith has been vocal about his issues with LeBron James over the last few months. He has been on several podcasts, calling out LeBron after the Lakers star confronted the veteran analyst for his criticism of Bronny James.

Cam Newton explained why Smith has been talking about the NBA legend of different shows:

"Why did Stephen always mention LeBron James? Lebron or Stephen, they going on this world talk tour talking about how he don't like LeBron James, he done, went on 'The Pivot, he done went on '7PM In Brooklyn.' He don't use his platform to voice his honest opinion.

"Well, I'll say to that is. When have we ever heard Stephen speak freely about things that he really want to talk about because you really can't do it on your show. There are certain discussions that can't be spoken about on your platform. You need other people to generate that emotion out of you."

The excerpt from Yaron Weitzman's book shed new light on LeBron's relationship and dynamics with his teammates, dividing fans' opinions on the NBA icon.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash