Stephen A. Smith isn’t letting his confrontation with LeBron James go anytime soon.
In a new episode of the Gil’s Arena podcast, released on Tuesday, Smith struck a slightly different tone from his previously apologetic one. “I thought it was weak,” he said. “I thought it was some bullshit — but in the moment, I knew that I was listening to a father.”
Smith gave his account of what happened during the confrontation, explaining that James approached him in the third quarter of the game with an explicit-filled rant. “‘You gotta stop talking shit about my son,’” said Smith, doing an impression of James. “‘You gotta stop fucking with my son.’”
Smith alleged that he told James they could talk about it later, but the legendary basketball player wanted to let him know how he felt now. Smith also thinks he knew why LeBron approached him. “I remember during a timeout in the first quarter, I saw Bronny looking at me and he had a sad look on his face," the TV personality said. "And I'm imagining [James] saw that and the shit hit him.”
In case you didn’t notice, Smith sounds a bit more confident when talking about the situation. A few days ago, when the memory of the confrontation was fresh, he revealed that he didn’t blame James for confronting him.
“I get people that have said to me that I’m looking pretty damn sad. I fessed up, I am — because something like that is not something that should make any of us comfortable,” said Smith at the time. “I didn’t anticipate it. I don't know why I didn’t anticipate it, but I don't blame LeBron James.”
Since the viral confrontation occurred, several people aside from Stephen A. chimed in on the situation, including Kevin Love and former NBA star DeMarcus Cousins.
