Whenever Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James talks, people will certainly listen. James made an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” Wednesday to talk about a variety of topics ranging from his place in history watching what happened with Pat Riley and the Miami Heat.
James discussed a variety of topics, including his place in history and watching what happened with Pat Riley and the Miami Heat.
When the interview shifted to James’ courtside exchange with ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith on March 6, when the Lakers played the Chicago Bulls, James went off on Smith—and later, another member of the media, which was later criticized by a media reporter.
“He’s like on a Taylor Swift tour right now,” James said. “It started off with, I wasn’t going to address it. But since the video came out, I feel the need to address it. (Bleep) Are you kidding me? If there’s one person that couldn’t wait for the video to drop so you can address it, it’s your (bleep). Like, seriously.”
James said he understands that members of the media have to critique and discuss players on and off the court, but he felt Smith took it beyond the game.
“When you take it and you get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household but protect the players,” James said. “I know he’s going to be happy as hell. He’s going to be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about it. Oh, my God. He’s going to get home and grab some ice cream out of the (bleeping) freezer and sit in his chair in his tighty-whities on the couch … Relax, bro.”
James’ attack on media members did not end there, as he then turned his attention to ESPN NBA reporter Brian Windhorst, who has covered James since his high school days at St. Vincent-St. Mary and worked at the Akron Beacon Journal.
“This guy says he’s my (bleep) best friend,” James said. “These guys are just weird.”
Windhorst received some support from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, who covers sports media. Marchand went on X (formerly known as Twitter) to criticize the comments James made.
“Windhorst has never said that,” Marchand said. “He has covered LeBron for a long time. Weak sauce from LeBron.”
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Chris Franklin may be reached at [email protected].
