LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in American history, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, the face of Team USA at the Olympics, an imposing figure with a legitimate claim to GOAT status.
And in his ongoing battle with Stephen A. Smith, he’s getting whomped like he’s an elementary school kid fighting a high schooler.
The after-school slapfight metaphor is the right one; at a time when we have some incredibly compelling sports stories — the NCAA tournament, Opening Day, NBA playoff pushes, Alex Ovechkin’s Gretzky chase — the Stephen A.-LeBron kerfuffle is soaking up an inordinate share of the oxygen in the room.
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(Yes, we know this article is only contributing to that. We’re aware of the irony.)
You know who the participants are in this little drama — James, the perennial All-Star and face of the NBA for decades, and Smith, the current face of ESPN who’s “opinionated” in the way the ocean is “damp.” Their current feud began a few weeks ago, when James approached Smith before a game to take issue with the way Smith had been railing on James’ son.
In military terms, James is still fighting the last war, and confronting Smith publicly was a serious tactical error. James came of age before social media, when an athlete’s glare was enough to send most journalists scurrying to craft an apology. These days, riling up an athlete is a straight path to some of that precious viral #content.
“That was LeBron James coming up to me, unexpectedly I might add, to confront me about making sure that I mind what I say about his son,” Smith later said on First Take, larding his words with absurdly over-the-top gravitas. “Can’t repeat the words because they ain’t suited for FCC airwaves. That’s what he was doing.”
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(Put aside the fact that James shouldn’t have been wasting time defending his son in the first place. In this, Stephen A. is well within his rights as a commentator — Bronny is a literal NBA player, not some anonymous kid trying to avoid the spotlight. The possibility for criticism — even misguided or biased criticism — is what all those zeroes in the paycheck are for.)
The moment that James stepped to Smith, he stepped onto Smith’s unfriendly home court. In basketball, Stephen A. could get 100 possessions against LeBron and never score a point. But in the arena of debate, particularly a debate where the other person isn’t even in the same state? Well, that’s where Stephen A. puts up Wilt numbers. Facts, courtesy, common sense — they ride the bench in Stephen A.’s world; attitude and volume are what win games. LeBron was screwed the moment he thought he could silence Stephen A.
Earlier this week, James talked about the incident on Pat McAfee’s show. “He’s gonna be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him,” James said, understanding that he was only feeding the beast even as he criticized it. From there, Smith criticized James for criticizing Smith for criticizing James’ family … and round and round it all goes.
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The thing is, unlike in real, legitimate sports, media slapfights have no shot clock, no time limit, no finish line. We’re in an era now where the actual games matter less than what the loudest members of the audience think about those games. Highlights come and go, but hot takes burn on and on. James knows that by criticizing Smith, he’s only giving Stephen A. exactly what he wants — the opportunity to rage, claim victimhood and fill airtime.
And unlike real, legitimate sports, we don’t come away from a pitched media battle of noise and attitude feeling inspired or ecstatic. It’s all just so damn pointless and exhausting, and we always swear we’re done with it all … right up until the next spat flares up.
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