At the end of January, Stephen A. Smith went off on Bronny James playing in the NBA after he went 0-for-5 from the field in the loss to the 76ers. “I am pleading with LeBron James as a father: Stop this, stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.” This criticism was not something Bronny had not heard before. However, LeBron was not having it. During a thrilling OT win over the Knicks last week, the Akron Hammer confronted the ESPN analyst on the sidelines telling him not to drag his son. Smith revealed that James was “very upset” and even appeared somewhat empathetic as he said he “understood” where James was coming from. But a few days later, he went about on a different trip.

Appearing on the Gil’s Arena podcast, Smith said that James confronting him was “weak and some bulls**t.” Smith also said that Bronny had a “sad look on his face,” when he looked at him and perhaps that is what caused LeBron to go off. Well, even though LeBron James has yet to respond to these comments, Draymond Green took an objection to Smith’s words.

A bunch of NBA players have since jumped into the conversation around James and Smith, with Kevin Love and Green most notable among them. SAS had revealed on his show, “Matter of fact, I heard that not many, not all, but a few players were upset at me about that,” Smith revealed. “I think one player in particular was Draymond Green, who I haven’t spoken to since and has no desire to speak to me, primarily because of this, I suppose.” Judging by the response of the former Defensive Player of the Year there isn’t any need for Smith to imagine what Green thinks of his comments on LeBron.

Green, never one to hold back, reminded Smith of his responsibility as a top media personality. The four-time NBA champion took issue with Smith’s choice of words against LeBron. “A lot of problems that guys have with media is … To call something that man did bulls**t and weak … Like those are words, where we grew up … Like you get hands put on you … ” Green said on his podcast The Draymond Green Show With Baron Davis. “The problem that people have with media is, you go on there and go ‘Oh, that’s weak!’ Like … Weak?”

The Warriors player then doubled down on Smith’s analysis and criticized him for going beyond basketball and attacking LeBron as a father. “Calling another man weak? That’s just … Not basketball. Which is actually what ‘Bron was saying in the first place. Like, let’s keep it basketball because calling a man weak, that’s not basketball. And you’re paid to talk about basketball. You call ‘Bron weak for stepping to you, but you’re taking shots at him as a father on TV, behind a camera. Most would say that’s weak. That’s what we call weak where I’m from. The guys that I was raised by, the men that had an impact on my life, that’s what we call weak.”

According to the New York Post, James did reach out to Smith earlier and told the ESPN host to leave his son alone. But after Smith’s criticism following Bronny’s performance against Philadelphia, he decided to confront Smith between the third and fourth quarters of the game against the Knicks. While initially, the details remained vague, Smith revealed how on-court exchange went down.

Speaking on his podcast, Smith said, “He was fiery. He approached me during the game and he said stop ‘f*****ng with my son. That’s my f*****ng son. Stop f*****ng with my son.'” Smith then offered to continue the conversation later, but LeBron responded with, “Nah, F that. F that. Stop f-ing with my son. That’s my son. That’s my son,” according to Smith. While on ESPN’s First Take, Smith said he’s “not blaming” LeBron “one bit” for defending his son, he also mentioned that “it’s my job to talk about the subjects and the subject matters that matter.”  Draymond Green, however, was quick to remind Smith of his duties as a broadcaster.

“I know he’ll say, ‘I’m paid to do that.’ No, you’re paid to analyze. You’re paid to debate on the show.” Green said reminding Smith, who recently signed a $100m 5-year deal with ESPN, what his job should be about. He also found it hypocritical that Smith had one demeanor in person, but took a much harsher stance on television. “The demeanor in person was like that(nodding), but then on TV, you go, ‘Oh, that was b——-. It’s like, weak,’ like, come on, man,” he said.

Bronny has in over 15 games this year, but he has averaged just 1.4 points per game on a 25 percent shooting percentage. He has, however, thrived in the G League, which according to many experts might be his level at the moment. He has played nine games in the G League so far this season and averaged 20.6 points. While LeBron James is known to defend Bronny in the past, it appears on this occasion, something else ticked him off. James apparently revealed to Smith’s ESPN colleague Richard Jefferson what got under his skin.

James was seen in conversation with his former Cavaliers teammate Jefferson before the game against the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden. Footage from their exchange appears to reveal bits of their conversation where James can be heard telling Jefferson about his beef with Smith.

“Once he talks about, ‘I’m pleading with you as a father,’ I can’t,” James is heard telling Jefferson. Smith brought up the video on Gil’s Arena saying, “Had he said that to me, then I wouldn’t have been thrown off. I would have come right back at him: Yes I was, I was talking about you. You did this shit. But because he didn’t do that, I said fine, let it go.”

Surprisngly,

With Smith’s massive platform and influence, Green made it clear that he expects better, reinforcing that the job of a high-paid analyst is to discuss basketball—not to take personal shots at players and their families. But Green isn’t the only one calling out Smith lately.

Stephen A Smith faces heat from another sports podcaster

Ryan Clark backed Stephen A Smith, accusing LeBron of hypocrisy. Meanwhile, critics slammed Smith for how he handled it, arguing that he should’ve expected a response after making personal comments about a player’s family.

Nick Wright wasn’t having Smith’s reaction, either. The First Things First host admitted he respects Smith but called him out for switching up his stance. Wright reminded everyone that Smith has always claimed he welcomes players confronting him—until it actually happened.

“The actual stars are the people we’re talking about… But it’s their movie. We in the media also have to have the humility to at times just take an ‘L.’ We can’t do what we do to these athletes and then act so wounded if somebody does it to us,” Wright explained.

Even within sports media, opinions remain split. Some believe Smith crossed the line, while others think LeBron overreacted. But one thing’s for sure—this debate isn’t cooling off anytime soon.