One act of dissent was all it took for a domino effect to cause chaos. Since Anthony Edwards’ ejection against the Lakers on Thursday night, the whole narrative about the next “face of the league” has shifted to a LeBron James vs media battle. LeBron’s public slandering of today’s critics tarnishing the image of the players rather than celebrating them, has hit Stephen A. Smith, who took it upon himself. According to ESPN’s mouthpiece, LeBron targeted him with the comments made in the dressing room interview following the Timberwolves clash. As usual, the whole NBA media is divided over it. But is there anyone to back LeBron? Yes, a very familiar name bolstering the Lakers star’s corner.

“Ant already said he don’t want it. He ain’t trying to deal with that s—,” LeBron said during a post-game interview on the debate over the next poster boy of the league. “I mean, Channing Frye said it the other day, too. Like, I mean, it’s unfortunate, but, like, why do you want to be the face of a league all the people that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis s— on everybody? To have that responsibility, it’s just weird. It’s weird energy.” That was enough to convince Stephen A. that he was the one being bashed in these comments and he went on a rant during a recent First Take episode. And to prove his point, SAS had Gilbert Arenas as the guest on the talk show. Incidentally, he sided with LeBron and thoroughly explained why he believed LeBron’s sentiments were not incorrect.

To prove his point, Arenas exposed the media narrative about the GOAT debate. The measuring stick is often 6 rings and the former Magic star debated that when Jordan was hailed as the best of his generation or rather the greatest ever, he didn’t have all the six rings. He finished his journey with six chips and LeBron gets an unnecessary slight for not having the same numbers.

“Now I need to make a decision to go here and get these rings because I can’t get it here. So now they’re sacrificing individual awards to get these rings. Then you say, well, you don’t have the individual awards. You can’t get no scoring titles. He has 10,” Arenas said during the show. “He has 10 scoring titles. You can’t do that. So he gets penalized there because he doesn’t have these accolades. Then what ends up happening is if you have a player that’s saying, okay. Let me get these scoring titles. Oh, you’re selfish, that’s pointless stats, meaningless stats.” This opinion about the ‘damned if I do, damned if I don’t’ scenario gained the vote of trust from Isaiah Thomas.

“Gil spittin facts!!!” the former Celtics star wrote on X, sharing the snippet of the Arenas segment. At 36, the point guard is looking to rejuvenate his NBA career. He is putting on clinics in the G League scenes for the Salt Lake City Stars, the affiliates of Jazz. And that has now helped him achieve the rare feat of playing against LeBron, being his teammate during the 2017-18 season at the Cavs and playing against his son, Bronny James.

Isaiah Thomas outduels LeBron James’ son in G League battle

In 2023, IT used his G League performances to land a contract with the Suns till the end of the season. He aims to repeat the circle with the Salt Lake City Stars for another return to the league. In January, Thomas dropped 40 points in his debut game for the new team. And guess what? Since then, he has been well on course to impress the onlookers. Bronny, at the opposite end of IT’s career, has the same goal of playing a prominent role alongside his father. After a summer of scrutiny, Bronny is finding his rhythm away from the lights of the NBA. So when LeBron James Jr. came face-to-face with Thomas on Friday night, it was a mini-battle between them. Of course, the veteran triumphed.

Bronny James’s 16 points and 8 assists, highlighted by a flawless alley-oop to Christian Koloko, led the Utah team to a 123-114 victory. The 20-year-old cleaned the glass six times as well but fell short of Thomas’ 29-point game. The veteran PG sank 5/11 shots from beyond the arc with two vital steals to secure the dub.

Despite the loss, Bronny is making impressive strides towards his NBA dreams. So far, LeBron’s heir is averaging 17.8 points in the 7 games for the South Bay team. Not just that, he is building chemistry with the likes of Quincy Olivari and Koloko. Contrary to the reports of Bronny opting to not play on the road, James Jr. is showing up to work and generating major crowd interest. His occasional call-ups to the Lakers in early February earned him a hero’s ovation in all the games he set foot on the court. And LeBron James visibly rejoiced at his son’s progress. The 4-time NBA champ has always gone on record to declare his interest in leaving the game in a better place than it is today. And no matter what the critics say, he’s focused on doing only that, even more so for the sake of his son.