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Will the LeBron James-Stephen A. Smith ever end? After all that has happened so far, the latter is back with some fresh allegations. You see, he took to his podcast on YouTube and stated: “He [James] didn’t give me the opportunity when The Shop was on HBO, and Mav came up to me, and Rich came up to me, and they said, ‘Yo, we want you on The Shop.’ Hell yeah, we want you on The Shop with LeBron; it’ll be box office. I said, ‘Name the time and place, I’ll show up. I only got one condition: Nothing gets edited out, nothing.” However, Smith suggested he never heard back from them post that. 

He made it clear that he didn’t think the issue came from Maverick Carter or James’ agent Rich Paul, adding, “Crickets! Never heard from them since… I know Mav would put me on in a heartbeat. Rich Paul and the rest of the crew, all of them, in a heartbeat.” This is the same talk show that featured guests like Barack Obama, Jay-Z, Keke Palmer, Bad Bunny and DJ Khaled.

“We could all bring facts to the table, but I was never taken up on that offer. I don’t run and hide. If I’m wrong, I’ll say I’m wrong. If I’m right, I’m right. I was never shi—ng on Bronny James. I wouldn’t do that to the James family,” Stephen A. Smith went on. But is the NBA player bothered by it? No!

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Instead, he is busy promoting his business. He took to Instagram to share an exciting news. He posted a story with The Shop’s products on display and wrote: “Ayyyy!! We’re all over!! #TheShop got you looking and feeling good at CVS now.” The Shop’s post which James shared read: “The Shop, an accessible grooming brand launched by professional athlete LeBron James’ The SpringHill Company, is expanding its distribution. Previously only available at Walmart, the line is now available at 1,400 CVS Pharmacy occasions and on the retailer’s website starting March 9. Retailing for $9.97 each, The Shop products are now available on CVS.”

The $725 million parent company is expanding The Shop’s distribution, and the NBA player couldn’t be prouder of the positive responses his brand has received. The venture was launched last year and has seven products. And yes, it was a joint venture between James, Maverick Carter, and Paul Rivera. They all also co-host ‘The Shop’ which is an Emmy-award winning barbershop-based talk show. The skin products were named after this show. 

We all know how James’ wife Savannah has her own skincare line ‘SJ Skincare’ and back in early 2024, she even visited South Korea for some design inspiration. But of course, LeBron James is not too far behind. What was the idea behind launching products for men? Well, back in 2024, Rivera stated: “We created The Shop out of a deep love and passion for the barbershop experience. Our show was designed to bring people inside the shop for the debates, the arguments, and the therapy you can only get at a true neighborhood spot. Now we want to give people another side to the experience.”

via Imago

And the ‘another’ experience he was referring to was the seven products the trio came up with: Face wash, shave cream, after-shave toner, face lotion, beard cream, 2-in-1 hair wash, hair pomade. 

While James is moving forward and marketing his products, Smith is still hanging on to their feud. What else did the latter say about the NBA player?

Top Comment by Joe

Bob Scott

Stephen A is hating that’s all. Ne needs to move on get a life

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Stephen A. Smith won’t stop calling out LeBron James!

After new allegations on James, Smith went on to say: “I was talking about one person and one person only. We may never speak in life again. I’m fine with it. I get paid to talk about folks, not to them. I cover the league. You play, I watch, dissect, analyze and broadcast. We ain’t got to communicate.”

“We damn sure don’t have to say hello to each other. We don’t have to do none of that. We don’t get along and there’s a multitude of reasons why. I’ve alluded to some of them, but we know what the biggest reason is.” Post this, Smith made some comparisons.

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He said his GOAT was Michael Jordan. “I know a goat when I see one. And he [James] is a GOAT of this generation but all time, it is Michael Jordan. That’s who the hell it is. That’s the GOAT.”

via Imago

He proceeded to talk about James’ early NBA days and claimed the player was scared to get to the free-throw line and that there was hesitancy in his game. Well, we don’t know if this issue ends here. We will have to wait and see if either side says anything. For the most part, James has kept mum about the situation.

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Do you think Stephen A. Smith will close the matter here? Let us know in the comments below.

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LeBron's grooming products at CVS—Is this a game-changer for men's skincare?

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