Over two decades of ruling, despite that, LeBron James is here for the iconic moments, period. Be it on the court or off of it, the King sets the tone. That’s what happened when LeBron James confronted Stephen A. Smith during the Lakers’ 113-109 win over the New York Knicks on March 6. The whole NBA landscape was turned inside out. Stephen A. Smith’s reaction to the immediate First Take episode blew up. According to him, he didn’t want to address the confrontation. But since then, he’s been on multiple platforms and shows to talk about the whole controversy. That’s probably because he’s on a world tour like Taylor Swift, blasted the Lakers’ number 23.

That’s exactly what LeBron thought as he finally broke his silence on camera since that fateful night. And where better to do it than The Pat McAfee Show? “He’s like, on Taylor Swift Tour Run right now. It started off with ‘I didn’t want to address it… I wasn’t going to address it since the video came out. I feel the need to address it now,'” James said. SAS isn’t anywhere near earning $2 billion like the Eras Tour, but he made a career out of his takes, leading to his latest $100 million ESPN renewal.

“Are you kidding me? If there’s one person that couldn’t wait to the video to drop so you can address it in your a–,” LeBron added, much to the delight of the PMS crew. Given Stephen A’s heated history with Pat McAfee, LeBron going gung-ho on the analyst is a welcome sight for the former NFL star.

But what led to the beef? Things reached a flash point for LeBron during a Jan. 29 episode of First Take. Smith pleaded with Bron to “stop” concerning Bronny. “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. The first game of the season, opening night, the Griffey’s in attendance, father-son duo playing in an NBA game for the first time, an absolutely, positively wonderful story,” Smith then said.

This pulled the buttons on LeBron, leading to him asking the media personality to back off. But that wasn’t what the veteran analyst interpreted during his parallel ‘Eras Tour.’ On Gil’s Arena Show, his own Stephen A. Smith show, and a few more handful of podcasts were on SAS’s list where he talked about the confrontation, blaming LeBron, indicating it was about him and not his son. But that’s where ESPN’s mouthpiece missed the plot, as LeBron James explained why he chose the public confrontation.

LeBron James explains his decision to confront Stephen A. Smith

It took Bronny James to drop 17 points on the Bucks for Stephen A. Smith to change his tune. Until then, Bronny wasn’t an NBA talent and was only in the league because of his dad. That was no longer in Stephen A.’s mind after the career-high performance from Bronny. “I might have been wrong. Are you listening, LeBron James? Are you listening, James family? Are you listening, Rich Paul?” Smith said on the March 20 episode of First Take.

But it was too late to backtrack from his previous hot takes on LeBron James’ son, and the man of the house had no choice but to intervene. According to the 40-year-old, Smith “missed the whole point.”

“I never, would I ever not allow people to talk about this?” James posed the question. “Criticize players about what they do on the court. That is your job to criticize or to be in a position where if a guy’s not performing, that is all that is for all part of 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 place.”

Not just daddy, even Bronny James was disturbed as he recently told The Athletic, his mindset amid all this noise. “I see everything that people are saying, and people think, like, I’m a f—— robot, like I don’t have any feelings or emotions,” James Jr. confessed. But, in his words, it only fuels him. LeBron James will certainly hope that’s the case for his young one, as it will only take a slip for Stephen A. Smith to return to offensive in this never-ending battle.