Richard Jefferson Confirms Stephen A. Smith’s Worrying Position As Tension Mounts At ESPN Over Bronny James

Back in February 2014, LeBron James put up an emotional message addressing his biological father who he never got to be beside him while growing up. “You not being there- it’s part of the reason I grew up to become who I am,” read a sentence from Bron’s post. Six months later, Rachel Nichols asked James what made him decide to post that message on social media. James struggled to find the right words. Instead of answering, the then-Cleveland Cavaliers star came up with more questions.

“I don’t know, but it’s the truth,” said LeBron. “My whole life, growing up, I just kinda always say, ‘Why me? Why didn’t my dad want to be around?’ I feel like I’m a pretty cool kid, a good kid. So why wouldn’t he want to be around for me?” But as he moved on, life has been somewhat kind to the kid from Akron. He has raised a loving family with three children and his wife Savannah. And “it means everything. It’s why I do it. I do it for my family.” Was it this fierce fatherly instinct that made the Akron Hammer blast Stephen A. Smith last week at Crypto Arena? Looks like.

Many in the NBA landscape believe Smith went too far by questioning LeBron’s role as a father. That tipped him off. The topic immediately became a subject of national debate, with podcasts flooding the social media with opinions, Caught in the middle of it was ESPN’s NBA analyst Richard Jefferson. The Lakers’ number 23 was caught justifying his act at TD Garden during the matchup between the Lakers and Celtics. “That’s the only thing I’m tripping,” “I don’t give a f***. Once he talks about, ‘I’m pleading (to) you as a father,’ I can’t.” said Bron to his former teammate. On the Road Trippin’ show, Jefferson candidly spoke about it.

Jefferson shared, “When you start pleading to someone as a father, that takes it to a different space, right? And I think that was a point that I think has been made by multiple people, even in the moment, even in the moment when it happened and was said months ago, right? That I think a lot of people around the league felt a certain way about that. Can we say this? Let’s just be, let’s just keep this line.” 

According to the NBA player-turned-analyst, many believed that when Stephen A. Smith brought LeBron, the father, into the conversation, the tone naturally changed, and not everyone felt comfortable with it, as it crossed the line. “I am pleading with LeBron James as a father, stop this,” the host said earlier on First Take. “Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.”And that one dig is the mother of all issues.

Even Kendrick Perkins, an attendee at the show, went on to say, “I’ve never seen LeBron get out of character. I’ve been knowing this I’ve been knowing that since about 1998” and Jefferson vehemently supported that. Jefferson also added that James and Smith dislike each other and both are quite OK with that to be public. Meanwhile, he is not the only analyst who talked about LeBron’s fatherly instinct.

Appearing on “The Doug Gottlieb Show just days back,” FS1 analyst Ric Bucher said, “Let’s take a step back. Think about LeBron James and his history and the fact that he didn’t grow up with a dad. And by all accounts, [he] wants to the be the dad he never had, he wants to be a good dad to his kids. And Stephen A. was basically saying publicly, ‘You’re not being good dad to your son, and I’m going to pull you up on that. I’m going to tell you about how you should be a good father to your son.’ And that’s where it went out of bounds.” James also received support from his former teammate on this.

In a video posted by TMZ on Wednesday, Dwyane Wade, James’ former teammate from Miami Heat, said, “I love both guys. I had a conversation with Stephen A. about it and I told him if I was LeBron, I would have walked up on him the same way.” However, in another apperance on the 7PM In Brooklyn podcast Wade’s opinion sounded much more balanced.

He made it clear again that he agreed with James—but also didn’t fault Smith for doing his job. “As a father, I’m walking up on you—I get it,” said Wade. “I’m like that too. I’m at you.”

Wade kept going, explaining that he spoke with Smith afterwards about what happened. “That’s a sign of respect that LeBron did that to you,” said Wade, relaying the message he gave Smith. “Your microphone is the loudest, your platform is the biggest, and you’re a Black man. So you understand where he’s coming from.”

Afterwards, Wade expressed support for Smit— and let James know that some of what he was angry about was actually his fault. “From a dad perspective, I’m at you, but from the perspective of you doing your job, you’re not wrong for doing your job,” explained Wade. Carmelo Anthony had a slightly different opinion—alleging that the confrontation wasn’t actually about Bronny at all. “This has been a build-up; we’re talking 22 years,” Anthony said. “This ain’t got nothing to do with Bronny.” Interestingly, Wade took a little jab at LeBron regarding Bronny.

“LeBron is my guy but he did put some extra heat on Bronny,” Wade added. It won’t be wild to guess that he was referring to a post from the Lakers star on X about his son from March 6, 2023, when James said, “Man Bronny definitely better than some of these cats I’ve been watching on league pass today.” At the time, his son was still in high school. This is where Kendrick Perkins came up with piece of advice for both LeBron and Smith.

Kendrick Perkins makes a request to LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith

Kendrick Perkins has known LeBron James for a long time and is certainly aware that Stephen A. Smith and LeBron “don’t like each other.” As much as he would have liked to side with his ESPN colleague, this time, even he disagreed with the whole Bronny incident.

“I really wish everybody, including LeBron, just let f——- Bronny be,” Perk said on the show. Realizing the pressure that the whole drama has created on the 20-year-old, the ex-NBA star added, “Like, seriously, that dude’s got so much pressure on him, and I’m talking about even Stephen A., like, even talking about the situation just brings so much attention to that young man. And guess what? He’s a great young man. Like, great character, fun, like, plays f——- video games all day, cool, works hard.”

It’s just not Stephen A. Smith’s ESPN colleagues who have pointed out that he overdid it. Some have even called it his strategy for success, creating controversies. But he himself admitted that, though his relationship with LeBron hasn’t been great, he understands his side from a father’s point of view. Yet, he hasn’t stopped talking about it, and it looks like this discussion isn’t going to end anytime soon. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, whose side are you on!