March 27, 2025 • 12 mins
Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Lebron is one of those dudes who believes he's up
here and folks, particularly in the media, are down here.
There are exceptions, you know, in moments that he needs others,
but that's who he is. Cool.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Lebron has a show called The Shop.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Once upon a time, the Rich Paul's the Maverick Carters
came up to me, gotta have you on, Gotta have
you on? I said, simple and playing, no problem only
in one condition two conditions. I'm sorry, Lebron must be
there because there are times where the Shop was heir
that Lebron wasn't in attendance.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I said, I show up.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Lebron has to be there number one and number two.
No editing, don't edit shit out, cliff note stuff, clip things,
cut it out, Nah, let the public see. I know
(01:11):
if I told him to come off first take, he
ain't gonna want to do that because he've viewsed that
as benefiting me. I know that if I wanted him
to come on this podcast, he viewed that as benefiting me.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I offered to come on his spot, name the time
and place, and I'll show up by my damn self.
I was never taken up on that offer, because you see,
it's real easy to talk that talk like you got
all the facts when I'm not there to respond. It's
another thing entirely if I'm near to refute all the
(01:47):
bullshit coming out your mouth. But this is what he does,
It's what he's always done. And then he looks at
everybody else say this, Steve d Man, please whatever, whatever?
Why do I take this so seriously because you got
(02:08):
cats out there trying to give the impression that I
come after people's families. I need y'all a pause for
one second, and I just need y'all to think I'm.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Just talking to the professional athletes out there. I'm not
gonna even mention any names.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Who have rallied to the support of Lebron like he's
this big victim. They are owners, there are general managers,
there are coaches, there are other players and other sports.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
What have you.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Nepotism exists in every form of business. We can muster
in our minds.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
It's okay, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
But when have you seen someone demand that the public's
down while somebody has lifted up their offspring before it
was earned. When has that happened? I'm not talking about
(03:17):
Brownie now and what we're seeing. I'm not even talking
about Bronnie from my mothergo or whatever. I'm just talking
about in general, what the whole spectrum before he bounced
the ball, what we saw, what we witnessed lebron doing
and manipulating. Tell me when we've seen somebody do that
for someone who was universally recognized as not necessarily ready yet,
(03:42):
not that he wouldn't be, but not necessarily ready yet.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
That's what he asked of us.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So I again was talking about Dad as in YO, he's.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
In public eye.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Don't expose him like this to us because we got
a job to do.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Don't do that, That's all.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
I wasn't the one that brought up the legitimacy of
his McDonald's all American appearance on the roster. Kenji Perkins
did that. Numerous people pointed to other folks in high
school basketball at the time, and they were questioning their worthiness.
I didn't do that. We had the heart ailment. Oh
(04:35):
my god, I hope he's okay. We decided to pass
up staying at USC and turn pro cool. When Opening
Night took place in the Griffies were intended. I was
in Crypto dot com rena standing clapping. All of that
got ignored. Why didn't get ignored, ladies and gentlemen, because Lebron.
(05:00):
It wasn't about the problem that Lebron had about his son.
It was Lebron having a problem and finally finding an
excuse to do what he always wanted to do, which
was confront me in an unfortunate and public platform. I'm
(05:20):
not gonna go as far as I want to go
in saying how weak that stuff is. In terms of
how he confronted me, I would have waited. I got
nothing to say to him now. You know, we'll probably
never speak in life again. But if he wanted, you know,
(05:41):
I wish he had the shop. I wish he invited
me on, not my platform, his platform. You can't defend
the stuff that he's done. You have no idea, But
he knows. I know we want to go there. Let's
go there, slithering and just through stuff and always with
(06:01):
the two faced nods up ooh.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Y'all won't know the half y'all don't know.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
So when he went on Pat McAfee's show earlier today,
it was no surprise. The show that comes on after
first take the show that stars me. I know that
you got a new podcast coming out with Steve Nash.
No surprise there, JJ Redick, Steve Nash, no surprise, got
(06:28):
the podcast coming out. Definitely want to promote that basketball
podcast and we should watch it. We should learn because
Lebron knows more basketball than most people forgot. Just like
he said to Pat McAfee, his mind, he thinks the game.
Most of these people rely on their athleticism and their
talents and their skill. He relies on his brain. He's
absolutely right, and he knows basketball backwards and forwards. That
(06:50):
has nothing to do with how you've treated people. That
has nothing to do to the things that you've said.
That has nothing to do with you confronting me about
doing my job. And everybody wants to look at and say,
as a father's a father's a father? Because I said
as a father, I stand by that, not because he's
(07:12):
Bronnie's father.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I stand by it.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Because he was the one putting everything on public display.
We didn't have to know that he didn't care about
you know, I'm sorry. We did not have to know.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
That he.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Was willing to go someplace else practically for free. We
did not have to know that it was not about
the money. We did not have to hear him say
you want me draft Bronnie. We did not have to
hear him say, my son is better to have the
players or some of the players in the NBA right
now before he ever played an NBA game.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
You did that. That was lebron James who did that.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
He wasn't asked that, He wasn't asked his level of
culpability in all of this.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
He goes on there and he talks, man cool, I
got it. I got it. So it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
There's really not much else to say other than this,
ladies and gentlemen, It's very important that you understand what.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I'm about to say.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
To me anyway. I'm not a liar. I might not
like what I say. Every truth ain't meant to be told,
but I don't go into airwaves and lie. I did
(08:36):
not know we were being videoed at courtside. He was
walking out of a timeout. I did not know initially
that after he finished getting in my face he looked.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Right up at the camera, go back and look at
the angle. I didn't know that. I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
When I went on the air the next morning, we
had a morning meeting, at which time I said to
the staff at first tape, I don't feel like talking
about this, And then minutes later they said, it's the
number one trending topic in sports. You have to talk
(09:25):
about it. The bosses, you have to talk about it.
What do you mean you ain't talking about it?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
This is what you do. This is sports.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
This is a sports story and it directly evolves you.
What you mean you ain't talking about it? So he
might think I'm salivating and I was happy to discuss it.
I'm not happy to discuss the dude getting in my
face telling me stop shitting on his son. I'm not
(09:55):
happy about that.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I think Savannah is the first lady of the.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I think she's an absolutely wonderful human being that has
always been nothing but kind to me.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
You think I like the thought of pissing her off.
Gloria James.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
An absolutely wonderful person that I have seen over the
years and has never been anything but the most pleasant
person in the world to me. I don't like the
thought of upsetting her or anybody that cares about him.
I certainly don't want to hurt Bronnie. I'm rooting for
(10:38):
the kid but the news is the news, the sport
is the sport, and the story was the story. So
Lebron can be say anything he wants and I want
to talk about him or whatever case. And I'm gonna
continue to talk to you about.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
About you, bro.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
When you retire, let's see how much I talk to
you about you, then you won't matter much. Promise you,
I won't be talking about you much when you stop playing.
As long as you're playing, I'm gonna talk about you
because that's my job, and I'm gonna be very objective
about it.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
You deserve praise and give it to you. You deserve criticism.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
I'm gonna give that to but at least I'm going
to tell the truth instead of lying. Like Lebron, James
has been lying, using his son as an excuse to
say what he said to me. He has a problem
with me, he knows good and damn well. I wasn't
(11:36):
shitting on his son. He has a problem, and instead
of talking to me about it, he came at me
when I wasn't in a position to respond, and then
when he wanted to respond and elaborate, he went to
Pat McAfee. Major props to Pat McAfee again forgetting it.
(11:59):
Anybody would have got damn it, you did it. I
have no problem with Pat McAfee whatsoever what he did
with this interview. I'm not insulted or offended or betrayed
by a teammate.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Or anything like that. That's nonsense. He did the right thing.
Lebron is the culprit here, but far be it for
me to say that about King James. Kings don't get blames.
I guess that's why he's not my king.
Lebron is one of those dudes who believes he's up
here and folks, particularly in the media, are down here.
There are exceptions, you know, in moments that he needs others,
but that's who he is. Cool.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Lebron has a show called The Shop.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Once upon a time, the Rich Paul's the Maverick Carters
came up to me, gotta have you on, Gotta have
you on? I said, simple and playing, no problem only
in one condition two conditions. I'm sorry, Lebron must be
there because there are times where the Shop was heir
that Lebron wasn't in attendance.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I said, I show up.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Lebron has to be there number one and number two.
No editing, don't edit shit out, cliff note stuff, clip things,
cut it out, Nah, let the public see. I know
(01:11):
if I told him to come off first take, he
ain't gonna want to do that because he've viewsed that
as benefiting me. I know that if I wanted him
to come on this podcast, he viewed that as benefiting me.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I offered to come on his spot, name the time
and place, and I'll show up by my damn self.
I was never taken up on that offer, because you see,
it's real easy to talk that talk like you got
all the facts when I'm not there to respond. It's
another thing entirely if I'm near to refute all the
(01:47):
bullshit coming out your mouth. But this is what he does,
It's what he's always done. And then he looks at
everybody else say this, Steve d Man, please whatever, whatever?
Why do I take this so seriously because you got
(02:08):
cats out there trying to give the impression that I
come after people's families. I need y'all a pause for
one second, and I just need y'all to think I'm.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Just talking to the professional athletes out there. I'm not
gonna even mention any names.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Who have rallied to the support of Lebron like he's
this big victim. They are owners, there are general managers,
there are coaches, there are other players and other sports.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
What have you.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Nepotism exists in every form of business. We can muster
in our minds.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
It's okay, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
But when have you seen someone demand that the public's
down while somebody has lifted up their offspring before it
was earned. When has that happened? I'm not talking about
(03:17):
Brownie now and what we're seeing. I'm not even talking
about Bronnie from my mothergo or whatever. I'm just talking
about in general, what the whole spectrum before he bounced
the ball, what we saw, what we witnessed lebron doing
and manipulating. Tell me when we've seen somebody do that
for someone who was universally recognized as not necessarily ready yet,
(03:42):
not that he wouldn't be, but not necessarily ready yet.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
That's what he asked of us.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So I again was talking about Dad as in YO, he's.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
In public eye.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Don't expose him like this to us because we got
a job to do.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Don't do that, That's all.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
I wasn't the one that brought up the legitimacy of
his McDonald's all American appearance on the roster. Kenji Perkins
did that. Numerous people pointed to other folks in high
school basketball at the time, and they were questioning their worthiness.
I didn't do that. We had the heart ailment. Oh
(04:35):
my god, I hope he's okay. We decided to pass
up staying at USC and turn pro cool. When Opening
Night took place in the Griffies were intended. I was
in Crypto dot com rena standing clapping. All of that
got ignored. Why didn't get ignored, ladies and gentlemen, because Lebron.
(05:00):
It wasn't about the problem that Lebron had about his son.
It was Lebron having a problem and finally finding an
excuse to do what he always wanted to do, which
was confront me in an unfortunate and public platform. I'm
(05:20):
not gonna go as far as I want to go
in saying how weak that stuff is. In terms of
how he confronted me, I would have waited. I got
nothing to say to him now. You know, we'll probably
never speak in life again. But if he wanted, you know,
(05:41):
I wish he had the shop. I wish he invited
me on, not my platform, his platform. You can't defend
the stuff that he's done. You have no idea, But
he knows. I know we want to go there. Let's
go there, slithering and just through stuff and always with
(06:01):
the two faced nods up ooh.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Y'all won't know the half y'all don't know.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
So when he went on Pat McAfee's show earlier today,
it was no surprise. The show that comes on after
first take the show that stars me. I know that
you got a new podcast coming out with Steve Nash.
No surprise there, JJ Redick, Steve Nash, no surprise, got
(06:28):
the podcast coming out. Definitely want to promote that basketball
podcast and we should watch it. We should learn because
Lebron knows more basketball than most people forgot. Just like
he said to Pat McAfee, his mind, he thinks the game.
Most of these people rely on their athleticism and their
talents and their skill. He relies on his brain. He's
absolutely right, and he knows basketball backwards and forwards. That
(06:50):
has nothing to do with how you've treated people. That
has nothing to do to the things that you've said.
That has nothing to do with you confronting me about
doing my job. And everybody wants to look at and say,
as a father's a father's a father? Because I said
as a father, I stand by that, not because he's
(07:12):
Bronnie's father.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I stand by it.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Because he was the one putting everything on public display.
We didn't have to know that he didn't care about
you know, I'm sorry. We did not have to know.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
That he.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Was willing to go someplace else practically for free. We
did not have to know that it was not about
the money. We did not have to hear him say
you want me draft Bronnie. We did not have to
hear him say, my son is better to have the
players or some of the players in the NBA right
now before he ever played an NBA game.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
You did that. That was lebron James who did that.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
He wasn't asked that, He wasn't asked his level of
culpability in all of this.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
He goes on there and he talks, man cool, I
got it. I got it. So it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
There's really not much else to say other than this,
ladies and gentlemen, It's very important that you understand what.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I'm about to say.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
To me anyway. I'm not a liar. I might not
like what I say. Every truth ain't meant to be told,
but I don't go into airwaves and lie. I did
(08:36):
not know we were being videoed at courtside. He was
walking out of a timeout. I did not know initially
that after he finished getting in my face he looked.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Right up at the camera, go back and look at
the angle. I didn't know that. I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
When I went on the air the next morning, we
had a morning meeting, at which time I said to
the staff at first tape, I don't feel like talking
about this, And then minutes later they said, it's the
number one trending topic in sports. You have to talk
(09:25):
about it. The bosses, you have to talk about it.
What do you mean you ain't talking about it?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
This is what you do. This is sports.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
This is a sports story and it directly evolves you.
What you mean you ain't talking about it? So he
might think I'm salivating and I was happy to discuss it.
I'm not happy to discuss the dude getting in my
face telling me stop shitting on his son. I'm not
(09:55):
happy about that.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I think Savannah is the first lady of the.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I think she's an absolutely wonderful human being that has
always been nothing but kind to me.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
You think I like the thought of pissing her off.
Gloria James.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
An absolutely wonderful person that I have seen over the
years and has never been anything but the most pleasant
person in the world to me. I don't like the
thought of upsetting her or anybody that cares about him.
I certainly don't want to hurt Bronnie. I'm rooting for
(10:38):
the kid but the news is the news, the sport
is the sport, and the story was the story. So
Lebron can be say anything he wants and I want
to talk about him or whatever case. And I'm gonna
continue to talk to you about.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
About you, bro.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
When you retire, let's see how much I talk to
you about you, then you won't matter much. Promise you,
I won't be talking about you much when you stop playing.
As long as you're playing, I'm gonna talk about you
because that's my job, and I'm gonna be very objective
about it.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
You deserve praise and give it to you. You deserve criticism.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
I'm gonna give that to but at least I'm going
to tell the truth instead of lying. Like Lebron, James
has been lying, using his son as an excuse to
say what he said to me. He has a problem
with me, he knows good and damn well. I wasn't
(11:36):
shitting on his son. He has a problem, and instead
of talking to me about it, he came at me
when I wasn't in a position to respond, and then
when he wanted to respond and elaborate, he went to
Pat McAfee. Major props to Pat McAfee again forgetting it.
(11:59):
Anybody would have got damn it, you did it. I
have no problem with Pat McAfee whatsoever what he did
with this interview. I'm not insulted or offended or betrayed
by a teammate.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Or anything like that. That's nonsense. He did the right thing.
Lebron is the culprit here, but far be it for
me to say that about King James. Kings don't get blames.
I guess that's why he's not my king.
Host
Stephen A. Smith
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