Sports

Stephen A Smith Signs Gets In Heated Exchange With LeBron James After g New ESPN Deal

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By
James Boutros
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James Boutros Sports Editor

Growing up, James was fascinated with watching sports. This led to an interest in research and stats and writing betting analysis for a variety of sports. James has graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business.

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Published07 Mar 2025

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Stephen A Smith is the most known sports media personality. He recently signed a massive new deal with ESPN.

According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, Smith signed a five-year, $100+ million contract.

Smith is the most known person in sports media. He is all over ESPN television.

With the new deal, Smith will continue to be a fixture on First Take. However, he will no longer be a regular on ESPN’s premiere NBA pregame show anymore, though he could still make occasional appearances as well as Monday Night Football pregame or during other big-time events.

This is not the only reason Smith has been trending.

It seemed as if LeBron James and Stephen A Smith got into a heated exchange at the Los Angeles Lakers game on Thursday night.

Stephen A Smith & LeBron James Get In Heated Exchange

Stephen A Smith is not shy about criticizing an athlete.

He has mentioned Bronny James, the son of LeBron James.

Smith said of Bronny “I’m really, really trying to be as respectful as I possibly can be toward LeBron James, one of the top two or three players in the history of basketball,” Smith said. “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 … father-son duo playing in an NBA game for the first time, an absolutely, positively wonderful story.”

Smith continued “And then reality sets in. We love what we’re seeing from (Bronny) in the G League, because that’s where you belong, as you hone your skills and you get better and you legitimately earn, which I believe he has the potential to do. I am rooting for Bronny James … he’s a wonderful kid, I wish him nothing but the best.”

This may have sparked this heated exchange between Stephen A Smith and LeBron. Here is the exchange between Smith and LeBron:

Details of what was said are not currently known.