Stephen A. Smith Officially Changes His Opinion Of LeBron James

Stephen A. Smith has voiced his complaints about LeBron James several times over the past 12 months, that's for sure. All this drama started with James confronting Smith courtside during a game between the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers. The future Hall of Famer had an issue with comments ...

by Chris Rosvoglou

Mar 19, 2026

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on First Take.

Stephen A. Smith has voiced his complaints about LeBron James several times over the past 12 months, that's for sure.

All this drama started with James confronting Smith courtside during a game between the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers. The future Hall of Famer had an issue with comments Smith made about his son, Bronny.

Back in August 2025, Smith discussed his relationship with James during an appearance on "Gil's Arena." The charismatic ESPN personality made it abundantly clear that he's not fond of the four-time NBA champion.

"There’s no situation, and there’s no relationship. He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him. You ever see LeBron go at a white boy? Let’s call it what it is. You ever see him do that? You’ll say you saw him come at me. You saw him come at me," Smith said, via Awful Announcing.

"Closest you ever came to seeing him do something like that [to a white journalist] was when he called out Brian Windhorst. What you calling out Brian Windhorst for? The man covered you since junior high school and has praised you repeatedly and you used the Pat McAfee situation to go at him. [T]hat’s the only time you ever seen LeBron James really go at somebody white. I’m going to call it what it is."

Nov 3, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith looks on before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images&period;

Is Stephen A. Smith finally a fan of LeBron?

Believe it or not, Smith had nothing but kind things to say about James during this Thursday's episode of "First Take." James had 30 points on 13-of-14 shooting Wednesday night in a win over the Houston Rockets.

"This is one of the guys on the Mount Rushmore of basketball, one of the top 5, 4 players in the history of basketball. Okay, who is a 4-time champion and a 4-time league MVP and was clearly the star of the Los Angeles Lakers all of these years that he has been there until Luka Doncic arrived last season. And all he does is go out there and not just play deferentially to Luka Doncic, he also does so to Austin Reaves," Smith said, via Awful Announcing.

"Austin Reaves goes down, he gets injured, he comes back, he allows Austin Reaves to work his way back into things. The unselfishness, the leadership, you just can’t question it, you know. You know, if it was something to question, I wouldn’t hesitate to question."

James hasn't responded to Smith's praise, but maybe he'll decide to bury the hatchet.