ESPN journalist Stephen A. Smith believes his relationship with LeBron James has deteriorated to the point of no return.
The reporter also admitted he would be happy to never speak with the NBA legend again.
The two men were involved in a heated confrontation last March following a Los Angeles Lakes and New York Knicks match.
James reportedly took offence to Smith’s comments about his son, Bronny. This led to a war of words, which saw Smith accuse the NBA superstar of being a ‘bully’.
Nearly six months on from their verbal confrontation, Smith revealed he no longer has a relationship with James.
Speaking on the Gil’s Arena live stream, the broadcaster said: “He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him… if I never, ever speak to him again in life, that will be OK. And I’m good with it.”
James irked by Smith’s comments
The public feud between the two men started after Smith made a number of comments about LeBron’s son Bronny.
The youngster made a 15-minute appearance for the Los Angeles Lakes, but failed to score a single point against the 76ers.
In an episode of First Take after the game, 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.”
He later added: “How are you doing him favors? You know what these numbers mean… what kind of opportunity they’re starving for.”
Smith argues his comments were misconstrued
The analyst has always maintained that the four-time NBA champion misconstrued his comments.
During the Gil’s Arena conversation, Smith explained: “All I would say is people don’t know the things that have happened behind the scenes… things that have been said, who they’ve been said to.
“The kind of things that have been engaged in in an effort to hurt me, along with contemporaries and others.”
He later added: “The last straw was him approaching me and turning the Bronny thing into something about me attacking somebody’s family, when it was him I was talking about. Not Bronny.”
Smith continued: “I’m never going to denigrate any employer, any partner, or myself by getting into anything excessively, unnecessarily, when it comes to him or anybody else.
“I’m going to do my job. I’m going to cover the game of basketball.”
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