LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers all-star, has spoken out regarding Stephen A. Smith and his son, Bronny James. While appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, LeBron said, “I accept criticism, but comments crossing personal lines regarding my family is beyond my threshold.”
Brian Windhorst’s Take on the Issue
It was Stephen A. Smith who started a controversy as he assessed whether Bronny James was ready to join the NBA or not and insinuated that an essential factor in that was his father’s fame. That was the last straw for LeBron James. He fired back at Smith, and that is how the world came to know about yet another public spat.
Brian Windhorst, an NBA analyst who has covered LeBron for quite some time, commented that while media personalities have the right to speak about players, it is too personal to include some family matters. He pointed out that LeBron is protective of his own children; therefore, he can understand this reaction from LeBron.
LeBron on The Pat McAfee Show
During an episode of The Pat McAfee Show, LeBron sarcastically referred to Smith’s treatment of the issue as a “Taylor Swift tour,” meaning he kept talking about it. He explained that he was fine with people discussing his playing style but drew an offending line with judgments imposed on his son.
Later, Smith defended himself by saying he was doing no harm and merely expressing views on Bronny’s basketball future. But this has opened the floor to debate concerning the appropriate media coverage for young athletes.
What’s Next?
Brian Windhorst believes that similar debates will continue as the media covers the younger athletes. Journalists should really think carefully about how they approach these things.
Well, LeBron makes it clear: he’ll talk about basketball freely, but he will not put up with unfair comments about family. Whether Stephen A. Smith, however, will change his tune on this remains to be seen, but this one’s still hot in the sports world.
Source: USA Today
