Social media, pundits, and even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver are all talking about the ongoing public back-and-forth between Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. On Thursday, during her NBATV program Run It Back, host Michelle Beadle weighed in on the growing media feud between these two NBA giants.
Comparing the spat to something out of the world of World Wrestling Entertainment, Beadle struggled to find a side to support.
“This feels like a WWE situation at this point,” laughed Beadle while discussing the issue with co-host Chandler Parsons. “It’s Pat McAfee, who now is one of the faces of the WWE. Alright, he’s hosting this. LeBron James goes on there for over an hour on the very network where the dude he confronted in public also is the highest-paid guy on the network. All of it feels fake to me.”
Beadle, who worked at ESPN from 2009 to 2012 and again from 2014 to 2019, addressed the incident that gained momentum following James’ appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday. That interview then led to a response from Smith on his podcast, which was quickly followed by James posting a late-night video of Smith attempting to box while recovering from surgery. This post appeared to be a direct response to Smith’s earlier remark that he would have “immediately swung on him” if James had touched him during their recent courtside confrontation at a Lakers game.
The situation escalated further when Smith took to his First Take program on ESPN Thursday morning, delivering a nearly twenty-minute rant mocking the Lakers’ superstar.
“By the way, LeBron James calling Stephen A.’s situation right now basically he’s on a ‘Taylor Swift Tour’ right now,” Beadle applauded. “Chef’s kiss, he is.”
Beadle continued, pointing out that Smith has been “milking everything” from the viral video of James confronting him at a Lakers game. She noted that Smith has since appeared on nearly every media outlet possible to discuss the incident.
Although she made it clear that she doesn’t particularly care about James’ comments regarding Smith, she did take issue with his remarks about ESPN NBA reporter Brian Windhorst.
“Wow. We have entered a really weird realm,” Beadle joked. “I think where LeBron lost a lot of people from yesterday’s interview—because the Stephen A. comments, who cares, right? But when you go after Brian Windhorst, who has been covering him since he was a kid, since he was a high schooler? I didn’t really get it. It felt unprovoked, unnecessary. A bit bullying, I guess, if you will. You see quickly how much Brian Windhorst is loved in this industry, because I’ve seen everyone from the guys on NBA Radio to Amin Elhassan—everyone’s picking up for ‘Windy.’ Because why, dude?”
Beadle wrapped up her thoughts by calling the situation laughable, though not in a fun, comedic way.
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