NBA legends Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade have shared their perspectives on LeBron James’ courtside confrontation with Stephen A. Smith, breaking down the emotions and long-standing tension behind the incident.
On the latest episode of 7PM in Brooklyn, a Wave Original podcast hosted by Anthony, Wade revealed that he privately messaged Smith after the confrontation. Wade admitted that while he understood both perspectives, he sided with LeBron from a father’s standpoint.
“I told him, as a father, I’m walking up on you,” Wade said. “I get it. I’m like that too. I’m at you. I think we’ve never seen LeBron do that—LeBron don’t even go back at players that foul him too hard on the court. He’s always been just even-keeled and levelheaded in every aspect, and sometimes you want him to jump, sometimes you want him to go, and he won’t.”
Wade pointed out that LeBron confronting Smith directly was meaningful, especially considering how the Lakers star has largely ignored criticism throughout his career.
“To watch him on that bench and see Stephen A. over there, he couldn’t take it… it was burning him,” Wade said. “But I told [Stephen A.], I think the one thing is, and first of all, I take it as a sign of respect that LeBron did that to you… your microphone is the loudest, your platform is the biggest, and also, you’re a Black man. So you got to understand where he’s coming from with that.”
Anthony, who has known LeBron for decades, believes this was the result of years of built-up frustration. He said the incident wasn’t solely about Bronny James but was fueled by over two decades of critiques from Smith.
“This ain’t got nothing to do with Bronny,” Anthony said. “It’s just the fact that Bronny is a part of the conversation now, and he also got to protect his seed. But there’s also energy with those two and those crews from over the years—just build-up. This ain’t no love relationship that we talking about. This is just Stephen A. doing what he do, what he’s supposed to do over the years, bro, LeBron doing what he doing over the years, and this is what happens.”
Anthony explained that LeBron’s silence over the years may have led to the moment finally reaching a boiling point.
“LeBron has never spoken on any situation with Stephen A.,” Anthony said. “So if I’m sitting there for 20-plus years and I’m just taking all of this information and all this sh*t that you’ve said to me, about me over the years, now my son is the trigger. No matter what you said about him, that’s the trigger.”
Smith revealed details of the confrontation on Gil’s Arena, saying LeBron approached him during a timeout and told him to stop speaking negatively about Bronny. The analyst admitted he was caught off guard but later defended himself, saying he had only criticized how LeBron handled his son’s career, not Bronny himself.
Anthony, who spoke with LeBron after the incident, said he fully supported his former teammate standing up for his son.
“Honestly, ‘it’s about time’—all caps ‘about time,’” Anthony said. “And it is not just for Stephen A. Smith, it’s just people need to see that energy from me. It wasn’t about disrespecting. It wasn’t about, ‘Oh, I’m just going to put my tough pants on now.’ Like nah—leave my son out of this.”
He added that the situation carried deeper personal meaning for LeBron, who wanted his family to witness him standing firm.
“It is simple. It’s about to be a shift, man,” Anthony said. “You hear what I’m saying? It is simple. My daughter got to see this, my family got to see this… and I told him, I said, ‘About time.’”
The incident has sparked reactions from across the league, with players like Draymond Green also taking issue with Smith’s comments. The situation highlights the challenges of balancing sports commentary with personal relationships, particularly when family is involved.
