The NBA season has been full of rivalries but arguably the one that has generated the most discussion involves Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James!
Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James were recorded arguing with each other earlier in the season over Bronny James, and the back-and-forth continued for a while.
Now, the analyst has stoked the flames once again by entering a debate that he wasn’t a part of, backing Isiah Thomas over his critique of James.
He didn’t hold back as he agreed with Thomas ripping into James for his ‘unprofessional’ act that had the former point guard lamenting over dropping standards of professionalism in the NBA.
Isiah Thomas made the headlines recently when he criticized LeBron James for warming up before a game without a shirt on.
What was a standard comment took a life of its own soon, as is the norm with anything involving LeBron James, as others jumped in with their takes.
At that point, it was inevitable that Stephen A. Smith would enter the discussion too, especially given his recent history with the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.
As expected, he hit back at James and agreed with Thomas, even though he gave James his flowers for his overall standard of professionalism.
He said: “When it comes to Stephen A. Smith and LeBron, I’m going to always be fair regardless of how we feel about each other.
“To mention the word unprofessionalism and him with a broad brush would be incredibly unfair but if you’re isolating an incident, which Isiah Thomas did, it’s more than fair.
“You’re a man out there with no uniform, no T-shirt on in a professional environment. You’re not in a closed-door practice. You’re out in the arena when fans have been allowed to enter.
“Professionalism matters.”
It is remarkable that James warming up without a jersey before the game has become this big an issue when players talk to the media all the time from their locker rooms in that condition.
Isolating an incident to question James’ professionalism is not as foolproof an argument as Stephen A. Smith makes it out to be because that assumes perfection.
What’s unprofessional is spreading fake news and false information with full confidence about a person in an attempt to get back at them, something which Stephen A. Smith is guilty of doing when he was having his back-and-forth with James.
For his part, James has dealt with it how he’s dealt with most “controversies” that have followed him in the NBA.
Put his head down and keep looking forward because, ultimately, winning cures everything.
