Kevin Love comes to LeBron James' defense amid Stephen A. Smith spat
03/08/2025 03:23 PM
LeBron James' former teammate Kevin Love weighed in on the viral confrontation between James and ESPN's Stephen A. Smith during the Los Angeles Lakers' 113-109 overtime win against the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
On Friday, Love took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to respond to Smith's comments about the interaction, which stemmed from James' frustration over remarks about his son, Bronny James. Love reposted Smith's tweet and added his own pointed commentary.
You have no choice? lol
Because it went viral? lol
You didn't want to have to? lol
You wouldn't have? lol https://t.co/u7g8PTF4Cj
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) March 7, 2025
Former Laker and fellow James teammate Tristan Thompson also reacted, replying with three shouting emojis.
— Tristan Thompson (@RealTristan13) March 7, 2025
The confrontation occurred courtside, with James directly addressing Smith regarding his coverage of Bronny. Smith first spoke about the exchange during Friday morning's broadcast of First Take, explaining why James confronted him.
"That was LeBron James coming up to me unexpectedly, I might add… to confront me about making sure that I mind what I say about his son [Bronny]," Smith said.
Stephen A. Smith clarifies details of LeBron James' courtside confrontation during Lakers’ win
Smith later elaborated on The Stephen A. Smith Show, providing additional details about the interaction.
"I thought long and hard about this over the last few hours because I had no intention of talking about this at all," Smith said. "The reason why was because it was a one-on-one, I wouldn’t say a conversation, but it was a one-on-one confrontation."
Smith then addressed speculation surrounding the nature of the encounter, denying claims that James used derogatory language toward him.
"Let me just put to bed a couple of things that have been reported that are false," Smith said. "People were talking about LeBron called me out my name. I saw somebody say he called me a b****. Somebody said he called me a punk, and this; none of that is true."
He went on to describe James' tone and the exact words he used.
"He approached me during the game and said, 'Stop f****** with my son. That's my f****** son. Stop f****** with my son,'" Smith recalled.
Smith initially responded with confusion.
"I said, 'What?' and he said, 'Nah, nah, nah, straight up man-to-man. Real talk. Stop f****** with my son,' and I saw how furious he was," Smith said.
James has not publicly addressed the situation, remaining focused on the season as the Lakers continue their push for playoff positioning. Now 40-21 and holding the second seed in the Western Conference, they will begin a four-game road trip on Saturday night against the Boston Celtics (45-18), with tipoff set for 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
The post Kevin Love comes to LeBron James’ defense amid Stephen A. Smith spat appeared first on ClutchPoints.
