The confrontation between LeBron James and Stephen A Smith on March 6 triggered talk of other NBA stars approaching the ESPN analyst.
Online sportsbook Bovada has listed Warriors star Draymond Green, a close friend of James, as the odds-on favorite to next approach Smith and give him a piece of his mind.
Green already made his feelings clear about Smith calling LeBron James “weak” for approaching him during the Lakers-Knicks game at Crypto.com Arena.
“Calling another man weak? That’s just … not basketball,” Green said on his “Draymond Green Show” podcast on March 15. “Which is actually what ‘Bron was saying in the first place, like, let’s keep it basketball because calling a man weak, that’s not basketball. And you’re paid to talk about basketball.
“You call ‘Bron weak for stepping to you, but you’re taking shots at him as a father on TV behind a camera. Most would say that’s weak.”
Kevin Durant and Smith Have A History
Green further blasted Smith for not speaking directly to James.
“Reach out to that man [James] and talk to him after somebody said something to you and you know you’re wrong,” he added. “So, reach out to that man and talk to him. But you didn’t. You didn’t reach out and talk to him. That’s weak.”
Suns star Kevin Durant (+1500) and Warriors star Jimmy Butler (+1800) round off the top three NBA stars most likely to get into a heated exchange with Smith, per Bovada.
Elsewhere, BetOnline.ag has Durant a 2/1 favorite as the next NBA star to confront Smith. Butler (3/1) and Green (4/1) are next on the list.
Durant previously blasted Smith in a December 2024 interview with The Athletic.
“I’ve been in the league for 18 years, never seen Stephen A. at a practice, or a film session, or a shoot-around,” Durant said. “I’ve never seen him anywhere but on TV talking s— about players. … He’s a clown to me. He’s always been a clown.”
According to former NBA All-Star Gordon Hayward, many NBA stars would love to confront Smith or other popular talking heads on television.
Stephen A Smith Up For More Confrontations?
“Yeah, absolutely,” Hayward told FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” on March 13. “I think we all have moments where we want to confront the talking heads because a lot of stuff that they say, they just don’t know what they’re talking about because they are not with you in the locker room and they don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.”
However, Hayward disagreed with James’ approach to publicly confront Smith, especially during an NBA game.
“Me, personally, I would never do that in public like that. I don’t think it’s the time or place for something like that.”
Meanwhile, Smith has refused to backtrack from his comments about James, and has doubled down on his take across several media outlets.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Smith said James did a lot of maneuvering to get his son, Bronny James, a spot on an NBA team.
“I was getting on him because he had gone through so many things to, you know, have his son in the NBA,” Smith said. “He was bringing unnecessary attention on his son. Prematurely, in my estimation. He didn’t like that, so he confronted me. It’s his prerogative.
“He didn’t put his hands on me. That’s all that matters. He can feel whatever way he wants to feel. I’m gonna do my job. I cover the sport. That’s what I’m gonna do.”
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