NBA star LeBron James said analyst Stephen A. Smith needs to "relax" regarding their personal feud that James said Smith has talked about far too much.
The feud stems from a March 6 altercation in which James confronted Smith courtside at a Los Angeles Lakers game against the New York Knicks. James was upset at Smith's remarks that LeBron "Bronny" James Jr. was pushed into the NBA by his father before he was ready.
According to Smith, James told him "stop f**king with my son!"
Smith then characterized the confrontation as "weak" and "bulls**t," later saying that if James had put his hands on him, he would have "immediately swung" a punch at him.
On Wednesday's episode of "The Pat McAfee Show," James mocked Smith for going on a "tour" about his complaints stemming from the ordeal and compared him to Taylor Swift.
"He's, like, on a Taylor Swift tour run right now," James joked. "It started off with, 'I didn't wanna address it. I didn't wanna address it. I wasn't going to address it. But since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.' Are you are you kidding me?"
McAfee then said the subject only came up on his show because a video of the altercation went viral. James made fun of the host for that comment and said McAfee "couldn't wait till the video had dropped" so he could address it.
'He's gonna get home and grab some ice cream.'
On top of saying that Smith had "completely missed the whole point" of his complaints, James explained he did not have any issue with on-the-court criticisms of his son. He added that he would never "not allow people to talk about the sport" or "criticize players about what they do on the court."
"That is your job," James affirmed.
However, the 40-year-old said he drew the line at getting "personal" and stated that he felt it was his job to not only "protect my damn household," but to "protect the players" on his team, as well.
The star forward further mocked Smith, saying that he knew the host would be happy to hear James talk about him.
"I know that he's gonna be happy as hell. ... He's gonna get home and grab some ice cream out of the f**king freezer and sit in his chair and his tighty whities on the couch."
Smith responded to James' remarks on Thursday's episode of ESPN's "First Take," described many personal stories regarding James, and noted that he declined to bring them up in the past out of respect. Smith cited James not appearing at Kobe Bryant's memorial or Dwyane Wade's Hall of Fame induction.
Smith then claimed James has been "pouting" and has tried to "ostracize" him from the sports world and NBA community though he has poured heaps of praise on the athlete throughout his career.
"I applaud them when they win. I criticize them when they're messing up," Smith concluded.
The host also warned James and his detractors that since he signed a new ESPN contract, "it's going to be a little while" before he and his commentary go away.
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Stephen A. Smith may be a star at ESPN, but those closest to his work aren’t as impressed as his audience — and a recent undercover interview recorded by James O’Keefe proves it.
“We have this one guy, his name is Stephen A. Smith. He plays the ‘angry black man’ on TV. ‘The angry black man’ stereotype is basically, you’re loud, you talk over people, what you say is not necessarily important, it’s more how loud you are and how I guess you deliver your speech,” ESPN producer Ryan Bertrand told the undercover reporter.
“He does that pretty well. I think the higher-ups at ESPN and Disney see that he’s like this angry black man, he goes on Fox News probably like once a week, and he’ll talk about Gaza, and he has no idea about Gaza,” Bertrand continued.
“And we’re like, ‘Brother, you were just talking about the Lakers like three hours ago, what do you know about Gaza?’” he added.
Bertrand also said that it’s essentially Smith’s job to “create chaos, to create controversy.”
Jason Whitlock of “Fearless” is far from surprised.
“What that confirms, and everybody knew it was obvious, but everybody knows that Stephen A. Smith is a gimmick and that there’s no authenticity to Stephen A. Smith, that ESPN knows that they’re promoting a clown, that ESPN knows that he has no credibility as it relates to politics,” Whitlock says.
“Here’s Disney, and ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, is promoting someone who’s completely unqualified to do what they’re hired to do,” he continues. “They’re just there to create chaos, and clicks, and division, and to fit a stereotype of, as this man described it, ‘the angry black man.’”
“So Disney and ESPN, and we’re not breaking news here, but their job is to promote racial division and to promote buffoonery among black hosts,” he adds.
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ESPN reporter Mina Kimes told critics to stop telling her how to do her job following backlash over her defense of a government webpage dedicated to Jackie Robinson.
The 39-year-old, along with fellow ESPN reporter Jeff Passan, took grave issue with the Department of Defense removing a webpage dedicated to the baseball legend's military service as part of their anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative. Despite the page's origins dating back to just 2021, the reporter went on a full offensive to get the story republished.
Passan started with a complaint late Tuesday about the page's removal, calling government officials "ghouls" before he demanded they "fix this now."
On Wednesday afternoon, Passan published a response he received from Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot on the issue:
"As Secretary Hegseth has said, DEI is dead at the Defense Department," the Pentagon official explained. "Discriminatory Equity Ideology is a form of Woke cultural Marxism that has no place in our military. It Divides the force, Erodes unit cohesion and Interferes with the services' core warfighting mission. We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. In the rare cases that content is removed -- either deliberately or by mistake -- that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content accordingly."
— (@)
Less than 30 minutes later, Passan posted an updated statement from the government entity that said the DOD "loves Jackie Robinson, as well as the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee airmen, the Marines at Iwo Jima and so many others."
The department still stood with its anti-DEI message, however, and said it saluted the heroes for their "heroic service" but did not view their achievements "through the prism of immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or sex."
"We do so only by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission like ever (sic) other American who has worn the uniform," the department added.
— (@)
However, it took less than 40 minutes after the DOD's first statement was posted for the agency to restore the Jackie Robinson page, which highlighted the legendary player's athletic and military history.
Enter Kimes, who appeared on ESPN's "Around the Horn" later that evening to echo similar sentiments to Passan, despite it being after the fact.
"Jackie Robinson was known for many things, but above all, first and foremost, it was his ongoing courage in the face of racial discrimination. In fact, in addition to crossing the color barrier in baseball, he served in a segregated unit in the army and, in one instance, refused to move to the back of the bus, was arrested and acquitted. That matters," Kimes said on the air.
"That history cannot be erased. It cannot be undone, and it must be recognized to fully understand and celebrate his legacy."
Fans reacted strongly to her video, criticizing ESPN for its never-ending battle in favor of DEI initiatives.
"It's unfortunate you haven't learned," one football fan wrote. "Most of the public views sports as an escape from politics, divisiveness, DEI, racial talks, etc."
Kimes gave a snarky reply, "Thanks for the career advice but Im good."
Fans did not let up, though.
"I miss when it was about sports and not about liberal women needing to inject soft social science BS," a female viewer added.
"Mina [is] trying to finish ESPN off," another football fan joked.
Kimes then responded to conservative commentator Jesse Kelly, who told his followers there was a time when sports shows stuck to sports, but now hosts scold fans like they "forgot to take out the trash."
— (@)
Kimes then trashed Kelly as a grifter and said he is not a sports fan, which she felt she aptly displayed by including a screenshot of Kelly saying he had "checked out" on NFL and NCAA football.
The host soon alluded to sexism when responding to her supporters, claiming that despite other hosts echoing her sentiments, critics chose to focus on her:
"We know what they're doing. The funny part is when they pretend to care about sports," Kimes wrote.
Furthermore, Kimes strangely agreed when a viewer stated that she is mostly known for her political and social takes, ignoring the fact that those views were indeed presented on a sports program.
Kimes then tripled down and said the reason was because Kelly does not watch sports, again calling him a grifter for sharing his opinion on the matter.
"Once you realize that 99% of these grifters are the same way it becomes obvious."
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ESPN host and apparent presidential hopeful Stephen A. Smith has been beefing with LeBron James, and Jason Whitlock can’t help but feel like it’s all a little “gay” — especially considering that Smith’s public comments on the matter have been laced with uncalled-for profanity.
“There’s no one sitting back saying, ‘Hey man, let’s handle this like a chess game. Let’s use logic. Women are controlled by emotion; we’re men. We’re going to play a game of chess.’ There’s no one saying that,” Whitlock says.
“Stephen A. Smith barely weighs 160 pounds and he’s trying to act like he’s some tough guy,” he continues. “Cut it out.”
And Smith’s history doesn’t help.
“Stephen A. Smith is possibly the biggest fraud they’ve ever seen in the sports world. They know he lied about a college basketball career, they know he’s a pathological liar, but they all sat there,” Whitlock says, “and acted like they were listening to someone who had figured out how to cure cancer.”
“No one with any type of biblical worldview, no one with any type of, ‘Hey, I’ve got larger responsibilities to my kids, to my wife or baby-mama, to my mother, parents, father, family, to God, my employer,’ no one is injecting any of that into the conversation,” he continues.
Whitlock notes that while young people are watching Smith and taking their cues from him, it’s only going to “lead them into a mindset and a way of carrying themselves that will get them into further and further trouble.”
“Just remember, all of these guys, they’re all pro-black. They’re the people that are out trying to save black people; they’re keeping it real for the culture,” he continues.
“Well, what is the culture? The culture is death, and that’s what they’re keeping it real for. They will help you follow and adhere to the death culture, where black people shoot and kill each other and have constant conflict,” he adds.
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President Donald Trump’s recent executive order banning men from competing in women’s sports marks the first major victory for female athletes over impossible women in more than four years.
President Joe Biden weaponized the federal government against common sense and biological reality. He appointed Dr. Rachel Levine, a biological man who identifies as a woman, as the public face of public health. He also gave a high-level Department of Energy position to an individual who identifies as nonbinary and is known for drag performances and a puppy role-play fetish.
Restoring sanity in this area will take time, but for now, Trump has made women’s sports female again.
Biden further attempted to normalize the left’s rejection of biological sex by inviting Dylan Mulvaney, a man who identifies as a girl, to the White House. But with a single executive order, Trump dealt a significant blow to the left’s broader DEI agenda, which has relied on coercion and intimidation to force girls and women to accept men in their sports and private spaces.
Many political commentators, including some on the left, acknowledged the effectiveness of the 2024 campaign ad that ended with the line, “Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you.” The ad resonated because it perfectly captured the left’s unwavering commitment to gender ideology, despite its unpopularity.
It also reflected Trump’s genuine effort to address the concerns of women and girls frustrated with being forced to compete against biological males in high school, collegiate, and professional sports. His pledge to restore sanity in government was as central to his pitch to voters as his promise to deport illegal immigrants on a massive scale.
Only radical ideologues on the progressive left opposed this stance. These are the same people who claim men can have babies and insist Lia Thomas is a modern-day Jackie Robinson. The former University of Pennsylvania swimmer — born William Thomas — won an NCAA national championship in the women’s 500-yard freestyle in March 2022. The university responded by nominating Thomas for the NCAA’s “Woman of the Year” award.
While conservatives have brought a lot of attention to this issue, progressive journalists and commentators in sports media tried to downplay it whenever possible.
ESPN’s official “X” account posted about the president's order, but the network has not been a neutral party in this war on reality. When the company has spoken on this issue, it has consistently taken the side of gender ideologues over the girls crying out for someone in the media to speak up for them.
ESPN and other legacy sports networks have avoided this issue but have had no problem lecturing viewers on anthem protests, social justice, abortion, or fake hate crimes. The self-proclaimed “worldwide leader in sports” even interrupted a women’s college basketball game to pledge support for activists demanding the right to say “gay” to young children in Florida classrooms.
ESPN recognizes that transgender athletes are the newest protected victim group, and its most prominent personalities refuse to say anything that might align them with so-called “hateful” Trump supporters. As a result, analysts — often women — who have spent years complaining that women’s sports don’t get the respect they deserve remain silent as men win state track championships and collegiate swimming titles.
This is what cultural cowardice looks like. Sports media pundits find it easier to say, “Donald Trump is racist” than to state the obvious: “Lia Thomas is a man.” Despite claiming Trump is a fascist authoritarian who wants to jail his enemies, they fear their own peers more — knowing that one misstep could see them transformed from social justice warriors to pariahs overnight.
It remains to be seen whether the president’s executive order will face legal challenges or accelerate the collapse of transgender ideology in American culture. Restoring sanity in this area will take time, but for now, Trump has made women’s sports female again.
When I was a child, I wanted to be so many things “when I grew up.” My choices ran the gamut of all the traditional options: police officer, professional football player, teacher, and doctor. News flash: I pursued none of those things.
Today, I now entertain the same conversations with my 10-year-old daughter. One day she wants to be a show director. Another day she wants to be a teacher. And another she wants to be a mom. Like my journey — and the journeys of most — the odds are that she will pursue a vocation yet to be mentioned (although I am rooting for the mom option somewhere along the way!).
Society provides some truly heroic women for our daughter to emulate.
Regardless, as her dad, I do not expend much effort worrying about what she chooses to do. Rather, I am most concerned with how she does it and whether she will exercise the values my wife and I are raising her to practice: courage, humility, hard work, honesty, generosity, empathy, selflessness, honor, and intellectual curiosity.
I often recycle the same advice my parents always gave me: Pick appropriate role models and emulate them. Unfortunately, the U.S. media is not interested in promoting women who exercise these values in the face of career consequences.
While her mom is the best example for her to follow, it is important to provide our daughter with examples from outside the home. Luckily, society provides some truly heroic women for her to emulate.
Michele Tafoya enjoyed as prestigious a career as anyone — male or female — in sports broadcasting. She holds a record four Emmys for sports reporting, and she was the only person nominated every year she was eligible. She worked five Super Bowls, and "Sunday Night Football" was the top-rated show during all 11 years of her tenure on it.
But in 2021, Tafoya used a guest-host appearance on “The View” to represent the beliefs of so many Americans who were silenced and canceled at that time. Amid her fellow hosts asking for talking points to be fed to their earpieces from their producer, Tafoya schooled them on critical race theory and race in America with the grace of a wide receiver and the power of a linebacker. At one point the crowd booed her, to which she responded, “Bring it on!”
Even before then, Tafoya knew she wanted to pursue something different. She had a lot to say, and she wanted a platform where she could share her conservative beliefs. So she told NBC the 2021 NFL season would be her last, and after 327 games from the sidelines, Super Bowl LVI would be her final big game.
For Tafoya, it had become less about the military veterans standing by her side for the national anthem and more about woke causes that did not align with her values. As she said at the time, “I couldn’t ignore that little voice any more after what we have all endured over the last four years.” Since then, she has been a champion of conservative causes across multiple networks and platforms, including her own podcast.
Thankfully, Tafoya has been a trailblazer for many women since. In 2022, Jennifer Sey, brand president for Levi’s and a 23-year veteran of the company, was ousted for her criticism of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. In her own admirable move, the married mother of four and sole breadwinner in her household turned down a $1 million pay package so that she could share her story with public. “I walked out the door with an uncertain future but a clear sense of purpose,” Sey said. You can’t put a price on that.
Sey is now leading a movement of bravery with her clothing company, XX-XY Athletics, the first athletic brand that has stood up for women’s sports. What a novel idea! “This is who I am,” Sey said. “This is what I believe. Deal with it.” Let’s hope her efforts give young women the encouragement to live their values now, in the beginnings of their promising careers.
Every day the list of women gets longer. After being sidelined for sharing her opinion on ESPN’s COVID vaccination policy, Sage Steele left the network after 16 years to “exercise her First Amendment rights more freely.” Not long after, Disney-owned ESPN fired one of its other female rock stars, Samantha Ponder, for voicing an opinion that 70% of the country supports: Biological men should not compete in women’s sports.
Much is said about the glass ceiling. These courageous women not only broke through it but also laid a new foundation for the women who have followed them. There are countless other stories like theirs out there.
I still listen to every career my daughter dreams of and give her the encouragement that she can be anything she wants to be if she puts in the hard work. In a society where it is popular to “do as I say, not as I do,” when it comes to these women, I will tell my daughter to do both.
After a nearly four-decade run, legendary sports analyst Lee Corso has decided to hang up his mascot heads. On Thursday, the longtime co-host of ESPN’s College GameDay announced that he will be retiring later this year, capping off a broadcasting career that began in 1987. In a statement released by the network, Corso, 89, extended […]
The woke-scolds running ESPN threw a temper tantrum on Wednesday over President Trump’s efforts to keep men out of women’s sports — and boy, oh boy, did it not end well for them. While “reporting” on the president’s executive order designed to restore fairness in sports by preventing trans-identifying males from competing against female athletes, […]
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