LeBron vs Stephen A

[HMFFL]

Stephen A gets paid what? 20M/year with his new deal to act like a complete assclown, make an argument personal, and threaten the arguable GOAT with physical harm?

His whole act is yelling nonstop whenever he is on TV. “Screamin’ A” is not a misnomer.

ESPN should not employ this absolute joke of an “analyst” going forward.

Indeed.
ESPN needed a gype man like Jerry Springer and SAS is mizt see television for many people.

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[doogie_hauser]

SAS meltdowns when The Knicks miss out on trading for a legit superstar like Spida Mitchell is always a delight to watch.

Lebron needs to be careful not trying to escalate his feud with SAS, rightly or wrongly Stephen A has a lot of powerful and influential friends in the media (not just ESPN), and they can turn on any superstar/even a legendary one, if they keep on attacking one of their own in the media.

If Lebron and the Lakers flame out for the rest of the regular season and bounce out in the first round, I suspect the media won't go easy on Lebron and suggest he is washed/should retire etc

I thought Lebron's cheapshot at Brian Windhorst was petty and unnecessary tbh

[FarBeyondDriven]

two of the worst people in the industry. Both insecure but at the same time narcissists with massive egos and delusions of grandeur.

[MavsDirk41]

two of the worst people in the industry. Both insecure but at the same time narcissists with massive egos and delusions of grandeur.

This 100%

[Lockdown504090]

two of the worst people in the industry. Both insecure but at the same time narcissists with massive egos and delusions of grandeur.

What delusions? he has 40k points. Smith is the most watched sports personality of all time.

[benhillboy]

The fact that this is a thread and we don't talk about things like what the Toronto Raptors are doing, or if the Jayson Tatum injury has any effect on Boston's chance to repeat is why Stephen A Smith makes $20 million a year

I felt dirty clicking on this thread. Thanks for inspiring me to cease going any further. A win for Atlanta

I haven’t watched a full night of Inside the NBA in 20 years, haven’t paid any mind to SAS since Skip’s LeBron hate reached imbecilic levels which was also many many years ago. I do love when I see clips of SAS wearing his diamond chain though. It slick accentuates how far back his hairline is and is just amazingly silly and feminine, obviously.

The NBA should study the morning MLB Central show, which is infinitely better than any NBA commentary and analysis any partner network can dream of offering. I’m intrigued to see what Apple comes up with if they do join the fray, their baseball telecasts are pretty intelligent.

[BodieB]

SAS meltdowns when The Knicks miss out on trading for a legit superstar like Spida Mitchell is always a delight to watch.

Lebron needs to be careful not trying to escalate his feud with SAS, rightly or wrongly Stephen A has a lot of powerful and influential friends in the media (not just ESPN), and they can turn on any superstar/even a legendary one, if they keep on attacking one of their own in the media.

If Lebron and the Lakers flame out for the rest of the regular season and bounce out in the first round, I suspect the media won't go easy on Lebron and suggest he is washed/should retire etc

I thought Lebron's cheapshot at Brian Windhorst was petty and unnecessary tbh

If it wasn't Lebron you'd probably be right, but no, he doesn't have to worry about SAS lol. He's just a voice while Lebron is worth a billion.

[DOT]

two of the worst people in the industry. Both insecure but at the same time narcissists with massive egos and delusions of grandeur.

What delusions? he has 40k points. Smith is the most watched sports personality of all time.

MJ fans are wild

Which is fascinating because his description fits MJ pretty well.

[Hook_Em]

This is one of the dumbest and most manufactured beefs I can remember.

[web123888]

The first take segment was the funniest thing I’ve seen. Stephen A. absolutely shredded LeBron.

I agree with his take that he’ll never be the GOAT over Jordan but I’m not exactly sure where it came from, it was totally out of the blue.

Then just going on a tirade about all his shortcomings, the 2011 Finals, 6 L’s etc.

[HighFlyer23]

two of the worst people in the industry. Both insecure but at the same time narcissists with massive egos and delusions of grandeur.

What delusions? he has 40k points. Smith is the most watched sports personality of all time.

40k points while shooting absolutely abysmal more than a few feet from the bucket

And Howard Cossel was just as popular if not more than SAs in his time

[jokeboy86]

SAS meltdowns when The Knicks miss out on trading for a legit superstar like Spida Mitchell is always a delight to watch.

Lebron needs to be careful not trying to escalate his feud with SAS, rightly or wrongly Stephen A has a lot of powerful and influential friends in the media (not just ESPN), and they can turn on any superstar/even a legendary one, if they keep on attacking one of their own in the media.

If Lebron and the Lakers flame out for the rest of the regular season and bounce out in the first round, I suspect the media won't go easy on Lebron and suggest he is washed/should retire etc

I thought Lebron's cheapshot at Brian Windhorst was petty and unnecessary tbh

Maybe in the 90s and 2000s but not anymore. Social media and podcasts are the gamechangers. Before the media(local and nationally)could completely create the narrative and image of a big time athlete and the athletes knew this and the biggest ones always chose to tread lightly. Even as feared as Michael Jordan was by the sports media of pissing he or his representation off, Jordan was still aware of how his image looked in the mainstream and he still wanted to maintain that for financial reasons. I think today's athletes know that they really don't need the media nowadays and that it's easier for them to communicate their thoughts, views, opinions and tell their side of things directly to fans. They don't need an Ahmad Rashad, a Jim Gray, a Rachel Nichols or even an Oprah to communicate with people and I think some of the current higher ups in sports media know this. The Lebron interview with McAfee on ESPN was a wakeup call to SAS where he was enraged and probably realized that even with his new high salary, and stature he's still just a worker to ESPN and if it comes down to it they still will prioritize the biggest athletes who are popular with fans over him. The fact that ESPN let McAfee basically ask Lebron about SAS, their highest paid employee and let him trash him and basically clown another ESPN employee(Windhorst) is the real story in my opinion and speaks volumes.

Fans (and people in general) have become much more tribal as well and will fiercely side with the celebrities, famous people, or public figures they worship or adore. It's to the point now that many in the media are extra cautious about what they say about certain celebrities for fear of how their fans will react(see Beyhive, Swifties, fans of POTUS or Tesla CEO, MJ, Lebron, and Mayweather fans).

[slick_watts]

lebron's been taking it on the chin from some of these guys for 2+ decades. as soon as he throws a counter punch, it's the end of the world. this isn't a big deal.

[thebigbird]

SAS meltdowns when The Knicks miss out on trading for a legit superstar like Spida Mitchell is always a delight to watch.

Lebron needs to be careful not trying to escalate his feud with SAS, rightly or wrongly Stephen A has a lot of powerful and influential friends in the media (not just ESPN), and they can turn on any superstar/even a legendary one, if they keep on attacking one of their own in the media.

If Lebron and the Lakers flame out for the rest of the regular season and bounce out in the first round, I suspect the media won't go easy on Lebron and suggest he is washed/should retire etc

I thought Lebron's cheapshot at Brian Windhorst was petty and unnecessary tbh

As opposed to what? You have dudes who have made livings for 20+ years by slandering LeBron on a daily basis.

[dWadeOwnzYou]

I'm a bit shocked that Skip Bayless hasn't comes to Stephen A. defense. They have this kinda student/mentor relationship and have the highest respect for each other. Most importantly they both dislike Lebron and will do whatever it takes to discredit/slander him. And boy, did Stephen A deliver on First Take.

[Ssj16]

Believe it or not, Stephen A is smart: he says useless loud things but he's smart enough to have turned that into incredible fame and fortune....but now he's venturing far into stupid territory. He's grasping at straws in the form of these nonsensical personal shots and he's doing it out of sheer embarrassment. It's neither calculated nor genuine, and he has nothing to gain from it.

I fully disagree with the last part of your comment. This is a huge win for Stephen A and ESPN. So many different people are talking about this right now and it just further boosts SAS relevance in pop culture which will equate to more money.

This does nothing for Lebron, he's definitely fighting way below his weight class on this.

[jokeboy86]

I'm a bit shocked that Skip Bayless hasn't comes to Stephen A. defense. They have this kinda student/mentor relationship and have the highest respect for each other. Most importantly they both dislike Lebron and will do whatever it takes to discredit/slander him. And boy, did Stephen A deliver on First Take.

Bayless has basically been neutered in the sports media landscape nowadays for two reasons:

1. No longer has a platform on a major sports platform.

It's easy for the people who didn't get their start or get big on a major sports media platform to transition and get bigger once they get the call but for those who got fame and bread and butter on traditional platforms and then are no longer on it, it's harder for them to maintain their relevance unless they go into social or political issues(see Whitlock, Sage Steele, Jemele Hill, Travis). Since Skip isn't on FS1 anymore it really seems like what he says doesn't matter to anyone anymore. And speaking of FS1....

2. That current lawsuit by the ex-hairstylist may make Skip watch how loudly and bold he may get online cause people are probably waiting to throw that back in his face (even though he didn't come out looking as bad as Taylor or the other exec did). All it would take is one tweet by Lebron or any other athlete Skip is critical of to say "You have more important things to worry about than my game right now" to embarass Skip on something he can't even speak about right now.

[jokeboy86]

Believe it or not, Stephen A is smart: he says useless loud things but he's smart enough to have turned that into incredible fame and fortune....but now he's venturing far into stupid territory. He's grasping at straws in the form of these nonsensical personal shots and he's doing it out of sheer embarrassment. It's neither calculated nor genuine, and he has nothing to gain from it.

I fully disagree with the last part of your comment. This is a huge win for Stephen A and ESPN. So many different people are talking about this right now and it just further boosts SAS relevance in pop culture which will equate to more money.

This does nothing for Lebron, he's definitely fighting way below his weight class on this.

I think ESPN considers this a win but I think this has actually bothered SAS this time and he's triggered. The Kobe memorial/Wade retirement mention to me is him trying to get under Lebron's skin and the fact that he said he feels Lebron is trying to have all the NBA players ostracize him is something that he doesn't like as well. I think it also bothers SAS that not all the sports media came to his defense(which says a lot) because when an athlete comes at a journalist/media personality he feels it should be a united front which for the most part it usually is. Especially when you see that most of the athletes with platforms and podcasts sided with Lebron(except Perkins). His own First Take partner Sharpe said SAS should have just let it go and not bring it up anymore.

[CobraCommander]

two of the worst people in the industry. Both insecure but at the same time narcissists with massive egos and delusions of grandeur.

Lebron doesn’t have delusions my man- a good % of people think Lebron is the best ever in his profession-

If being the best ever in your profession isn’t worthy of grandeur then what is ?

I don’t like lbj most times but he isn’t delusional when it comes to hoops- he is that good

[NoStatsGuy]

these reddit and twitter troll lines, that yall keep repeating are getting so old man. lebron haters need to find something new. not even reading a lebron topic entertains me these days. fk im getting old