LeBron James overheard talking about Stephen A. Smith controversy: ‘I can’t’

On the latest episode of Days of our Lakers, superstar LeBron James continues to tell us how he really feels about ESPN talking head Stephen A. Smith. This time, however, he told us inadvertently.

Before Saturday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics on ABC, James decided to have a quick chat with ESPN’s newly minted lead NBA analyst Richard Jefferson. But what looked to be a fun, lighthearted moment between two old competitors actually turned out to be much more.

The entire interaction made for what seemed to be perfect social media fodder for ESPN. James comes over and surprises Jefferson, lightly roughhouses with him, and then pulls him in for some sort of heart-to-heart. The video was posted by ESPN, and remains up on the network’s social platforms.

LeBron got RJ with the sneak attack 😂

Lakers-Celtics now on ABC/ESPN+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/0PMRlwGkwk

— ESPN (@espn) March 9, 2025

What the network likely didn’t realize was this clip would be examined like the Zapruder film by NBA Twitter, and that the dialogue of the James-Jefferson heart-to-heart could actually be heard if you listened closely enough.

On Sunday night, NBA content creator LegendZ posted the same video, but this time with subtitles to help viewers hear what was being said.

LEAKED Audio Of LeBron James Talking About The Stephen A Smith Confrontation👀:

“Once he talks about: ‘I’m pleading you as a father,’ I can’t” pic.twitter.com/RJhi7gxuSa

— LegendZ (@legendz_nba) March 10, 2025

In the video, James can clearly be heard discussing with Jefferson how he felt about Stephen A. Smith’s reaction to a confrontation between him and the ESPN star last week over Smith’s coverage of LeBron’s son, Bronny James.

“That’s the only thing, that’s the only thing I’m tripping,” James appears to say. “I don’t give a f*ck… Once he talks about, ‘I’m pleading with you as a father,’ I can’t,” the Lakers star can be heard saying.

Obviously, the full context of James’ comments are hard to make out with so little of the conversation with Jefferson audible in the original clip. But if it wasn’t already clear from last week’s incident, there’s no love lost between LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith.