Doug Gottlieb Fires Back at LeBron James' Trash Talk Amid Bronny James Beef

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Matt De Lima | Last updated Feb 18, 2025 5:42 PM ET

On Monday, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James made headlines when he mocked Doug Gottlieb and the Wisconsin-Green Bay basketball team for winning just three games this season. When one of the world's biggest athletes singles out a rather obscure college basketball program, people take notice.

It turns out James' trolling comments were in response to Gottlieb calling the NBA's all-time scoring leader a "bad basketball parent" because of how the Lakers were managing Bronny James and previous comments about how, despite playing for USC, Bronny wouldn't even start for Green Bay.

On Sunday, the Green Bay Phoenix won their third game of the 2024-25 season, a 79-68 win over Wright State. Green Bay had lost 21 games entering that contest. This is Gottlieb's first season as program's head coach.

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Doug Gottlieb Reacts To Lebron James Trolling Him Earlier Today. #lebron #lebronjames #lebronjames23 #losangeleslakers #laker #bronnyjames #douggottlieb #douggottliebshow #nbaallstar #nba #danbeyer #monsebolanos
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In response to James' comments, Gottlieb felt James' was "punching down."

"Don't you have the day off?" Gottlieb questioned of James. "(FOX Sports contributor Colin Cowherd) told me a long time ago, 'don't punch down, always punch up.'

"I guess pettiness and insecurity aren't limited to just people who aren't super successful in their field."

Gottlieb, a former college basketball player at Notre Dame, joined FOX Sports in 2017 after stops across ESPN and CBS. He is an occasional fill-in guest host for Colin Cowherd and is the host of "The Doug Gottlieb Show," which first aired in 2006.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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