Pat McAfee Adds Provocative Quip About LeBron James Interview

During James' appearance with McAfee on Wednesday, he fired back at Smith. 

“It started off with, ‘I didn’t want to address it,’” James said. “‘I wasn’t going to address it. But since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.’ (Expletive), are you kidding me? If there was one person that couldn’t wait until the video had dropped so you could address it, it was your ass. Like, seriously?

“Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport, criticize players about what they do on the court,” James told McAfee. “That is your job to criticize or to be in a position where, OK, if a guy is not performing, that is all part of the game. That’s all part of the game. But when you take it and get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household, but protect the players.”

Smith subsequently took to his platform on "First Take" Thursday to dive into a 15-minute tirade in response to James. 

James' former teammate turned ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins also aired his grievances regarding James' criticism of how the NBA is covered.

“LeBron James need to stop. He needs to stop. I’m so sick of him with this ‘oh how the league is covered’ because he wanted to be covered a certain way,” Perkins said. “The problem that I have is, one: everything that comes out of LeBron James’ mouth ain’t the damn gospel. 

"Number two, we in 2025. It’s a different era. Damnit, you have to adjust. But here’s the thing, the coverage of the NBA, in my opinion, has been the same since I’ve arrived in the NBA, since I grew up as a youngster watching the NBA.”