Doug Gottlieb hits back at LeBron James in fiery rant after NBA star's troll job

That response on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, drew a direct response from Gottlieb on Fox Sports as a call-in guest on his own show.

“Don’t you have better things to do? My response is: Colin [Cowherd] told me a long time ago, ‘Don’t punch down. Always punch up.’ So me talking trash to him would technically be punching up. And him, it’s punching down. So I don’t know. I guess pettiness and insecurity aren’t limited to just people who aren’t super successful in their field. I guess that would be my response," Gottlieb said (h/t On3). 

Why there's beef between James and Gottlieb is anybody's guess, but it may have to do with the fact that Gottlieb got the job despite having no previous head-coaching experience and he continues to do his daily radio show while coaching the Phoenix.

For a guy like James who eats, sleeps and breathes basketball and basketball only, perhaps he doesn't feel Gottlieb deserves the opportunity to "double dip" like he is.

Or maybe — like many college basketball fans — he just found the team's bad luck humorous.