Stephen A Smith Went On First Take And Crashed Out With An Insane 15 Minute Rant About LeBron

Tim Nwachukwu. Getty Images.

What, you thought we were done with the LeBron/Stephen A beef? You fool! Things may have quieted down initially after their confrontation a few weeks ago, but after LeBron went on the Pat McAfee show yesterday and went full scorched earth, you knew we were going to be right back in this cycle again today when it came to Stephen A.

Our first look was during his podcast yesterday, which I have to admit was pretty funny

Talking about not wearing Tighty Whitey's was funny, suggesting he was ready to swing on LeBron was so outrageous you couldn't help but laugh, but you knew that there was no way in hell Stephen A was going to leave things at just his podcast. This is what he lives for. The ironic part is everything he's done since LeBron's appearance yesterday only confirms what he was talking about when he claimed Stephen A went on a Taylor Swift-esq media tour.

After that fighting clip went viral, LeBron could have left it alone, but he decided to not give a fuck which was also pretty funny

Once this hit the internet streets, you knew what was coming next. No chance in hell yesterday's comments combined with that post were going to be ignored by Stephen A. Granted I'm not sure what type of comeback even works in a situation like this, but you knew for damn sure that Stephen A was going to try.

What we got, was something I can't ever remember seeing before. A legit 15 minute crash out on national TV during First Take. 15 minutes!!

Mind you, this is all over a throwaway comment from an hour long segment, and all that comment said was that Stephen A milked the drama……which is true. It was true then, and as you can clearly see, it's still true now.

Here's the thing though. This went from a mildly funny beef to something that I found to be extremely awkward. Stephen A, I promise you this is not that serious! I don't blame you if you had to bail during that video because 15 minutes is legitimately insane, but I'm not even sure what Stephen A thought he was accomplishing here. Was this some sort of "gotcha" moment in his mind?

In classic Stephen A fashion, you heard him go with the

"I never brought this up before so I deserve credit for that despite me actively bringing it up now"

approach on a series of topics, one of which was this idea that he never mentioned how LeBron apparently skipped Kobe's memorial. I'm not sure what the hell that has to do with anything, but it's also a tough look for a Big J journalist who says he doesn't lie when ya know….this happened

YIKES

If that's one of your "gotcha" moments, that's certainly a tough look. Especially during a rant where you're apparently upset that LeBron keeps lying to the world. Is this not lying on national television to the entire world? 

The fact that you're even bringing the death of Kobe into something like this is disgusting behavior in the first place, but to be lying about it on top of that? This is where the beef goes from kind of funny to very, very pathetic. 

Again, think of what this is all happening over! Because LeBron confronted Stephen A at a game to stick up for his son? Who cares? Then to double down like this because he made a claim that you went on a press tour afterward, which you did? Am I taking crazy pills or something? I don't even like standing up for LeBron, but none of this adds up. All these guys do is keep proving what LeBron said about the NBA's media correct!

I mean, these are grown men!

Gee, I wonder why people think there's a problem with the NBA media product? This entire fiasco is living proof of everything that's wrong with how the sport is covered by the biggest network on the planet.

It's clear this has moved from a fun back and forth to something very personal for Stephen A, and everyone knows once you allow things to get personal in a beef like this, you've lost. Sure this brings in eyeballs and ratings and all that shit, but at what cost? Things were somewhat fun heading into today, but that 15 minute rant was about as cringey as it gets. It wouldn't shock me one bit if the Kobe part sent LeBron over the edge, because that was about as insane as it gets.

Will this be the end of this beef? No chance. I'm sure there will be some sort of follow up about the Kobe comment, each side will say something, and we'll do this dance again until the end of time. I'm not sure what Stephen A thought he was accomplishing with this rant, but it certainly did not unfold how I'm sure he thought it would in his brain.

If anything, it makes LeBron look even better, which you know has to burn Stephen A alive inside. 

On a sidenote, how pissed is Skip Bayless that it was Stephen A who finally got a response from LeBron? He's still out here trying his hardest to get into the mix and is still being ignored. That's tough