Stephen A. Smith Applauds LeBron James For Calling Out Media About Lack Of Jerry Jones Questions

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith supported NBA player LeBron James for standing up against the media after they did not ask James about the controversy around Jerry Jones but asked about Kyrie Irving’s controversy.

The Washington Post published a story about Jones, who grew up in Arkansas, as he stood behind white students as they stopped a group of six black students from entering their high school. In the story, a photo of a 15-year-old Jones stood behind two white kids as they blocked the black students’ access to the school entrance. The image can be seen here.

Irving was suspended by the Brooklyn Nets after sharing a tweet from the film, Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America. The film contains many anti-Semitic tropes.

James met the media after the Los Angeles Lakers win on Wednesday night and wondered aloud why the media did not ask him any questions about the image of Jones and even though he was asked about Irving non-stop.

“I was wondering why I haven’t gotten a question from you guys about the Jerry Jones photo, but when the Kyrie thing was going on, you guys were quick to access questions about that,” James said.

Smith came to James’ defense on Thursday morning and said he believed what James said was right.

“I can’t applaud LeBron enough for what he said,” Smith added. “I one-thousand percent agree with LeBron James because that wasn’t about Jerry Jones if you’re listening.”

“What LeBron was talking about was, ‘where’s the intensity?’ Smith said. “You asked Kyrie these questions. You bombard him one point after another after another.”

Smith explained that he had no relationship with Irving anymore because of their differences of opinion, but Smith still defended him on First Take and even called the demands that the Nets wanted Irving to meet a “knee on the back of his neck.”

“We know what level of friction I have with Kyrie and his peeps,” Smith continued. “But even I came on national TV like, ‘Nah, y’all crossing the damn line now with these demands and these stipulations and all of this other stuff.'”

Smith knew James’ goal was to highlight the media’s bias against specific stories and which stories they wanted to cover. Still, throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, James was asked about reports between former President Donald Trump and his opponent Hilary Clinton constantly.

“What LeBron was talking about is unavoidable the media,” Smith said. “Trump says something; they ask LeBron about it. They ask LeBron about the presidential campaign when Trump was running against Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obviously, him endorsing Hillary Rodham Clinton had something to do with that, but clearly, LeBron James has been subjected to question after question after question, but suddenly when it came to Jerry Jones, you didn’t ask.”

Smith claimed if he were a beat reporter that followed the Lakers, he would have asked James about the Jones controversy.

“I assure you, if I was in that press room, I would’ve asked LeBron about it,” Smith continued. “I would’ve said, ‘yo LeBron, by the way, how do you feel about this?'”

Smith believed that Jones should not be judged on a still photo that was 65 years old but thought that the fact that James had to bring up the Jones controversy gave Irving a valid argument.

“He had to bring up the subject to a media in the year 2022, gives credence, and buffers the argument that Kyrie Irving was making when Kyrie said, ‘where’s the intensity when our people’s going through stuff? When we’ve been afflicted. Y’all gonna have the same momentum, the same passion, you gon bring that to the table?’ That’s what LeBron was talking about!”

Smith did not want to hear that James should not have been asked about Jones since they’re not in the same sports.

“Now some people in the media will say, ‘well he’s an NFL owner, you’re an NBA player, Kyrie’s a contemporary,’ but that doesn’t wash,” Smith continued. Because you’ve asked Lebron about a multitude of things that were not basketball related, so why did you ask him about this now?”

“The fact that he pointed that out, he is one-thousand percent right on the money,” Smith added.

Smith called out the media members who have covered James and the Lakers.

“If you’re the media member in that room last night and you didn’t ask LeBron a question about Jerry Jones, you should be looked upon with a raised eyebrow by LeBron James and his contemporaries.”

Watch above via ESPN.