At 41 years old, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James has played more than two decades in the NBA. James has four NBA championships to his name from playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, and the Lakers.
James has also won numerous accolades throughout his career, including four NBA Finals MVPs, three NBA All-Star MVPs, and membership on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Now, playing his 23rd season, many have wondered if this might be James’ final season.
Stephen A. Smith Keeps His Take on LeBron James’ Future Short and Curt
On Sunday, as James was set to be a part of the NBA All-Star Game round-robin tournament at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., ESPN NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith was asked about James’ future. In fact, Smith was asked if he thought this was the end of the road for King James.
Smith delivered a short seven-word answer: “I don’t know and I don’t care.” Smith’s comments were shared by the Witness King James account on X. On the post itself, these words were added to it: “Nobody in the history of sports has ever been able to put grown men in their feelings like LeBron James. We’ve never seen anything like this.”
Nobody in the history of sports has ever been able to put grown men in their feelings like LeBron James.
We’ve never seen anything like this. pic.twitter.com/q7PXpp5cVL
— Witness King James (@WITNESSKJ) February 15, 2026
Former NBA star and Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway Sr. was also asked about James’ future in the clip. Hardway is asking James to return for one more season.
Smith and James are not the best of friends. Their dispute goes back to last year, when James confronted Smith, who was courtside at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles for a Lakers game against the New York Knicks. In January 2025, Smith made comments about James’ son, Bronny James of the Lakers.
Reportedly, someone attending the Knicks-Lakers game caught the confrontation on video. James reportedly told Smith, “Keep my son out of this s**t bro”. A week after this happened, Smith appeared on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast, “Gil’s Arena,” and said, “I thought it was weak. I thought it was bulls**t.”
So, it’s not very surprising that Smith had that type of response when asking about James’ future plans. Don’t look for James and Smith to be exchanging Christmas and birthday cards anytime soon. Their feud looks like it’ll be going on for a long time to come.
