The NBA season just keeps getting better, not just on the court but off it as well. While fans are witnessing historic performances, buzzer-beaters, and unexpected trades, the drama outside the game is just as intense. One of the season’s biggest storylines that continues to evolve is the ongoing war of words between LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith.
What started on March 6 after the Lakers’ victory over the Knicks (113-109), when LeBron passionately defended his son Bronny against Smith’s criticism by shouting, “Keep my son out of this s***.”
It took another twist this week after James’ appearance on the ‘The Pat McAfee Show.’ Just when everyone thought the feud had settled, it’s clear that this battle is far from over. And now, former LeBron teammate Kevin Love has jumped into the mix in a way only he could.
Kevin Love’s Unique but Hilarious Support for LeBron James
Love is on an all-time social media run, proving that his Instagram game is as elite as his rebounding. Over the last 24 hours, Love has posted five times, with two of those posts directly supporting LeBron James. His latest post? A hilarious yet pointed clip from the classic TV series Martin, where Dragonfly Jones (played by Martin Lawrence) gets brutally beaten up by Kenji.
Fans were quick to speculate that Love was making a statement portraying Dragonfly Jones as Stephen A. Smith and hinting that if Smith ever followed through on his claim that he would have beat James, the outcome would be just as ugly for him.
Interestingly, it comes after James’ response to Smith’s controversial comment about him. The first video of the carousel that James posted showed Stephen A. Smith practicing his punches with a trainer holding punching pads. In the second video, two men were seen making the ‘whomp whomp’ sound, a well-known expression used to mock someone for an exaggerated or weak statement.
To top it off, the caption of LeBron’s post was simply “🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 WHOMP WHOMP WHOMPPPPPPPP,” making it clear that he was directly calling out Smith’s comment about supposedly wanting to swing at him.
Kevin Love calls 🧢 on @stephenasmith saying he would swing on LeBron
(Via IG Kevinlove) 😭 pic.twitter.com/iYVDSC6PM4
— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) March 27, 2025
But why did Love suddenly target Smith? As mentioned earlier, the tension between Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James started when Smith questioned Bronny James’ potential NBA future, which struck a nerve with LeBron. But things escalated even further on Tuesday when LeBron appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and openly called out Smith for not understanding why his comments about Bronny were an issue.
Smith, never one to back down, responded on his own show by saying that he had no regrets about his remarks and went a step further, claiming that if James had ever confronted him physically, he would have “swung” at the four-time NBA champion.
“When he approached me sitting courtside at that game against the New York Knicks, when he rolled up on me I didn’t know he was gonna roll up on me. I had no idea, but when he said what he had to say I was in no position to give any kind of retort without making a scene. It was during the third quarter, it was fresh out of a timeout, it was him walking to the basketball court,” he said.
Just when it seemed like this feud might die down, Kevin Love’s IG post reignited the fire, taking the beef into meme territory. Fans are loving every second of it, and with Love’s recent posting spree, there’s no telling what he’ll drop next.