It’s been a little while now since Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James had some critical words for ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
James told Windhorst’s colleague Pat McAfee several weeks ago that Windhorst claims to be James’ best friend and that the NBA insider is weird.
"This guy who says he's my f-cking best friend. These guys are just weird."
– LeBron on Brian Windhorst
(🎥 @PatMcAfeeShow / h/t @Underdog )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 26, 2025
Windhorst recently reflected on James’ comments and shared that he’s received support from NBA players both past and present since James decided to diss him publicly.
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“I actually felt like it might have — my concern was that it would damage me with players because he’s so influential with players,” Windhorst said of James. “That hasn’t been the case so far. I’ve had more players come up and — not that all of them are — but I’ve had more support from players, current and former, than I thought I would get.”
When James said what he said to McAfee, he was embroiled in a (possibly ongoing) beef with another ESPN star, Stephen A. Smith. Smith and James had a heated exchange during a contest between the Lakers and New York Knicks in the 2024-25 regular season, and James’ son Bronny was seemingly brought up during it.
After the younger James had a quiet performance against the Philadelphia 76ers in January despite receiving significant playing time, Smith pleaded with the elder James on live television “as a father” to “stop this.” Those January comments from Smith might’ve played a role in starting the drama. The elder James, however, felt like Smith missed the whole point of their exchange.
Right now, the elder James has more pressing matters to focus on, as the 2025 NBA Playoffs are in full swing, and the Lakers didn’t exactly get off to a great start to their playoff stint. Los Angeles suffered a blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of its first-round series, and the elder James wasn’t at the top of his game in the contest.
The NBA’s oldest active player averages 28.4 points per game for his playoff career, yet he dropped just 19 in Game 1 on 8-of-18 shooting from the field and 1-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in a contest the storied Lakers franchise lost by more than 20 points.
The elder James and the Lakers now arguably have a must-win Game 2 looming on Tuesday night. After all, if L.A. drops Game 2, the Lakers will be in a 2-0 hole with the series shifting to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4. The Lakers weren’t a very good team away from home in the regular season either, as Los Angeles won just 19 of its 41 contests away from Crypto.com Arena.
