"He is a selective journalistic prosecutor": Ex-NFL player torches Stephen A. Smith for weaponizing race in LeBron James media feud

Former NFL player Marcus Holliday slammed Stephen A. Smith for his LeBron James comments on Sunday. During his appearance on Ryan Clark's "The Pivot" podcast, ESPN's sports analyst alleged that the LA Lakers star had never confronted a "white" reporter like he had confronted him publicly.

Earlier this year, in March, James was seen engaged in a heated conversation with Stephen A. at Crypto.com arena during a Lakers vs New York Knicks game. Smith later revealed that the Lakers star was not happy with him talking about his son, Bronny James.

During the podcast, Smith hinted at the race factor when LeBron James confronted him in public.

"You ever see LeBron go at a white boy? Let's call it what it is," Smith said during the podcast. "You ever see him do that? You saw him come at me. Closest you ever came to seeing him do something like that [to a white journalist] was when he called out Brian Windhorst."

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"[T]hat's the only time you ever seen LeBron James really go at somebody white. I'm going to call it what it is."

Reacting to Smith's comments, Holliday, the former St. Louis Rams' running back, torced the ESPN host for weaponizing race to get back at the Lakers star.

"Now, I can't even sit here and enumerate the times that [Stephen A. Smith] had all smoke for magically melanated athletes or people," Holliday said. "He is a selective journalistic prosecutor. He utilizes selective journalistic prosecution all the time. ...So for him to say that, it's like 'damn, are we in Twilight Zone?' "And the other thing, [Smith], you are not the savior man for magically melanated aka black people...I don't know who the hell you been talking to, or who has you in this state of delusion, but somebody please hit the god damn t-cup on his a** bro...see if he wake the hell up coz this dude is delusional," he added.

Stephen A. Smith brings up LeBron James' 2011 NBA Finals, calls it "choke job"

When it comes to the GOAT debate, Stephen A. Smith has religiously maintained that no matter what LeBron James does in his career, he will always be second to Michael Jordan. The ESPN host has consistently brought up James' 2011 NBA Finals loss.

During his appearance on Ryan Clark’s The Pivot podcast, Smith doubled down on his take. He also added that the Lakers star didn't like him because he didn't see James as the NBA GOAT.

"You don't like me because you see me calling it like I see it," Smith said. "You're not Michael Jordan. You're not the GOAT. You did choke in an NBA Finals."

The ESPN host also hammered LeBron James' performance as a "choke job."

"Four consecutive fourth quarters in an NBA Finals, this man was scoring four points. One game, he scored zero points in an NBA Finals fourth quarter. With Jason Terry or JJ Barea guarding you." "There is no explanation for that. To anybody who knows basketball, that's a choke job."

Smith's claims are not entirely true. LeBron James has largely maintained a great relationship with reporters and players who have out Michael Jordan above him.

Edited by Nandjee Ranjan