Michelle Beadle has voiced numerous objections to ESPN throughout the years and has also been involved in a long-running feud with LeBron James. This puts her in a challenging position regarding the ongoing altercation between James and Stephen A. Smith, making it difficult for her to choose sides. The conflict began with an on-court confrontation at a March game between the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers. Following this, a war of words erupted online, with Smith regularly attacking James on his podcast, the Stephen A. Smith Show.
Adding fuel to the fire, James made a surprise guest appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, where he openly took shots at both Smith and Brian Windhorst during the interview, drawing considerable attention. Beadle commented on this escalating tension during Thursday’s edition of Run it Back on FanDuel TV, calling out both figures for the absurdity of the situation. “First of all, this feels like a WWE situation,” Beadle remarked. “It’s Pat McAfee, who is now one of the faces of the WWE, hosting this. LeBron James goes on there for over an hour. On the very network where the dude he confronted in public also is the highest-paid guy on the network. All of it feels fake to me. Within five minutes of this becoming public, Stephen A. Smith is now putting out videos. I will say this, LeBron calling Stephen A.’s situation basically another Taylor Swift tour. Chef’s kiss, he is. That video is the greatest thing that has ever happened to Stephen A. because he has milked it on every network and outlet and continues to talk about it.”
She continued, “When you start talking about how you were going to get physical. Bro, we’ve all seen the boxing video. Don’t say stuff like that. It’s bad, it’s not a good look. LeBron had a couple of zingers on that as well. What you are asking me to do right now, Chandler (Parsons), is choose between two people I do not want to choose between. So I kind of feel like we have entered a really weird realm.”
Michelle Beadle GOES OFF on LeBron’s interview with Pat McAfee and the Stephen A. Smith saga 🗣️
“This feels like a WWE situation…you’re asking me to choose between two people I don’t want to choose. … It’s laughable but not in a fun way.”@MichelleDBeadle | @ChandlerParsons pic.twitter.com/F5a4UhG5MD
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 27, 2025
Beadle readily defended ESPN insider Brian Windhorst, whom James recently criticized by asserting that Windhorst believes they are “best friends,” despite James not feeling that way. “I think where LeBron lost a lot of people in yesterday’s interview… Because Stephen A., who cares, right? But when you go after Brian Windhorst, who has been covering him since he was a kid, I didn’t really get it. It felt unprovoked, unnecessary, a bit bullying, I guess, if you will. And you see quickly how much Brian Windhorst is loved in this industry. I’ve seen everyone, from guys on NBA Radio to Amin Elhassan, picking up for Windy. Because why are we picking on Brian Windhorst?”
Like many in the sports media world, Beadle seems eager for the ongoing drama to resolve, yet with both Smith and James being so headstrong and the confrontation escalating from both sides, hoping for a constructive end seems overly optimistic.
