LeBron James might have left social media, but the media won’t let him be. The LeBron brand is just too big for the talks to stop after his online outburst over media negativity. Throughout the years, LeBron has been called a ‘liar’ by many fans. But all it took was a Dalton Knecht explosion on the court for the 39-year-old to finally make his feelings heard over those accusations. But the problem probably ran deeper than that. And with his son, Bronny, becoming a constant point of scrutiny, the anger boiled over.

It all started months before Bronny stepped foot into the NBA. LeBron pridefully backed his son’s grit and toughness to the media. “Just imagine if you were a kid, you were born into a situation where your dad was super famous, super wealthy and you the kid still had the drive to want to be able to accomplish things for yourself,” James told ESPN. “I personally don’t know if I would’ve been able to do that if the roles were reversed.” That’s a big compliment about mental fortitude. But LeBron couldn’t have been more wrong, at least former NBA star Greg Anthony believes so.

On the latest episode of the Stephen A. Smith Show, the host wanted his guest to share his opinion on the whole LeBron James leaving social media situation. The NBA TV analyst didn’t hold back to let LeBron know the tough reality. “I think that his son hasn’t necessarily been able to handle the hype, the expectations, and the negativity. And that therefore, it has really made him look at it, and I’m speaking of LeBron in a different way,” Anthony said.

The TNT analyst also mentioned how we have never witnessed an athlete like LeBron getting so much hate and vitriol. Accomplishing so much over the years, the soon to be 40 Lakers star is still going strong in a league of young men. According to Anthony, LeBron, Tiger Woods and Caitlin Clark only came into the big leagues with such hype and exceeded expectations. But the same cannot be said about Bronny. And somehow, Stephen A. Smith finds that it is in part because of daddy James.

Stephen A. Smith blames LeBron James for unintentionally putting Bronny under the microscope

Before Bronny was drafted into the league, there were a lot of doubts over his readiness. Missing precious time due to his unfortunate cardiac issue certainly stifled his progress. LeBron spoke out during a ‘Starting 5’ episode on Netflix about his fear of almost losing Bronny. That compounds the understandable protective instinct LeBron has for Jr. James. Stephen A. and Anthony speculated that to be a reason for Lebron taking a break from social media.

With LeBron absent, it was turn for Stephen A. to reverse the role and hold the 4-time NBA champion accountable. After social media blamed SAS for being one of the reasons for LeBron leaving, it was the analyst’s turn to point fingers. Throwing a caveat, SAS said, “Something needs to be added to that, especially when it is of your doing because of what he said about Bronny before he got to the NBA. I wanna play with my son. My son is better than some of these NBA players in the league right now. These are things he said…But it’s another thing when you instigated it arguably because of the things you were saying about your son in comparison to others, and you put your son unintentionally.” The First Take host also highlighted that LeBron certainly didn’t mean to hurt his son in any way, but that’s the unintentional consequence of his act.

For Bronny, a change in scenery with his G League assignment could go a long way for his development. And as a father, that’s all LeBron wants for Bronny, with their history-making quest fading away in the side view mirror.