"Daddy came to the rescue twice" - Comedian Aries Spears blasts LeBron James for courtside confrontation with Stephen A. Smith

Late in Thursday's game between LeBron James and the LA Lakers and the New York Knicks, James confronted Stephen A. Smith about his son, Bronny James. Smith had previously criticized LeBron for allowing his son to play NBA minutes back in January when the Lakers played the 76ers, saying Bronny should instead be developing in the G League.

At the time, he appealed to James as a father to stop putting Bronny in a position to be criticized before he was ready to compete at an NBA level. On Thursday, James called out Smith for his coverage of the second-generation hooper.

In response, comedian Aries Spears, who rose to prominence on Fox's Mad TV show from 1995-2009. In a video over three minutes long, Spears aimed at the future Hall of Famer, calling him a hypocrite for confronting Smith on his son's behalf.

To support his comments, Spears pointed to an incident early in LeBron's career where he was involved in a heated on-court altercation during a playoff series against the Boston Celtics. From the crowd, Gloria James began to curse at opposing players. LeBron responded by telling her to sit down.

"This is why I have a problem with LeBron. One of the reasons why I have a problem, because LeBron is a hypocrite. And I kind of wish that Stephen A. hadn't backpedaled just because of LeBron confronting him. ...

"LeBron knew 'I'm a professional basketball player playing a professional sport, and this comes with it.' So I don't need my mommy to save me. Well, why is this any different? ... Daddy came to the rescue. Twice."

Dave Portnoy sticks up for Stephen A. Smith, calls out LeBron James in the wake of the courtside confrontation

Although former teammates of LeBron James, such as Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love, have defended James in the wake of his confrontation with Stephen A. Smith, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy recently sided with Smith and Aries Spears in criticizing James.

In a video shared on social media in the wake of the viral confrontation, Portnoy stood up for Smith, calling it the most ridiculous controversy he's ever seen.

The way he sees things, given that Bronny James is a professional, Smith should be allowed to share his unfiltered thoughts on the second-generation hooper.

“LeBron doesn’t want Stephen A. or the people or the media talking about Bronny, who is a professional basketball player on one of the most storied franchises in the league. … What are we talking about here?”

“To go up to Stephen A. and say ‘Hey, you can’t talk about my kid,’ … He’s a professional player. … What do you expect?"

LeBron James has yet to share his side of the story, however, from the sounds of things, Stephen A. Smith seems poised to tone down his criticism of Bronny, judging by his response on First Take the morning after.