"Sick of him" - Former LeBron James teammate Kendrick Perkins defends ESPN colleagues with pointed barbs

LA Lakers star LeBron James and ESPN TV host Stephen A. Smith have engaged in a war of words. With fans and the media taking sides with each party, Kendrick Perkins, a former teammate of LeBron, has shared his take on the matter, picking his side.

Perkins defended the criticism received by LeBron on Thursday's episode of ESPN's First Take. He called the four-time NBA champion to "stop" and "adjust."

"LeBron James needs to stop," Perkins said. "He needs to stop. I’m so sick of him with this ‘oh how the league is covered’ because he wanted to be covered a certain way. ... The problem that I have is everything that comes out of LeBron James' mouth ain't the damn gospel. We're in 2025, it's a different era, that means you have to adjust."

James has previously complained about the way he's been covered in the media. His latest beef with Stephen A. Smith is a result of comments made by the analyst about his eldest son, Bronny.

Although they had the opportunity to talk about it after the game against the Knicks on March 6, it didn't go as planned, and instead it was a tense conversation courtside.

Since then, both James and Smith have traded barbs. James appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and called out Smith for being overly dramatic and enjoying the attention from their feud.

That didn't end there as Smith responded. He asserted that James was overly sensitive and he would have "swung" at James if he had put his hands on him during their Mar. 6 conversation.

James trolled Smith on Instagram after the game against the Pacers on Wednesday. He posted a video of Smith doing pad work with boxing gloves on, captioning it with laughing emojis.

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LeBron James blocked by former teammate Kendrick Perkins

LeBron James appears to be taking heat following his feud with Stephen A. Smith. Kendrick Perkins shared what transpired behind the scenes between him and James when he criticized the all-time leading scorer.

"Let me say this. He unfollowed me and then I blocked him on my cellphone," Perkins said.

Kendrick Perkins criticised James when he expressed his desire to play with Kyrie Irving again after the guard helped the Dallas Mavericks reach the NBA Finals. Perkins accused James of trying to steal the moment from the Mavericks and the Boston Celtics.

Perkins also called out James for his last-minute withdrawal from the 2025 NBA All-Star Game due to an ankle injury. He argued that James should have notified the league earlier and allowed another player to participate.

This has only added tension to the perceived fight between James and the media.