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Stephen A. Smith told Rich Paul 'get the f*** out of my face' in LeBron James argument

Stephen A. Smith has detailed a heated debate between himself and Rich Paul, which resulted in him using expletives surrounding a GOAT debate between Michael Jordan and LeBron James

[Stephen A. Smith on "Podcast P"]

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Stephen A. Smith on "Podcast P"(Image: Youtube)

ESPN analyst and personality Stephen A. Smith recalled telling Klutch Sports Group founder Rich Paul to "get the f***" out of his face" after debating who deserves the No. 1 NBA player title, Michel Jordan or LeBron James.

The conversation occurred on the latest episode of Clippers forward Paul George's podcast, "Podcast P." During the show, Smith reflected on a prior heated debate with Paul, who is one of James' primary business partners and closest friends and reportedly took Smith's opinion as an insult.

Smith effectively addressed the notion that his statement did not disrespect James by emphasizing the remarkable accomplishment of being the second-greatest player of all time. Still, his stance was made clear that, in his opinion, nobody will ever surpass Jordan.

"I got him as the second-best player in basketball history," Smith said on the podcast. "I got him ahead of Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar]. I got him behind no one but [Michael] Jordan. I said, 'You act like that's an insult.' This dude, 'It is an insult.' I said, 'Get the f*** out of my face.'"

As the conversation continued, Smith revealed more details stating, "When you're going to treat me like I'm disrespecting [James] by calling him, in the history of a game that started in 1947, disrespecting a man by having him No. 2 all time, you have lost your damn mind. I am not talking to you."

Paul has repeatedly praised James as the greatest player of all time. During an interview with Sirius XM NBA Radio in July, he was asked if James could continue playing until he was 45 years old.

In response, Paul jokingly stated, "I often tease him and say that if he lost his athleticism, he would just be Karl Malone.

[Stephen A. Smith and Rich Paul]

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Stephen A. Smith and Rich Paul(Image: Getty)

"It's fine. You could pick and pop, shoot the jumper, make the right reads. He can literally play for as long as he wants. And at this point obviously, he's not playing for finances, he's playing because he loves the game."

In April, Paul appeared unexpectedly on Kai Cenat's Twitch live stream. During their conversation, Cenat asked for Paul's opinion on the ongoing debate regarding the NBA's greatest of all time. Paul responded by emphasizing the importance of considering James' NBA Finals appearances when determining the best player in history.

"LeBron has been to the finals half of his career. That is pretty hard to do. It's just a matter of who has the microphone," said Paul, seemingly taking a shot at Smith's analysis, as well as other pundits who praise Jordan on television.

"I'm not going to be arguing with guys in the barbershop. Or guys on TV every day because this is who they think is the GOAT."

"If you're only counting 6-0 in the finals, we get that. There is an older generation on TV every day with those slots. They're never gonna give LeBron that credit."

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