LeBron James’ former teammate Patrick Beverley reveals that Lakers star sent him a profane text about Stephen A Smith

LeBron James' viral confrontation with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith has been the talk of the hour in the NBA. During a timeout against the Knicks on Thursday, James approached Smith, who was sitting courtside. He reportedly told Smith to stop talking about his son Bronny, who also plays for LA.

James' former teammate Patrick Beverley on Wednesday revealed that he and James exchanged some texts about the situation. He said he would have to bleep them out to show them, but he chose not to do so (36:35).

"The first thing I did after I see it, I text LeBron," Beverley said on his podcast. "Let me know if you want me to respond about that Stephen A. s**t. Buddy was out of line. Keep being great."

According to Beverley, James' response included a "he is," referring to Smith, along with profane words that Beverley kept private.

"Probably so (Beverley on if LeBron James asked Smith to stop talking about his son). I wanted to bleep out the text messages. Me and Bron, that's big bro. I don't think he gives no f**k because he is LeBron James."

Stephen A. Smith calls out LeBron James' 'weak' move

Stephen A. Smith addressed the situation on ESPN's First Take, his podcast, and in an appearance on Gilbert Arenas' "Gil's Arena" on Tuesday. The pundit, who has had plenty of praise for James in the past, called it a "weak" move by the four-time NBA champion:

“I thought is was weak, I thought it was some bulls**t. But, in the moment, I knew that I was listening to a father.” Smith said.

Stephen A. said that he would've even flown to Los Angeles to address the issue face-to-face with James if he had told him he wanted to talk to him.

“Rather than come up to me at courtside, all you had to do was say, Yo, I need to see you after the game. You didn’t do that sh*t, you said you f***ing with my son. No, I wasn’t, I was talking about you! It wasn’t about your son.” Smith said.