Jeanie Buss responds to report about her relationship with LeBron James

Who speaks in this episode?

• Kaylee Reese (Guest)

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Denver Broncos, ACC Championship, LeBron James, Jared Stidham
2. 5:00 – 10:00: ACC Championship, LeBron James, Denver Broncos
3. 10:00 – 15:00: LeBron James, Dr. Jerry Buss
4. 15:00 – 20:00: LeBron James, Bronny James, Jeanie Buss
5. 20:00 – 24:45: LeBron James

Notable quotes from "Jeanie Buss responds to report about her relationship with LeBron James"

• What's up everybody? Welcome to the latest edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. Coming at you, as I love to do, every weekday afternoon from 1 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard…

  about SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio · at 0:14

• I'm going to say this and put it into the terms I'm not. When I sit up there and I say that the AFC Championship game is this Sunday afternoon in Denver, Colorado, where the New England Patriots visit the number.

  about ACC Championship · at 1:42

• There's a story involving LeBron James and he's in the news today because obviously there was a story that came out just a couple of days ago.

  about LeBron James · at 13:00

• And Johnny and Jim and you know all of these Jay's associated with Dr. Jerry Bus and his family. But Jeannie Bus essentially sold the team and got rid of all the family…

  about Jeanie Buss · at 14:08

• Received a no trade clause in July 2024 after signing a new two-year $14 million contract. And when the Lakers drafted James son, Bronny with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft…

  about Bronny James · at 15:51

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• LeBron James — Person · Primary referenced subject (NBA segment) · 15 mentions · first at 1:12
  Central to the NBA discussion: ESPN reporting about Lakers ownership dynamics and Jeanie Buss' alleged feelings toward him, plus Stephen A.'s defense of LeBron's impact on the Lakers.
• Jeanie Buss — Person · Referenced executive (NBA ownership storyline) · 2 mentions · first at 1:21
  Discussed as the Lakers controlling owner tied to reported internal family conflict and alleged distaste toward LeBron James; Stephen A. cites her public statement defending LeBron.
• Jared Stidham — Person · Referenced athlete (NFL focal point) · 1 mention · first at 2:33
  Stephen A. argues the Patriots cannot lose an AFC Championship to Stidham, emphasizing his backup status and lack of recent game action.
  Or not, I have to start off with the NFL because I'm shocked that I have to start off with this story. Apparently, it's me and making news because of Jared Stdum.
• Dr. Jerry Buss — Person · Referenced former owner (Lakers history/ownership context) · 2 mentions · first at 13:26
  His death is described as triggering Buss-family power struggles; used to contextualize the Lakers’ ownership transition and internal dynamics.
  Was gone by then, from the Lakers, of course, Dr. Jerry Bus, who I mentioned, the former owner for the Los Angeles Lakers, longtime owner for the Los Angeles Lakers, who purchased the franchise for about 67 million. and just wa you.
• Bronny James — Person · Referenced athlete (supporting point in Lakers/LeBron discussion) · 2 mentions · first at 15:33
  Mentioned in the context of Lakers drafting him and the implication that LeBron should be grateful—used as evidence within the Jeanie Buss/LeBron narrative.
• Kaylee Reese — Person · Announced upcoming guest · 1 mention · first at 0:36
  Introduced as a professional boxer and actress appearing on the show to promote an upcoming movie; no further details provided in the excerpt.
  Got a jam-packed show coming your way today. Kaylee Reese, professional box and actress coming on the show to promote the movie. promote the movie that she's going to be in. I'm looking forward to talking to her. Mercy.

Companies & orgs

• Denver Broncos — Company · Business focus · 4 mentions · first at 1:55
  Discussed as the opposing team in the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots.
  There and I say that the AFC Championship game is this Sunday afternoon in Denver, Colorado, where the New England Patriots visit the number one seed Denver Broncos in the Mile…
• SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio — Company · Broadcast · 1 mention · first at 0:22
  The platform where the Stephen A. Smith Show is broadcasted.
• ESPN — Company · Media reference · 4 mentions
  Mentioned as the source of stories about LeBron James and the Bus family.
  Doubt. so you got that Rob Lincoln, somebody she brought on board, etc. but in the end the real story and it was a profile piece written by Baxter Holmes of ESPN on the end of the buses rule before they sold the franchise for $10 billion.

Places & events

• ACC Championship — Event · Core topic · 5 mentions · first at 1:46
  The main event discussed, highlighting the matchup between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 unfiltered. I'm not sold. I'm sorry. UNAPOLOGETIC. I'M NOT TRYING TO TALK about them. Unlike anyone else, but knowing y'all,

0:08 y'all will probably make me. This is the Stephen A. Smith Show. What's up everybody? Welcome to the latest edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. Coming at you, as I love to do, every weekday afternoon from 1 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time over the airwaves of SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. Number to call up as always is 88 Mad Dog6. That's Mad Dog6. That's 8886233646 8886233646. Got a jam-packed show coming your way today. Uh Kaylee Reese, professional box and actress coming on the show to promote the movie. Uh promote the movie that she's going to be in. I'm looking forward to talking to her. Mercy. Uh I've been waiting to see. Can't wait to see that. Obviously got a lot of NFL stuff to get into. Um and I listen I got some NBA stuff to get into as well. No, it's not the Knicks who erased their four-game win losing streak and shellacked the Brooklyn Nets last night by 54 points. Largest margin of victory

1:05 in New York Knicks franchise history. Destroyed the new the Brooklyn Nets 120 to 66. No, I'm not getting into that. Um I'll touch on Giannis and of course LeBron James. uh because LeBron James and the stories that's out written on ESPN um got extensively in the Genie Bus and the Bus family and you know some of the things that she feels about LeBron James and what have you. But believe it or not, I have to start off with the NFL because I'm shocked that I have to start off with this story. Apparently, you know, it's me and making news because of Jared Stdum.

1:42 You know, I'm going to say this and put it into the terms I'm not. When I sit up there and I say that the AFC Championship game is this Sunday afternoon in Denver, Colorado, where the New England Patriots visit the number one seed Denver Broncos in the Mile High City. And I say that the New England Patriots cannot lose to Jared Stum. I'm aware that there's a defense in Denver that could cause some problems for the New England Patriots offense. I'm aware that on the offensive side of the ball when you've got Stefon Diggs, you got Certan being able to guard him, all right, and defend against him. I got that. I I I know that the the the Denver Broncos had 68 sacks this year, okay? I know it's four shy of the alltime record. I get it all. I get it all. And I get that you don't know what Jared Stum you're going to see. Uh Shawn Peyton has a lot of faith in him. He was drafted by Bill Bellichic. Okay. Josh

2:39 McDaniel loved him. and what have you when you know he's in Vegas and you know I got it. I gotta understand. I don't think people are understanding my point and that is this. You're a backup quarterback that hasn't thrown a pass since 2023. You are a backup quarterback that has not thrown a pass in over two years. The wide receiver calling center for the Denver Broncos. He's thrown a pass in that time. The running back RJ Harvey, he's thrown a pass in that time. The kicker Dixon, he's thrown a pass in that time. But your Jared Stum and you do not you do not throw a pass in two years.

3:30 Never mind that you started four games and you only won one. Never mind that you've been in the league since 2019 and you're still not a starter. Never mind any of that. What I'm pointing to is you haven't thrown a pass in two years. I'm not disrespecting Jared St. I'm sure he could play. If this were Nick Fo's circuit 2017 or something like that when Carson Wentz goes down in game 11 and he's in a run in the capture league MVP honors and he goes down and Nick Fo steps in and he plays the rest of the regular season and gets you through the playoffs. I got that. That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about a quarterback that hasn't thrown a pass since Joe Biden had a year left in his presidency.

4:18 We're talking about a dude that hasn't thrown a pass since 2023. It's the year 2026. He hasn't thrown a pass since December of 2023. You're the New England Patriots. You can't go home. You lose to a backup quarterback and a backup quarterback prevents you from going to the Super Bowl. You you you you can't go. You can't go home. This show can be heard in Boston. It can be heard in the state of Massachusetts. I made the proclamation that there ain't a damn soul, there's not a soul in that state that disagrees with me.

4:56 You can't come home with your head held high even after 14 and three season if it ends because you lose to a backup quarterback that hasn't played a game that hasn't thrown a pass since 2023. Drake May is a league MVP candidate. We've got finalists, four finalists for the league MVP award. He's one of them. Josh Allen's on that list. Matthew Staf is on that list. Drake May is on that list. What the hell is up? You've been sacked 10 times in two playoff games. You've had about five turnovers. You only complete 59% of your passes. I get all OF THAT, TOO. STILL TELLING you can't lose this game. Can't lose the game to a backup quarterback.

5:40 And what I mean by that is I don't mean it's a 10-3 game and and and Denver scores a touchdown on the defensive side of the ball or something like I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about you cannot be in a situation where this brother goes out there and you you try to act like he Dan Marino or John Brady or Joe Montana or somebody. I'm talking about that kind of loss. Can't do it. Can't do it. You can't let a backup quarterback, even even one exceptionally coached by Shawn Payeyton, you can't let that man beat you for an AFC title.

6:15 If that happens, if that happens to the New England Patriots, I'm telling you right now, you ain't going to live it down. You ain't going to live it down. Let's hear from the coach, Shawn Payeyton, for the Denver Broncos. Speaking about Stum to Denver. Let's go there. Let's hear this.

6:36 I liked him first. We had we had good grades with him in New Orleans coming out of Auburn. um New England drafted him and then when you see a move where Josh goes to become the head coach and then you see it a transaction, you know, and I have a lot of respect for Josh and and and I knew that he liked him. He really played well in that 49er game, you know, against a real good defense. Uh and so that's when we we became aggressive.

7:07 I get it. I get it. But miss me with all of that. This is the AFC Championship game. Ever heard of Rust? And I remember my man Ryan Clark on my daytime my day job first take on ESPN every weekday morning from 10 a.m. to 12:00 noon accused me of of of watching too much sports and seeing too much and and mingling, you know, all meshing all of this stuff all multiple sports. When I use a different analogy, I'll use a boxing analogy because I love my boxing. You got a world champ. You got a championship on the line. You're a worldclass fighter and the person that you're going against hasn't hasn't thrown a punch in two years.

7:50 What you going to say? What you going to think? How people going to look at you? Let's Let's stop playing games. Excuses, excuses, excuses. The Super Bowl is really LA versus Seattle. Because ain't nobody looking at Denver and New England and thinking it's automatic that you know what, the Super Bowl is going to be won by one of those teams. Especially not with Jared Stam at the quarterback spot in Denver. Nobody's thinking that. New England could win the Super Bowl, but you're still not looking at them as a favorite over New England. I'm sorry, over Seattle or LA. You're not thinking about that. So, let's just stop this nonsense right now. Let's get all of that out of the way so we're not worried about stuff like that. I just needed to start that off. I just needed to make sure y'all understand what I was saying.

8:35 I just needed to make sure to reiterate the point because every apparently people thought I stuttered when I said something like that. You can't lose this game. If you're in New England, you can't lose this game. You can't go back to Massachusetts. You can't go home after this. You can't lose to a backup quarterback that hasn't played in two. Not the backup quarterback, but somebody that hasn't played in two years. Can't do that. That's problematic. Remember how worried we were about Philip Rivers? He hadn't played in five years.

9:02 Okay, we wor for his life when he came back and he did a damn good job considering the circumstances. Major major props to him, but that wasn't the AFC Championship game either. And we got to take that into consideration as well. So, I just wanted to throw that out there and make sure everybody understands that. Number to call up is triple8 Madox 688 6233646. You're listening live to the Stephen Ap show SiriusXM Mad Do Sports Radio. I got some NBA stuff to get into involving LeBron James. Some NBA stuff involving Jiannis Santa TMPO, but I'd be remiss in not bringing up my first NBA topic.

9:44 And that is the 16-year anniversary today of Kobe Bryant dropping 81 points in a basketball game. The second most in NBA history behind the one and only Will Chamberlain who scored 100 points. Kobe Bryant 2006 on this day dropped 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. led by their coach, my buddy Sam Mitchell, who said that he did everything he could to stop Kobe Bryant other than kidnap him. There was nothing they could do. Trapped him, tried to defend him, switch bodies on him, didn't matter. Tall, short, quick, slow, big, small, physical, timid, it didn't matter. 28 of 46 shots from the field, he hit seven of three of 13 from three-point range. 18 of 20 from the free throw line. Kobe Bryant was absolutely sensational on this day. And before I get into any basketball stuff, I had to measure that. For me personally, that performance was absolutely fantastic. I will tell you, I was at the final game of his career

11:02 against Utah when he dropped 60 and that was an absolutely phenomenal phenomenal experience to endure. Snoop Dog and the crew and the crowd going crazy. Everybody Jay-Z up in there, everybody in there was Kobe's final game and he put on the show. Shot about 50 damn times, but damn it, you know, started off slow missing his first five shots but then went ballistic. But still in all where it really really hit home was this 81 points in the game. The black mamba coming at you letting you know that he's on a seek and destroy mission and there was nobody on Toronto who could stop him and you just marveled at the greatness of Kobe Bryant. And I wanted to know to the listeners out there, what did that what you know my buddy Kobe Bryant, God rest his soul, um, who passed away years ago in that helicopter accident tragically as we all know. I I mean, where does that performance rank for y'all in NBA anals? I I just want to know if

12:07 not sports anals alto together. I just want to know. I just want to know. I just I'm not going to belabor it. I just want you to know that no matter what we're talking about today, if you tell me where that performance ranks, I'm really, really interested in hearing from you about it because it's an all-timer for me. No doubt about it. No doubt about it. I mean, I look at Jordan in a double nickel at the Garden, you know. I I look at stuff like that. I look at Allen Iverson dropping 48 in game one of an NBA Finals against Kobe and Shaq stepping over Ty Lou and all of that. I mean, there's some great great performances that I've seen in in my lifetime. Uh, but that 81 point performance clearly was up there because Kobe was just sensational. No doubt about it. Okay, so just wanted to throw that out there. Another story I want to get to because I think it's important to get to this.

13:00 There's a story involving LeBron James and he's in the news today because obviously there was a story uh that came out just a couple of days ago on ESPN and stuff and it was about the Bus family infighting and how some of it apparently involved LeBron James and it wasn't a secret that when Dr. Jerry Buzz passed away in 2013, uh, that massive ramifications would kick in. Okay, when you think about Jerry West, his greatness as a GM, he was gone by then, uh, from the Lakers, of course, Dr. Jerry Bus, uh, who I mentioned, uh, the former owner for the Los Angeles Lakers, longtime owner for the Los Angeles Lakers, um, who purchased the franchise for about 67 million. and just wa you know I mean obviously watch it from above as they were just purchased for 10 billion uh what can you say a lot of stuff you're hearing and it was a lot of infighting amongst the bus family Jeanie and Johnny and Jim and you know all of

14:12 these Jay's associated with Dr. Jerry Bus and his family. But Jeannie Bus essentially sold the team and got rid of all the family members. You know, anybody that knows anything about Jeanie knows that Linda Rambus is her girl. That's like a sister to her. They're very, very close, very tight. Kurt Rambus, her husband, Linda Ramis' husband, he's still tight within the organization, no doubt. Um, so you got that Rob Lincoln, somebody she brought on board, etc. Uh but in the end the real story and it was a profile piece written by Baxter Holmes of ESPN on the end of the buses rule before they sold the franchise for $10 billion. Um there's a lot of stuff that's going on and one of the main plots main storylines is Jean's uh Jeannie Bus's reported distaste for LeBron James.

15:03 reading from an article, it says, quote, "She didn't like that James was considered a savior for a floundering franchise when he arrived in 2018 and that it was he who chose the Lakers rather than the team's leadership receiving praise for landing him." Team sources have been adamant for years that James Camp informed the Lakers as early as 2017 that he was coming to join them when he became a free agent the following year. Uh then there was another tidbit about the Russell Westbrook trade being a disaster and even some Bronnie James shade throw into it just reading from the article. It says here in 2022 in the aftermath of the Westbrook trade multiple people said Jeie privately mused about not giving James a contract extension and later that year even about trading James with the Los Angeles Clippers floated as a possibility. This was before James received a no trade clause in July 2024

15:53 after signing a new two-year $14 million contract. And when the Lakers drafted James son, Bronny with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft, Jeanie privately remarked that James should be grateful for such a gesture, but she felt that he wasn't. People close to the team told ESPN, "Let me say this. [snorts] We all know my history with LeBron James. That doesn't give us a license to be unfair and engage in a kind of revisionist history that has us looking at him in a salty kind of way. When you look at Jeannie Bus and this is her statement about the statement to the athletic on the story about ESPN by ESPN's backs to home says it's really not right given all the great things LeBron has done for the Lakers that he has to be pulled into a family drama. To say that it wasn't appreciated is just not true and completely unfair to him. I appreciate that statement from Jeannie Bus because that needed to be said.

17:02 The Los Angeles Lakers absolutely should appreciate LeBron James. He returned the franchise, one of the top two most storied franchise in all of basketball anals. It's them and the Boston Celtics and everybody else is a distant third. Probably the Chicago Bulls with six titles in the Jordan era. But the Lakers and the Boston Celtics are the two storied franchises in basketball anal bar none. It's undeniable. And here's the reality. The Los Angeles Lakers were pretty freaking irrelevant until LeBron James arrived. LeBron James arrived in Los Angeles in 2018 and absolutely positively returned them to relevancy. As great as Magic Johnson is and as great as he was as a player and as much as his presence to the franchise meant in terms of him being the head of basketball operations, nothing compared to LeBron James arriving in Los Angeles.

18:00 Nothing. And LeBron James absolutely was going to Los Angeles and he absolutely made that clear that he wanted to. It's just that he delayed really really bloiating about it because they wanted Magic Johnson to get some credit because they got love for Magic Johnson. But make no mistake, he was coming to LA. And make no mistake, the Lakers wanted him because the Lakers is the land of stars. When it comes to basketball, they are the land of stars. from the days of George Mikin, you understand, to Kareem Abdul Jabbar to to to and Jerry West to to to to Irvin Magic Johnson and James Worthy and Kareem and Byron Scott and Norm Nixon before him, Michael Cooper, you know, the list goes on and on to Shaq and Kobe to Kobe and Pal Gasol and and and now to ultimately LeBron James, LeBron returned them to relevancy.

18:59 And for any Listen, I'm not challenging anything that Baxter Holmes wrote, but the fact is is that it's entirely plausible that Jeanie Bus may have felt that LeBron James should have been more appreciative. It is the Lakers after all, and that brand means something. It wasn't like he was playing for the Clippers now. Wasn't like he was playing for the Clippers. Okay, Lakers a different brand. We have to understand that. But he still came there and he delivered. And everybody wants to sit up there and minimize that championship in the bubble. You can't.

19:32 It was a real real different kind of situation during COVID. No doubt about it. Um, one would argue that if they had to go a full 82 games, they wouldn't have won because Anthony Davis likely would have got hurt and he wouldn't have had a four-month reprieve before returning to the game of basketball and playing inside that bubble in Orlando, Florida. I get all of that, but they did it. Clippers didn't even want to be there. Kawhai couldn't wait to get home along with various other teams as well. Okay, they didn't want to be there, but LeBron and them did. The Miami Heat did.

20:06 Jimmy Butler gave you, you know, the performance of his life in those playoffs. No doubt about it. And so, we got to remember what the NBA was like. No crowd in attendance, people watching digitally and putting their dig digital images up on the screen for people to see because people couldn't be in attendance because you know what? We still searching for a vaccine. So, you had all of that stuff going on and it despite that level of adversity and being away from their families and as hard as it was to focus and concentrate and as miserable of an experience as it was for a lot of people, the Lakers put 10 toes down and handled their business. And I'm never going to dismiss and minimize what they accomplished.

20:50 And the Lakers aren't, they haven't, nor should they ever minimize what transpired. And that was all because of LeBron James. So, we got to be fair to the brother and we got to recognize the fact that he won a chip. He brought a chip to LA. He's got four four rings and they won that championship in the bubble. And along the way, has he gotten on people's damn nerves? I'm sure he has. That would not surprise me one bit. But he shouldn't be talked about like he's a liability. He is who resurrected the Lakers franchise because they weren't doing anything for the previous six years or so.

21:36 He resurrected that franchise. Remember the Dwight Howard experiment and how that worked out in LA. Remember Kobe and the Achilles tear? Remember how he looked when he got back because it was such a challenge to overcome that. Lakers had a lot of adversity, couldn't get right until LeBron James arrived. And it was because his arrival occurred that Anthony Davis's arrival had occurred. It was because of that that the Lakers had a dynamic duo that you could put supplementary parts around and ultimately capture an NBA championship, albeit from a truncated season inside of a bubble.

22:19 But in the end, they did it. And so when we look at LeBron James here, no, he's not Kobe in an LA uniform. No, he's not Magic in an LA uniform. No, he's not James Worthy in an LA uniform, but he's still somebody that delivered the chip. Yes, he did. And so because of that and the fact, let's also remember one thing. No, they haven't been back to the finals, but they did go to a Western Conference finals under Darvin Ham. If it wasn't for Joic, Lakers would have been in the finals. Then the very next year when they lost in the first round, that was to Joic in the playoffs.

22:58 You ran in to a juggernaut, best player in the world at the time. This is truth. So, let's just be clear about that and be a and be decent with it. A lot of stuff. Yeah, there should have been some gratitude maybe that was shown because the Lakers drafted Bronnie James. Sure, you can nitpick about that stuff like that, but LeBron kind of deserved it. M years a service covering the NBA. No doubt about that. So, let's be fair to the brother. Be fair and give credit where credit is due. Now, me personally, I think LeBron James made a mistake staying in LA this year.

23:39 I think that the brothers should have gone back to Cleveland. I think whenever if this is his swan song, you want to compete for a championship. Ladies and gentlemen, imagine LeBron James in Cleveland with Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. They coming out of the East. They're coming out of the East. You'd have to give up something for them. I get that part. But if you could hold on to Moy, if you could hold on to Donovan Mitchell, which you would, and you put LeBron James with those two, you're coming out of the East.

24:10 In my opinion, you're coming out of the East. This ain't Oklahoma City. This ain't Denver. It ain't Wimbeyama and San Antonio standing your way. It ain't an Ant-Man standing in your way. No, you're coming out of the east. That's what I think he should have done. But that's just me. TripleA6 number to call up 8886233646. More of the Stephen A. Smith show. Your calls and then some in a minute. Don't go away. You're listening live to Stephen A. Series 6 Mad Do Sports Radio.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Jeanie Buss responds to report about her relationship with LeBron James"?

Kaylee Reese (Guest).

What is discussed in "Jeanie Buss responds to report about her relationship with LeBron James"?

In order: 0:00 Denver Broncos, ACC Championship, LeBron James, Jared Stidham; 5:00 ACC Championship, LeBron James, Denver Broncos; 10:00 LeBron James, Dr. Jerry Buss; 15:00 LeBron James, Bronny James, Jeanie Buss; 20:00 LeBron James.

What is mentioned in this Stephen A. Smith episode?

10 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including ACC Championship, LeBron James, Denver Broncos, Jeanie Buss, Jared Stidham, SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Jeanie Buss responds to report about her relationship with LeBron James"?

The episode runs 25 min; the transcript is about 4,120 words in 33 timestamped sections.

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