Sean Hannity has made it very clear which side of the Stephen A. Smith-LeBron James feud he stands on. 

The ESPN host and Lakers superstar went viral last week when cameras caught them in a heated confrontation following Los Angeles’ game against the New York Knicks. 

James, the NBA’s all-time leading point scorer, was visibly unhappy as he approached the sideline to speak to Smith, who sat courtside to watch his beloved Knicks. 

The ‘First Take’ host broke his silence on the dispute the following morning, revealing that James had taken issue with remarks he made about his son Bronny, who is currently in his rookie NBA season. 

However, Smith has repeatedly maintained that the target of his criticism throughout the season hasn’t been the Lakers rookie, but rather his famous father. 

And as the 57-year-old rehashed the now-infamous war of words once again on FOX News Channel’s Hannity, he said he was grateful that the blows remained verbal.  

Stephen A. Smith was interviewed by Sean Hannity on Fox News on Wednesday night 

Shock footage of the ESPN personality’s heated exchange with LeBron went viral last week

‘He thought that I was insulting his son when in fact that is not what I was doing,’ Smith explained to the FOX host. 

‘I was getting on him because he had gone through so many things to make – you know, have his son in the NBA and he was bringing unnecessary attention on his son prematurely in my estimation. He didn’t like that. So he confronted me.

‘It’s his prerogative. He didn’t put his hands on me. That’s all that matters. He can feel whatever way he wants to feel. I’m going to do my job. I love the sport. That’s what I’m going to do.’ 

However, if James had in fact escalated the confrontation to a physical level, Smith would have had a bodyguard in Hannity. 

‘I would have had your back, if I was there, I’m just saying,’ Hannity insisted, before Smith interjected, warning that the host wouldn’t be the only one. 

‘I had plenty of people that have my back. It wasn’t necessary, but I appreciate it,’ the ESPN personality added. 

Smith had initially appeared to aim for a ceasefire when he first discussed the altercation on ‘First Take.’

Despite suggesting their conversation shouldn’t have happened in the public eye, he conceded that the basketball legend approached him as a ‘father’ on the night.

Hannity claimed that he would back Smith in a physical altercation with the Lakers star 

Smith addressed the courtside altercation during Friday’s episode of his ‘First Take’ show

Yet five days later, Smith offered a more scathing verdict on his bust-up with James during an appearance on the ‘Gil’s Arena’ podcast.

‘I thought it was weak, I thought it was some bulls***,’ he said about LeBron confronting him at courtside. ‘But in the moment, I knew that I was listening to a father.’

He added: ‘Apparently LeBron had walked out at the timeout, and I turn around and he’s right here in my face.

‘He said, “Yo, you gotta stop talking s*** about my son. You gotta stop f****ng with my son. That’s my son, that’s my son!”‘

A few days after the incident, a new video emerged which appeared to show LeBron speaking about it with Smith’s ESPN colleague Richard Jefferson.

‘That’s the only thing I’m tripping,’ James could be heard saying to Jefferson. ‘I don’t give a f***. Once he talks about: “I’m pleading to you as a father”. I can’t.’

Smith said he was ‘really p****d’ after seeing James’ discussion with his co-worker, despite stressing that it vindicated his original comments about Bronny – having accused the Lakers icon of opening his son up to criticism last year.

‘Even though I thought that he misrepresented the argument, I was glad he did,’ Smith continued. ‘Because you see, what he was really talking about, which was confirmed with his conversation with Richard Jefferson, is that I was talking about him as a father.

The ‘First Take’ host later took a furious swipe at LeBron James over their viral courtside spat

A new clip appeared to show LeBron discussing the feud with one of Smith’s ESPN colleagues

‘And so what happens is… had he said that to me, then I wouldn’t have been thrown off. I’d have came right back at him [and said], “Yes I was. I was talking about you, you did this s***.”‘

Smith then took another sH๏τ at James for choosing to confront him in public.

‘Rather than come up to me at courtside, all you had to do was say, “Yo, I need to see you after the game,”‘ he fumed. ‘You didn’t do that s***. You said you’re f****ng with my son. No I wasn’t! I was talking about you!

‘It wasn’t about your son. I know he’s number 55. I know he got work to do. I believe that he’s got the potential and by the way, I’m rooting for him. I ain’t rooting against nobody! But I was talking about your a**! You! You did this!

‘All of us as reporters, as a league, as an NBA franchise, had to sit back and be quiet and capitulate to your s***, you did that.’

Despite Smith’s latest comments, James’ agent Rich Paul insists the feud is now over after they ‘moved on’ from the heated confrontation.

Paul attempted to play down the feud during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. But he does believe that analysts can be guilty of getting too personal in their comments on star players.