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Brian Windhorst Responds To Criticism From LeBron James

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Mar 27, 2025 5:24 PM ET

Brian Windhorst steered clear of LeBron James' jab against him when addressing the Los Angeles Lakers star's criticism of NBA media.

During an interview with Pat McAfee shared Wednesday, James said NBA coverage has "gotten away from the essence of the sport of basketball." On Thursday, First Take proved his point by overlooking actual basketball so Stephen A. Smith could air his grievances against LeBron. Smith falsely claimed James skipped Kobe Bryant's memorial service in a 15-minute monologue.

First Take later asked Windhorst about LeBron's comments about how the media covers the NBA. The ESPN insider, who has covered James since high school, didn't touch the all-time leading scorer calling it "weird" that Windhorst thinks he's "my f*****g best friend."

"I think there are times when the media is out of balance, and I encourage NBA players to hold the media accountable when they can," Windhorst said. "As long as they're OK with being held accountable by the media."

While plenty of people crave more intelligent coverage, a lot of fans ultimately love the off-court storylines. Windhorst warned James that the new season of his Mind The Game podcast won't go well if he's breaking down game film the entire time.

"They want to talk the Xs and Os. But I'm telling you, if you do a full show that's all Xs and Os, that's not gonna be any good either," Windhorst said. "I mean, you'll have basketball coaches who want to do it. But if he sits down with Steve Nash and all he does is Xs and Os for an hour, people aren't gonna like that either.

"So I would just say, let's have better balance. But people like the drama. People like the rivalries, and people like looking at why Luka Doncic has trouble defending Tyrese Haliburton in an iso situation."

While Windhorst doesn't think anyone should be immune from criticism, he also doesn't believe the blame game is helpful.

"I think there's room for all of it, and there's room to hold each other accountable," he concluded. "But the finger-pointing, I don't think that benefits anybody."

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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