Okay. Before we begin, let’s establish that I’m a viewer like all of you when it comes to ESPN, First Take, Pat McAfee, and the NBA. I’m not insinuating that the big feud between LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith is indeed fake. Cool? Great.

But it definitely feels fake.

You know, I come from politics. And from time to time, we’d see two lawmakers spar at a hearing. It was indeed verbal sparring. Both politicians had prepared remarks and springboarded from the conflict back to their followers as defenders of their cause.

It was a win-win. We borrowed a wrestling term and called it a “kayfabe” feud.

That’s how I feel about LeBron James going on Pat McAfee and comparing Stephen A. Smith to Taylor Swift. That’s how I feel about LBJ going on ESPN air to insult an ESPN top talent, that has been floated as a presidential candidate and regularly appears on other media outlets.

And Stephen A. is using the same kind of showmanship he’s used in this business for decades. You all forget that Stephen A. has actually been on a soap opera. And there are few on television outside of the scripted programming realm, who always have the main objective at the top of their minds.

Eyeballs on screens is what matters more than anything.

This feud feels fake because there are no real losers. LeBron isn’t losing. Stephen A. isn’t losing.

and most of all ESPN and Disney are certainly not losing (this and the Avengers cast reveal is a social media metrics triumph for them this week)

So, no. You’re not alone in being a little suspicious.

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