Stephen A. Smith left stunned as his daughter reveals 'huge crush' on LeBron James' son despite family feud

Stephen A. Smith may have incidentally found himself caught in a Romeo and Juliet style situation amid his feud with LeBron James. 

The ESPN star welcomed his daughter Samantha on his 'Stephen A. Smith' YouTube show this week and likely immediately regretted the decision. 

Throughout the episode, Samantha, who went viral for her rare TV appearance alongside her father during the NBA Finals, hilariously antagonized the sports analyst, including a jibe at his forehead. 

Yet, there was one moment in particular appeared to rattle Smith, who consistently rolled his eyes at his daughter's antics, the most. 

A viewer's question on Lakers superstar James prompted Samantha to confess that she once had a crush on one of the NBA legend's sons. 

'I remember Bryce James, he's a great player, but there's Bronny too, but I remember I used to have the biggest crush on Bryce James like a year ago, so it was really awkward when there was a lot of beef,' she said, stunning her dad into silence.

'What?' an exasperated Smith asked, to which Samantha, jokingly grimacing at the camera, swiftly responded: 'I'm joking.'

'You'd better be,' added Smith, who famously became embroiled in a heated courtside exchange with LeBron earlier this year. 

The four-time NBA champion has two sons with his wife Savannah. The eldest Bronny, 20, plays alongside him in Los Angeles after being drafted by the Lakers in the second round of last year's draft, while 18-year-old Bryce plays college ball for the Arizona Wildcats. 

And LeBron appears to be protective of his family after clashing with Smith over his analysis of Bronny's debut season with the Lakers. 

Back in March, cameras caught James and the ESPN personality in a heated confrontation during the Los Angeles Lakers' matchup against Smith's beloved New York Knicks. 

Smith later revealed that James had taken issue with remarks he made about his son, Bronny. 

They then continued their war of words, with the ESPN star accusing the Lakers star of being a 'liar' and a 'bully'. He even claimed: 'Had that man put his hands on me, I would have immediately swung on him'

LeBron, meanwhile, went on The Pat McAfee Show, and mocked Smith for repeatedly discussing their feud. 'He is on a Taylor Swift tour run right now,' James joked.

Nearly six months on, Smith insisted that he and LeBron have 'no relationship'. 'He doesn't like me, and I don't like him... if I never, ever speak to him again in life, that will be OK. And I'm good with it,' Smith said Friday on the Gil's Arena livestream. 'There's nobody that can mediate.'

He continued: 'All I would say is people don't know the things that have happened behind the scenes... things that have been said, who they've been said to. The kind of things that have been engaged in in an effort to hurt me, along with contemporaries and others.'

Smith insisted there is 'a lot of s***' he doesn't say and that 'there's a reason that I feel the way that I do.' 

'And the last straw was him approaching me and turning the Bronny thing into something about me attacking somebody's family, when it was him I was talking about. Not Bronny,' the ESPN star continued.

The analyst has always maintained that the four-time NBA champion misconstrued his comments about his son.

'And then to go on The Pat McAfee Show, which comes directly on after my show, on the channel that I work on. To insult me. Now, people can get into all kind of components that go into it and all that other stuff. I have nothing to say,' continued Smith, who suggested he would now only discuss James when he has to.

'I'm never going to denigrate any employer, any partner, or myself by getting into anything excessively, unnecessarily, when it comes to him or anybody else,' the ESPN star explained. 'I'm going to do my job. I'm going to cover the game of basketball.'

The ongoing tension between the two would surely do nothing to help fuel a blossoming romance between their two children. 

But according to Smith, Samantha, who is a senior in high school, won't be dating anyone anytime soon - never mind a James. 

Another viewer wrote in to ask when Samantha was allowed to dating, prompting two very different answers from the father-daughter duo. 

'When she goes to college,' Smith began as Samantha simultaneously responded, 'Today. I'm a senior in high school you guys.'  

'[...] I am allowed to date you guys. I do date,' she added, leaving her furious father sputtering.