Stephen A. Smith has claimed he is protected by the FBI 'everywhere I go' as he reflected on his feud with LeBron James.

Smith first said that James was 'exposing' his son and Lakers teammate, Bronny, and that he was 'pleading with [him] as a father' to 'stop this,' before James confronted the ESPN host whilst he was sat courtside at a Knicks-Lakers game in March.

Smith later said on his eponymous podcast that he would have punched James had the Lakers star touched him.

Asked about that claim in a new interview, Smith again indicated that he would have tried to defend himself, and suggested he is flanked by an enormous security presence at all times.

'Anybody could get got, and I'm fully aware of that. But one of the other things on a very, very serious note, everywhere I go, ESPN knows: Local police, FBI, everything. He's [his bodyguard] just with me,' he told Complex's Speedy Morman.

'But I'm always guarded because I'm an investment. We got people out here that's got people protecting them, and they bringing in a little paper. I make a lot of money for the mouse. So if people want to think that I'm just walking around and I don't have anybody around me. He's just like my blood. That's like my brother right there.'

Stephen A. Smith said that the FBI is always around him for protection in a new interview

Cameras caught LeBron James having a heated exchange with Stephen A. Smith last month

Smith added that his bodyguard was '330-plus' pounds.

'So whatever's gon happen would have had to happen quick,' he added of the altercation with James last month.

Smith made sure to mention that he wouldn't have necessarily beaten James in a potential fight, and 'doesn't have to fight at this particular moment in time,' but would have defended himself if he needed to.

'I'm not sitting up here telling you that I'll kick somebody's a**,' he continued. 'What I'm telling you is that I'm not going to sit by and let somebody put their hands on me. I don't give a s***who you are. Maybe the one exception might have been Mike Tyson in this heyday. I might have been like, I'm sorry, what I do?.''

James has indicated that his issue with Smith is not due to him criticizing Bronny, who has split his time between the NBA and G League this year, but because he lectured him about his parenting of his son.

'He completely missed the whole point,' James said on the Pat McAfee Show. 'Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport, criticize players about what they do on the court. That is your job to criticize or to be in a position where if a guy isn't performing. That's all part of the game.

James took issue with Smith's comments regarding his son and Lakers teammate, Bronny

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'When you take it and get personal with it, it's my job to not only protect my household but to protect the players.'

Before those remarks, Smith had said on his show: 'I cover the league. You play, I watch, dissect, analyze and broadcast,' he continued. We don't gotta communicate. We damn sure don't have to say hello to each other. We don't have to do none of that.'

However, he also admitted: 'That wasn't a basketball player confronting me. 'That was a parent. That was a father. And I can't sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in any way in that regard.'

Footage also later emerged of James talking to NBA analyst and former teammate Richard Jefferson, in which he could be heard discussing what he'd said to Smith.

'That's the only thing I'm tripping,' James could be heard saying in footage obtained by LegendZ .

'I don't give a f***. Once he talks about: 'I'm pleading to you as a father'. I can't.'

Bronny, a second-round pick in last year's NBA Draft, played in 27 NBA games during his rookie season, mostly seeing court time when games were out of reach.

However, he did show some improvement as the season went on, as he scored a career-high 17 points in a March loss to the Bucks.

The Lakers are tied 1-1 in their first round playoff series with the Timberwolves.