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[Saba Sports News] Doug Gottlieb isn’t letting LeBron James have the last word.
Over the holiday weekend, the Lakers star took a petty shot at Gottlieb, the longtime sports radio host turned head coach at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. With Green Bay struggling to a brutal 3-24 record in Gottlieb’s first season, James’ jab quickly made headlines.
This week, Gottlieb fired back while calling into FOX Sports, accusing James of “punching down.”
“I don’t think it speaks well for somebody who—like, don’t you have the day off?” Gottlieb said, per Awful Announcing.
“Don’t you have better things to do? My response is: Colin [Cowherd] told me a long time ago, ‘Don’t punch down. Always punch up.’ So me talking trash to him would technically be punching up. And [for] him, it’s punching down.
“I guess pettiness and insecurity aren’t limited to just people who aren’t super successful in their field,” he added. “It just doesn’t make any sense. Why on a Presidents’ Day Monday, when you have the day off, are you worried about me?”
Gottlieb has been a vocal critic of James, particularly over his efforts to secure an NBA roster spot for his son, Bronny. He has previously called James a “bad basketball parent” and even questioned whether Bronny would start for his struggling Horizon League team.
While Gottlieb’s take may be controversial, he has a point—by engaging with his criticism, James only amplified it. If LeBron had ignored Gottlieb, the comments likely wouldn’t have gained nearly as much attention.