ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst thanked NBA players for their support in the aftermath of Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James' diss. After James accused Windhorst of thinking they're best friends, Windhorst was afraid the comment would fracture his ongoing relationships with NBA players. However, it hasn't whatsoever.

Windhorst revealed he's received support from current and former players, per The Bill Simmons Podcast.

“I actually felt like my concern was it would damage me with players because he’s so influential with players. That hasn’t been the case so far,” Windhorst said. “I’ve had more players come up, not that all of them are, but I’ve had more support from players, current and former, than I thought I would.”

For Windhorst, he's still confused as to why James would take a shot at him.

“There’s probably 15 things that LeBron could be angry at me about, like that I’ve said or written over the years, that he could legitimately been like that was wrong, that was unfair, you don’t know what you’re talking about, and he could have hit me with any of those.

“And I would’ve been like, you’re right, shouldn’t have done that; I was out of line,” Windhorst added. “What he accused me of was not one of them.”

James did not hold back while calling out the NBA's media members, per ESPN's Pat McAfee Show.

“I've seen Brian Windhorst on one of these shows not too long ago… This guy says he's like my f***ing best friend,” James said. “These guys are just weird.”

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Stephen A Smith on Brian Windhorst after LeBron James shade

ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith on the ESPN First Take set at the CFP Fan Central at the George World Congress Center
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ESPN's Stephen A Smith stood up for his colleague Brian Windhorst after Lakers All-Star LeBron James dismissed Windhorst of thinking he's a close friend of his. Smith didn't hold back while addressing James.

Smith says Windhorst has never alluded to being best friends with James and offered his support for his ESPN colleague, per the Stephen A Smith Show.

“I have worked with Brian Windhorst for years. Never once did he say that LeBron was a best friend,” Smith said. “Matter of fact, years earlier, it was LeBron who sat in front of the microphones and said probably nobody knows me better than Brian Windhorst, who’s been covering me since I was a junior in high school. But that’s how he talked about him.”

James and the Lakers will face the Timberwolves in their first-round series.