Stephen A. Smith is trying to send a message: If you’re an NBA superstar, don’t question me.

The ESPN personality went nuclear on LeBron James on his radio show Tuesday after the Cavaliers star rebutted his report that, if Kyrie Irving was in front of James, the latter would be “tempted to, quote, beat [Irving’s] ass.”

James took to Twitter to shoot down the report — which Smith had passed along, citing sources — by saying it’s “NotFacts.” Smith previously had reported that Irving’s camp believes James was the one who leaked the trade request to the media.

Smith’s extended rant featured many shots across the bow, including one particularly interesting nugget: a threat to report “the real story about what happened with LeBron James against Boston the spring before he decided to leave Cleveland and take his talents to South Beach,” a reference to the 2010 second-round series that saw the Cavs fall in six games, prompting James’ initial departure.

It’s impossible to know exactly what (if anything) Smith has in his back pocket. James has been accused of giving up in Game 5 of that series, a 120-88 Celtics rout in which James shot 3-of-14.

Smith also provided an impassioned defense of his report, saying, “If LeBron James was in front of Kyrie Irving, I was told, QUOTE, he would be tempted to whup his ass.

“That’s what was TOLD to me,” Smith said in audio captured by The Big Lead. “I did not speculate, I did not put that out there, it was TOLD to me. VERBATIM.”

Fair to say that Smith feels he was unfairly criticized. The bombastic reporter/voice has a history of going after superstars who dispute his reports. In 2015, he threatened Kevin Durant on ESPN airwaves after the superstar said Smith was “lying” when he reported that the then-free agent-to-be Durant could land with the Lakers.

This go-round, Smith says he spoke to “over 30 different sources this weekend.”