Right in the middle of the Los Angeles Lakers’ recent game against the New York Knicks, LeBron James confronted ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who was sitting courtside at Crypto.com Arena.
LeBron did not hold back on Smith for his recent criticism of Bronny James, who is a rookie on the Lakers after being drafted in the second round. LeBron was notably not happy with Smith “pleading with him as a father” to end the Bronny experiment with the Lakers after he struggled when getting minutes against the Philadelphia 76ers in January.
The fact of the matter is though that Bronny has made some serious developments in the G League during his rookie season and is right on track of where a 55th pick should be at this stage of his career, especially considering James missed almost all of his lone collegiate season at USC due to a heart issue.
On the latest episode of the Stephen A. Smith Show though, the ESPN analyst said that he has never been critical on Bronny and it has all been aimed at LeBron:
“I’ve never, ever, ever been about being critical of Bronny. I’ve gone out of my way, being who I am in the position that I am in, to avoid even critiquing him for years out of respect for the James family. Rich Paul knows that, Maverick Carter knows that. Opposing agents and players, former and present, who had asked me why I wouldn’t do it, know my position. It was on the record. There are clips of it on ‘First Take.’ That was my position. So when he said to me, ‘Stop s—— on my son,’ I am like what? What are you talking about? But then something happened. Something happened and a light bulb hit my ear. And that was him with Richard Jefferson. When he sat up there and said, ‘When I was talking as a dad, I can’t, I can’t…’ So it wasn’t about Bronny. … It was about him. Those are his words. Once he said as a father, that was about him. Which was my point January 29. It’s been about you. I don’t want to have a critical word about Bronny James at this stage of his career. It was never about Bronny. I wouldn’t do that to a kid. It was about his dad. And it wasn’t about his dad wanting him in the NBA. It’s about the things he said. And the things he maneuvered and manipulated in order to get his son to wear the same uniform as him.”
Regardless of who Smith’s criticism was aimed at, LeBron took exception and has made it be known that he will defend his son and family at all costs.
Because of that, Smith actually understood why LeBron confronted him, even if he wishes he did it in a different setting as opposed to courtside in the middle of a game.
There naturally is going to be a lot of criticism thrown LeBron and Bronny’s way, but the latter has done a nice job of blocking out the noise and focusing on developing his game in his time with the Lakers. No other second round pick has ever had this type of scrutiny on them, but if Bronny can develop into a solid NBA player then he and the James family will get the last laugh in all of this.
LeBron James believes Lakers can compete with anyone
Meanwhile, the Lakers have been one of the better teams in the league when healthy in recent weeks. After a recent loss to the Boston Celtics, LeBron James stated he believes the Lakers can compete with anyone although admitted they are not on the level of the defending champs yet.
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