Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James made his presence felt in his first NBA game since his father, LeBron James, confronted Stephen A. Smith at courtside last week.
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Bronny did not address the issue after scoring five points, grabbing two offensive rebounds and getting one steal without a turnover in 16 minutes off the bench for the shorthanded Lakers, who nearly pulled the rug from under the Denver Nuggets in a heartbreaking 131-126 loss on Friday, March 14, to end their four-game road trip winless. But he discussed his development away from the prying eyes of the public.
“I always try to stay as lowkey as I can,” Bronny told reporters after the loss, “whether that’s media, I mean everything really, living life but just putting in the work behind the scenes, I feel like it’s been really good for me.”
LeBron-Stephen A. Smith Public Confrontation
Following the Lakers’ 113-109 overtime win over the New York Knicks on March 6, LeBron’s heated courtside interaction with Smith about his comments on Bronny went viral.
The veteran ESPN reporter, who just signed a five-year, $100 million contract to stay with the cable network, addressed the issue on the March 7 episode of “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”
“He approached me during the game, and he said, ‘stop [expletive] with my son (Bronny),’” Smith said. “I said, ‘what?’ … And I saw how furious he was. I said ‘we can talk about it later.’ He said ‘nah, [expletive] that, stop [expletive] with my son, that’s my son.’ I said ‘alright dawg, fine’ and he walked away, that’s all he said. I knew what he was talking about. I’ve spoken about this before…A few players were upset at me about that. I think one of those players was Draymond Green, who I haven’t spoken to since.”
Stephen A. Smith’s Comments That Ticked off LeBron
The public spat stemmed from comments Smith had previously made about LeBron and Bronny, the 55th overall pick in last year’s NBA draft.
“I’m really, really trying to be as respectful as I possibly can be toward LeBron James, one of the top two or three players in the history of basketball,” Smith said on January 29 episode of the “First Take.” “I am pleading with LeBron James, as a father. Stop this. Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad. The first game of the season … father-son duo playing in an NBA game for the first time, an absolutely, positively wonderful story.
“And then reality sets in. We love what we’re seeing from (Bronny) in the G League, because that’s where you belong, as you hone your skills and you get better and you legitimately earn, which I believe he has the potential to do. I am rooting for Bronny James … he’s a wonderful kid, I wish him nothing but the best.”
Stay-Ready Games Help Bronny’s Confidence
With the Lakers missing six rotation players, including four starters led by LeBron and Luka Doncic, Bronny got the opportunity to play meaningful minutes in Denver.
Bronny subbed in for fellow rookie Dalton Knecht, the 17th overall pick, with 3:56 left in the first quarter. Bronny was fouled at the 2:09 mark while grabbing an offensive rebound and hit the two free throws for his first points of the game. Then he made his first field goal attempt — a 3-pointer with three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic closing out on him — with 1:16 left in the opening quarter to extend the Lakers’ lead to 37-29.
He missed his next four shots but made a positive impact as the Lakers outscored the Nuggets by eight points in Bronny’s court time.
Bronny credited his G League reps for his growing confidence.
“I’m always trying to stay ready,” Bronny told reporters. “We have stay-ready games and practice and stuff like that so I’m always ready to go at it and give my full effort.”
In nine games in the G League regular season, Bronny is averaging 20.6 points on 43/36/80 shooting split to go with 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.7 steals in 33.6 minutes for the South Bay Lakers.
“I worked all summer before the draft and I’m still working right now,” Bronny told reporters. “So I can see improvement and it’s been going well for me.”
His solid play in the G League has translated in the NBA whenever he gets the opportunity like Friday night in Denver. He has scored in his last six NBA games, averaging 4.3 points in 7.9 minutes while shooting 40% from the field with 0.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.5 steals during that span.
