Lakers News: LeBron James Called Out By Stephen A Smith Yet Again
After Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James took to Twitter/X to call out NBA pundits for dropping his son, USC Trojans freshman combo guard Bronny James, down their recent mock draft boards (and, in some cases, off them completely), ESPN's Stephen A. Smith weighed in on the drama. (video via ClutchPoints).
"This is all his fault. All of it. Let me be very delicate, I'm not joking around, I'm not playing. I'm going to be very serious," Smith claimed. "When we get to Bronny James, that kid has done nothing but work hard to get on his game and all this other stuff. Any attention that he's warranted has been because of his daddy. 'I want to play with my son. I want to stay here until my son gets to the NBA.' We've seen interviews with Savannah and LeBron, and they were asked about Bronny. What does she say? 'I just want my son to be happy and healthy.' LeBron: 'I want [him to] be in the NBA.'"
"But when you're LeBron James, and you put the word out that... you're willing to go to any NBA team that picks him up.... now you've got to wonder, what team would draft Bronny James just so they could get LeBron James at age 40 or 41, right?... The sheer fact that that question would be asked brings in the question, the legitimacy of Bronny... You're gonna tweet about folks needing to leave your son alone? You did that... Own it. It's you. It's not the media."
Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest, stemming from a heretofore-unknown congenital heart defect, over the summer while training at the Galen Center, and saw his NCAA debut delayed by a month as a result. He remains incredibly raw thus far, though he has shown some defensive potential. Across 19 games so far (mostly off the 11-16 Trojans' bench), the 6'4" Sierra Canyon School product is averaging 5.5 points on a spotty .371/.275/.621 slash line, 2.8 boards, 2.5 assists and 0.7 swipes per bout.
