“I’m Not Being Cruel To Bronny”: Stephen A Smith Reveals LeBron James’ Friends Approached Him For Speaking Ill On LBJ’s Parenting

Stephen A. Smith found himself in a bit of hot water with LeBron James and his inner circle after going at LBJ and his parenting regarding his son, Bronny. To clear the air on his comments on ‘First Take’ where he pleaded with LBJ to not expose his son to the NBA this soon due to poor performances, he took to his solo show on YouTube.

“Couple of people texted me and pissed me off and they know who they are. People close to LeBron James, talking to me about questioning him as a father. C’mon y’all. It’s got to a point where this LeBron sensitivity is just beyond the pale.”

Stephen A Smith says Lebron is SOFT for having Klutch Sports contact him about critisizing Bronny pic.twitter.com/fER7HwDGVs

— Thetruth (@Thetruth8240) January 31, 2025

SAS calls out the hypocrisy that comes with criticizing James as he should always be lauded for his successes but never held accountable for his failures. This isn’t to say that Bronny is a ‘failure’ in the slightest as the fact that he’s playing alongside his own father in the league is success of massive proportions.

However, as time goes on, the novelty for fans has started to wear off. Now, when they see the former USC guard on NBA hardwood, they expect him to show flashes of stardom when in reality, he simply isn’t there yet. “I’m not being cruel to Bronny,” said Smith while defending a similar 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,” said Smith on ‘First Take’ earlier this week. This is what prompted the entire fiasco that led to him getting into a war of words with people close to James.

Bronny’s play in the NBA has been starkly different from what he’s showcased in the G-League. The latter has seen him become more poised as each game commences, with him recently going off for a career high 31 points. Unfortunately, that level of offensive repertoire has not followed him to Los Angeles Lakers games.

Fans and the media alike are split on the 55^th pick. Some believe he truly deserves this spot on the Lakers as he is in fact, merely the 55^th pick and having someone that low on the draft average over 16 pints per game in the G-League is a promising sign.

Other of course, simply don’t see him panning out and do not want to see him on the silver screen for any Lakers games. Stephen A. Smith falls right in the middle of these two opinions. While he’s always stated he sees potential in the 20 year old, he has continually called out LeBron for allowing Bronny to be scrutinized on an international level for even the tiniest of mistakes.

Lakers head coach, JJ Redick, admitted Bronny didn’t ‘play well’ against the 76ers after he was abruptly subbed into the first quarter of the game. He did give the caveat of it being a nationally televised game and how he might’ve put him in a tough spot. If Stephen A had it his way, he would’ve never been put in the game in the first place.