“It’s a Marathon, It Ain’t a Sprint”: Stephen A. Smith Sends Encouragement for Bronny James After 30-Point Showing

Bronny James is finally showing up and showing out for the Lakers. Yes, it’s the South Bay Lakers, but he’s still showing significant signs of improvement. The youngster dropped 30 points in 25 minutes in his first G-League away game. The nature of his performance and the sheer potential that was visible led to Stephen A. Smith congratulating Bronny on his career night.

On ‘The Stephen A. Smith Show’, the ESPN analyst praised the USC grad for “earning his stripes” and proving his haters wrong with his performance. However, despite all his praise, he advised him to take inspiration from his father, reminding him success is built on consistent improvement. He also explained how development is to be treated like a marathon and not a sprint.

“Because even though people gonna hate no matter what, the legitimacy of their arguments is gonna dissipate drastically once you continue to show out like that. Once you continue to show that you belong like you started showing last night. Congratulations to Bronny James, but keep it up. It’s a marathon baby, it ain’t a sprint. And nobody is in a better position to know that than your father, who is on the Mount Rushmore of basketball, one of the all-time greats. He’s never cheated the game, emulate pops to the best of your ability.”

Smith’s words carry a certain weight, and for him to praise LeBron while telling Bronny to emulate him is a touch of class. Smith admitted that he’s been one of James Sr.’s biggest critics, but even he cannot ignore the hard work and commitment he puts into being one of the best at his craft. He admitted that if Bronny wants to make the critics eat their words, he’d have to ensure he does exactly what his father did, and never cheat the game.

Bronny James’ career night

What started as a regular road game in the Mullett Arena quickly became the Bronny James show. The rookie started the game hot, scoring 6 points on back-to-back possessions, and he only got better from there. Sure, there are still some chinks in his game he needs to work on, mainly his 3-point shooting, which was a lowly 33% on the night, but there’s potential for his game to really improve.

He had 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block, showing he’s really coming to terms with the pace of a professional game. He made 10 of his 14 shot attempts from inside the paint, and when watching the game back, it’s clear to see that he’s slowly understanding how to use his body and size as a smaller guard to his advantage.

With the right amount of training and work put in, Bronny really does have a future in the NBA, and the Lakers might have justified in drafting the youngster.