Stephen A. Smith reacts to Bronnys career-high Lakers night after LeBron James confrontation

Stephen A.Smith seemed to change his tune about Bronny James after the Lakers’ rookie had a career-high 17 points in garbage time of a 118-89 loss to the Bucks on Thursday.During “First Take” on Friday, the ESPN personality, who said he was “very impressed” by Bronny, sent a message to LeBron James following their court-side confrontation — when LeBron approached him about Bronny during the Lakers’ overtime win against the Knicks, 113-109, on March 6.“I was impressed, OK.

This is the big picture here that I want to bring up: I might’ve been wrong,” Smith said, referring to his previous remarks from January that Bronny belongs in the G League and is only playing in the NBA because of LeBron.“Are you listening, LeBron James? Are you listening, James family? Are you listening, Rich Paul? Are you listening, all you people?”“… My position was all along, Bronny James needed to be in the G League, that put him in the G League, let him be in the G League his first year,” Smith continued.

“… But what I saw last night made me say to myself, ‘Wait a minute,’ he keeps showing up and playing like that … if that kind of stuff continues, then indeed he’ll be in the league as a bonafide player sooner than later.One game does not make that determination, you need to do more than that.“… What I may have been wrong about that is that evidently being around [Lakers coach] JJ Redick and that staff, and being around pops and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers, combined with the G League — going back and forth — may be doing wonders for him sooner than we anticipated.

Because I liked what I saw last night.”Bronny — the Lakers’ second-round pick, 55th overall, in the 2024 NBA Draft — was 7-of-10 shooting, with five rebounds and three assists on Thursday.Redick played the former USC guard for 30 minutes, as the Lakers’ roster has been decimated with injuries.LeBron (groin), Luka Dončić (ankle) and Rui Hachimura (knee) were out...