If there were a Hall of Shame for bad takes, Stephen A. Smith has thoroughly fleshed out his resumé.
Smith, during his latest podcast, went on a bizarre rant suggesting the entire NBA community owes it to LeBron James to have his son Bronny play in the league.
Whether it’s the Los Angeles Lakers, the league as a whole, the media, or even the fans – Smith wants you to know that James is ‘owed’ the privilege of making history by sharing a court with his son.
Even if Bronny doesn’t belong within miles of an NBA team bench. (Spoiler: he doesn’t!)
“There’s a whole host of folks throughout the world of sports … that engage in a level of nepotism that we all notice,” Smith justified. “This is Bronny James, the son of LeBron James.”
“And when we think about the NBA and what it has become, and the $76 billion, 11-year deal they recently signed with various television networks and streaming operations, I got news for you,” he continued. “Is that possible if it were not for LeBron James?”
Stephen A: Bronny And LeBron James Deserve It
I’m not sure the criteria for somebody being drafted in the NBA should solely rest on what their Dad did to help the league.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson completely transformed the NBA due to his rivalry with Larry Bird. Does that mean the Lakers should draft EJ Johnson so he can fulfill the whimsical dreams of Magic?
Actually come to think of it, DJ Rodman has a better argument for being able to play in the league right now. His Dad, Dennis Rodman, was pretty successful. And DJ, at USC last season, averaged more points, rebounds, and blocks per game than Bronny did.
He also shot 44% to Bronny’s 36.6%. In fact, his three-point FG percentage is nearly as high as James’ from inside the line.
Anyway, Smith contends that fans just need to shut up and accept the fact that LeBron’s kid got drafted as some sort of lifetime achievement award.
“For him to have his son on the team with him, I’ve got no issues with it whatsoever,” Smith said. “LeBron James has earned that. Bronny James has something to prove. Fair enough. But LeBron James has earned it. He has earned our respect, our reverence, our deference, our appreciation.”
“For us to look at something that he wants and say, ‘Excuse me can we do that for him?’ Yes, we can. Not just the Lakers, but NBA fans everywhere,” added Smith. “Yes, we owe it to LeBron James.”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
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No, Fans Don’t Owe James ANYTHING
It should be noted that Stephen A. Smith is paid, much like everybody else at ESPN, to intentionally take the less popular side of an issue as a way to generate heat. That’s what gets clicks and viewers.
The fans don’t owe LeBron James jack to the squat. They pay tickets to see their team field the best possible squad of basketball players they can assemble in the hopes of being the best team in the league.
The Lakers haven’t done that. Instead, they bowed down to LeBron’s little fantasy by taking his kid in the second round of the NBA draft. Then they gave him a 4-year, $7.9 million guaranteed contract.
Bronny likely wouldn’t have been selected in the second round of a rec league draft, let alone the NBA.
A prominent league executive recently torched the Lakers for picking Bronny, saying the whole situation is “surreal.”
“Analytically, if you just had the numbers on a page and had no name attached to it, he doesn’t project in any way, shape or form to be an NBA player. His measurables don’t project as an NBA player,” he said.
“There’s literally nothing about him on paper — if no name is attached to it — that makes this make sense.”
It doesn’t make sense to anybody but Stephen A.
In two pre-season games thus far, Bronny has played 29 minutes, scoring just 2 points on 1-7 shooting. Fans owe it to him though, to have a roster slot taken up by somebody who couldn’t hit the ocean with a basketball.
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