Stephen A. Smith is not quite ready to admit that he was wrong Bonny James.
But the ESPN personality laid the foundations for such an admission to “First Take” in the morning after the son and his teammate Lakers superstar LeBron James played Best NBA game.
Two weeks earlier, after Smith was confronted with an angry LeBron On comments on his son, Smith had taken the same waves to say that he was not disrespectful saying that he felt Bonny belonged to the G League as a recruit.
On Friday, however, Smith told viewers: “I might be wrong.”
This recognition came after Bronny intervened in the absence of several teammates – including his father, Luka Donic,, Austin Reaves,, Rui Hachimura,, Jarred Vanderbilt And Dorian Finney-Smith – Thursday against Giannis antetokounmpo And the Milwaukee Bucks.
The result could have been a loss of eruption for Lakers, but Bonny experienced a revolutionary performance. His 17 points and five assists in 30 minutes were all career peaks, and his three rebounds equaled his best.
“I was very impressed,” said Smith. “I was very impressed because I saw an elevation of his level of confidence and balance. It was as if it hadn't really disconcerted her. He did not seem as nervous as he had looked at her in the previous appearances on the basketball court. He looked like someone who belonged. …
“There were movements he put on the field – skills to handle the ball, arriving at the basket, ending in the basket, stopping for riders, hitting three, 17 points and seven shooting on the field – I was impressed.”
He added: “And if this kind of thing continues, then he will indeed be in the League as a player in good faith as soon as possible. A game does not make this determination. You have to do more than that. But I wanted to make sure I have highlighted this point.”
Smith was seated on the edge of the courtyard at the crypto.com Arena for the Lakers-Knicks game March 6 When LeBron approached him for a dead time And angry with him. Smith said the next day that LeBron had come to him “for confronting me to make sure I pretend what I say about his son.”
On Friday, Smith reiterated what he said on several occasions since the incident, which he had never disrespected in Bronny.
“But I thought it belonged to League G to be perfect for the NBA level,” said Smith. “What could have been bad about this is that it is obviously with JJ Redick and that the staff and the fact of being with Pops and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers – combined with the G League, go back and forth – can do wonders for him earlier than we had planned. Because I liked what I saw last night.
“And I'm going to keep the same energy. When he plays well, we're going to give him accessories. When he doesn't play well, we're going to say it. This is what's going on by covering the league. Maybe his pops haven't told him that, but I'm going to tell him that. Congratulations for a good performance last night. I hope it continues.”
