USC Basketball: Stephen A Smith Blames LeBron James For Media Scrutiny On Bronny

Does he make a salient point?

All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James issued a passionate stream of tweets the other day to back up his son, USC Trojans freshman combo guard Bronny James, after the 6'4" Sierra Canyon School product found himself dropped from ESPN's 2024 mock draft -- but added to the Worldwide Leader's 2025 mock.

In a recent installment of "First Take," ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith put the onus on LeBron James, not the media, for the epic scrutiny on Bronny (h/t to ClutchPoints for the clip).

"This is all his fault. All of it... You're gonna tweet about folks needing to leave your son alone? You did that... Own it. It's you. It's not the media."

Stephen A. Smith on LeBron James' defense of his son Bronny over recent mock drafts 🗣️pic.twitter.com/uVqTmThnjQ

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 27, 2024

"This is all his fault. All of it. Let me be very delicate, I'm not joking around, I'm not playing," Smith insisted. "You're gonna tweet about folks needing to leave your son alone? You did that... Own it. It's you. It's not the media."

Although Smith may affect an incredibly intense and serious tone here, it behooves us to note that he also comports himself like this with every single thing he ever talks about these days. 

Does he make an interesting point? Perhaps. But none of this is really that big a deal.

Bronny James will make the NBA one day. Whether that's as a first round pick or an undrafted rookie free agent remains to be seen, but there are plenty of paths that young guards with All-Defensive athletic upside can take en route to the league, especially if their dad is a 20-time All-Star.

This year, Bronny is averaging 5.5 points on .371/.275/.621 shooting splits, 2.8 rebounds, 2.5 dimes and 0.7 steals a night across 19 contests (six starts). USC is 11-16, and a long shot to even make the NCAA Tournament.

There was never any way Bronny James wouldn't be the subject extra attention, no matter how well or poorly he performed. Things haven't gone according to plan this season, but James has persevered through some scary healthy problems in the preseason (he suffered a cardiac arrest, and was ultimately found to have a congenital heart defect) and showed some intriguing ability on one end of the court. He just may not be ready for prime time yet, but considering that he already has one of the most lucrative NIL deals on the planet, he can certainly afford to stay in college another year.