Michael: On January 29th, of this year on First take, Stephen A. Smith decided to leave some comments about Bronny James and to be fair I do think the criticism that was said about Bronny was fair, at first.
Because he was simply talking about his game and how he was playing and I thought it was fair because at the end of the day, critiquing an NBA player on his play, I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with that.
But what was weird to me is that I don’t think that should’ve been the top conversation about the game because it was against the 76ers which the lakers lost but, Tyrese Maxey had a really great game that day, not only that but Anthony Davis was injured and funny enough that was his last game as a Laker.
But also Stephen A. Smith forgot to add that the Lakers were killed with injuries in that game so they had no choice but to play Bronny and his critique was, “why is Bronny James in the game in the first quarter?, what is he doing”?
And when you that part out of it, it’s going to leave out a lot of missed context, people who don’t watch games are gonna see it like, “oh he’s only in the game because of his father” like that’s the only reason why he’s playing, in which I think is unfair criticism towards him.
And what’s it called, later on he decided to make the point personal by bringing up the fact that, “oh LeBron please as a father I’m pleading you to stop doing this to your son stop, your pretty much exploiting him and putting him in these positions he’s not ready for”.
That right there is draw the line because it’s just like now your making it personal because your questioning him as a father, what it seems like and i think that’s the point that Stephen A. Smith is not getting.
Because I believe on March 6th, two months later, a month and a half later, LeBron James decided to confront Stephen A. Smith about it at a game actually against the Knicks in the third quarter during a timeout and he went to Stephen A. Smith courtside and pretty much said to leave his son out it.
And Stephen A. Smith I believe his response on first take the next day was pretty well, pretty good, I think it was respectful, I think he said everything he needed to say and at that point is where he should’ve left it alone.
But no he decided to double down and everything he said, and I forgot to add this but Stephen A. Smith said he was forced to talk about this on his tv show, he didn’t wanna talk about it and I actually believe him because this is a big story and it went viral on the internet so fine it’s ok I understand that.
But then where it doesn’t make sense is that he goes on his podcast to talk about it, that’s your own podcast, nobody is making you talk about it.
Not only that but you go on Gilbert Arenas podcast to talk about it and pretty much called LeBron weak and soft for doing it, when you yourself, Stephen A. Smith have been pleading players like “hey I’m gonna be at the games, if you got something to say to me come tell me, im at the games,” and the minute a player does that to you it’s a problem? That’s where it doesn’t make sense.
He even went on Fox News to talk about the situation? I don’t know it was weird, and then I believe a month later, a couple days ago LeBron James was on the Pat Mcafee show and pretty much said anything he wanted, this is the most unfiltered I’ve ever LeBron like in an interview and he pretty much said that Stephen A. Smith has been on a Taylor Swift tour run with the amount of times he’s been talking about it.
And also just mentioned the fact that Stephen A. Smith completely missed the point on what he was trying to say, Stephen A. Smith thinks he’s mad at him for critiquing Bronny’s game when in reality he’s mad that he made it personal by questioning him as a father and it just seems like Stephen A. Smith doesn’t understand that point.
Stephen A. Smith goes on First Take the next day insinuating that he’s still lying on national television, he’s mad that I don’t think he’s the greatest basketball player of all time, when nobody cares about that, he even starts to make it more personal, by critiquing LeBron and being factually incorrect by saying, why weren’t you at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service when he in fact was there, he chose to not be on camera for personal reasons because you know people grieve differently.
He critiques LeBron for not showing up to Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame ceremony when a couple weeks before that his son had just had a cardiac arrest so it’s like, I don’t know where these things are coming from with Stephen A. Smith.
He was later fact checked on the fact that LeBron was at the memorial service for Kobe and he tries to double down by saying, “oh I was told he was there, but why didn’t we see you?” And it’s just like all of this makes Stephen A. Smith look really really bad, and yeah what do you think about this situation?
Isaac: Yeah no, I think it’s ridiculous, I think Stephen A. Smith is making a fool out of himself, umm I kinda see you know when people see the critiques of Bronny you know cause he’s a young kid, yeah he’s not this super star NBA player, you know what I mean? But I also think guys like Stephen A. Smith, these so called journalists and the talking heads of the sport, right they are paining this narrative that Bronny is supposed to be this superstar.
He was one of the last picks in the draft it wasn’t anything crazy and I think people go a little overboard when talking about Bronny, like dude he was like what the 55th pick? Why is the 55th pick being talk about so much like if he’s supposed to be this superstar and it’s because his dad is LeBron.
And like ok that’s fine you can critique his game but the amount of obsession like a guy Stephen A. Smith has it’s crazy like dude he was playing well in college, he was decent on the defensive side of the ball, he wasn’t this crazy offensive scoring machine in college but also with those critiques of him not playing well in college, he had as we said, he went into cardiac arrest and like he bounced back and was able to play good in college.
Like all these critiques are a little too much and it’s really because it’s LeBron and people like to talk about LeBron and people like to talk about LeBrons son and I don’t really agree with all these critiques but like you said like the game, Stephen A. Smith could’ve focused on the Lakers losing to Philly and like you said it was ADs last game and I don’t know if they knew that when they went on First Take.
Michael: No he was injured, that game he got hurt.
Isaac: Exactly people are getting injured and there’s a reason why and they don’t look into that they just see “oh Bronny James is in the game let me make, im a start a narrative, make a storyline, oh LeBron why are you doing this?”
And also why do people think LeBron has this big ole control over the team like people were hurt you have to throw in your players, so yeah Stephen A. Smith and this whole thing, he’s being a clown and I hate how he’s just factually incorrect on so many things he says like this guy for just being a talking head for sports and a so called journalist, he doesn’t do his research?
He’s just making a clown out of himself right now, it’s just crazy to see all of this go down right now and I’m glad that LeBron, the head of the NBA right now, is talking about and calling out all this BS and basically the talking heads not talking about the game, they’re talking about all this personal stuff instead of focusing on why teams are winning and losing it’s always some BS, like Luka is too fat, Bronny shouldn’t be playing and all these other bullshit narratives that shouldn’t really be spread out and now it’s showing Stephen A’s true colors and he don’t care about the game.
He just cares about all this entertainment and this drama and like you said he went on other podcasts talking about this stuff like you was acting like it wasn’t a big deal, you were acting this whole time like when players wanna approach him, you were acting like this big dog and now that Bron confronts him and nows he’s just trying to play the victim and it’s like cmon dude and it’s just ridiculous.
Michael: Yeah I agree, and it’s just weird to see all of these media members, except for Brian Windhorst, let me give credit to Brian Windhorst because he’s the one media personality that has taken this situation professionally compared to other people, because LeBron James recently pretty much said like yo like Brian Windhorst acts like he’s my best friend and like I don’t know him and he’s weird, and like Brian Windhorst didn’t take it personal, he took it professional, he was like “hey look I still got a lot of respect for LeBron, like im not gonna say anything bad about him because I don’t got nothing against him if he feels that way, then he feels that way.
Isaac: Yeah.
Michael: And I appreciate Brian Windhorst for saying that and I actually like Brain Windhorst a lot. I think he’s a great analyst and I, you know, I find him very entertaining to watch at times too, but. I just think it’s about damn time.
Isaac: Mhm.
Michael: Somebody is saying stuff about the NBA media, and that’s why the NBA media has been so bothered by LeBron, because he’s the first person to finally just say something and this stems all the way back in February January I’m not sure. But when like when uh, they ask LeBron about like Anthony Edwards and he wants to be the face of the league and it was in February and Anthony Edwards said, no, I don’t want to be the face of the league.
And LeBron said, he understands why. Because all the people that cover our game, they just completely shit on it that’s all they do. And I’m not gonna say he’s 100% correct. But I do think there’s a lot of truth into what he said because, look it, look, how the media took it.
They took it personal, Stephen A. Smith took it personal. And they even proved his point when instead of talking about Steph Curry dropping 50 points that day, he literally opened the show. He said Steph Curry dropped 50 points, but LeBron had to open his mouth, so you know we had to open the show with this. Like-
Isaac: Stupid.
Michael: You’re proving though by saying that you’re proving his point by saying that. And it just makes no sense. And I’m just fine- I’m just glad that LeBron finally. Or somebody just finally speaking up about the media because it’s been long overdue.
Isaac: Mhm.
Michael: Media members do not watch basketball. They do not watch sports. They just pay attention to the headlines. That’s all they do. They look at the phone, see what the headlines is going on okay. Let’s talk about it. But they don’t watch the game. They don’t watch actual sport and it’s bad for the game. It really is. And and the whole like narrative like the NBA ratings is going down.
Just it’s I really think a lot of it stems some of it does go to the players, but I think a lot of it goes on the media because the amount of time these not just media members, but also the old players like Shaq and, uh, Charles Barkley who completely just shit on players all the time and even with LeBron’s comments recently about like, oh, uh, if Giannis was played in the 70s, he, um, he exaggerated.
He would be scoring 250 points a night. And Stephen A. Smith and you know the other media members were like, on the next day said that’s disrespectful. You shouldn’t be saying that about other eras.
You know he’s too comfortable speaking about other eras like that but it’s not a problem that you guys shit on current players in this era all the time? Not only that, this is the same era that said, oh, Michael Jordan was playing this era he’d averaged 50. That’s not disrespectful?
Isaac: Mhm.
Michael: But when you talk about the past era it’s disrespectful. That’s why it doesn’t make sense because I’m not saying Giannis would average 250 points. But to say a player like Giannis wouldn’t dominate in the 70s is a bit ridiculous.
If you’re an all time player, you’re going to dominate any era you play in. So like I said, I’m just glad that somebody’s finally speaking up about the NBA media and its flaws because it’s been going on for a long time now.
Isaac: Mhm. Been going on for years man it’s just- it’s all hypocritical. Like all these these talking heads for the NBA specifically. I think that’s really why the ratings are going down, because there’s nothing positive about watching these games.
Like they like you said, they don’t watch the games like and- that’s- that’s just hypocritical being like, oh, Michael Jordan, he would dominate all the defense that they played, he would dominate.
But like the same thing for Giannis like in the 70s where they going against big freaks like him? No, he probably dominate too. Like it just- it’s just so hypocritical what the media does like. And I feel like especially with sports media it’s like your job to convey what happened on the court and translate it so that the public can understand.
And they don’t really do that. They just focus on the drama. That’s all they care about. They don’t want sit down and watch the game. They look at box scores and that’s about it and some highlights and lowlights. Like they really don’t watch the game.
They don’t understand what’s happening and they don’t translate it well to the fans. And all the fans start running away with the things that they say. Like it’s it’s so hypocritical. It’s been so bad with the media recently. Like it’s crazy. But yeah, like you said, I’m glad LeBron’s calling it out. I’m glad.
Like even Anthony Edwards said, that he don’t want to be the face of the league. And Bron even capitalized on saying it’s because it’s a bunch of negativity. And I’m glad players are calling this shit out because it’s really frustrating and the fans don’t get the most important part of it. Well, I think it’s the game, the basketball. Like they just get all this bullshit who cares about that somebody’s five more pounds than they should be. Like, it’s just a bunch of bogus.
Michael: Yeah. And I and even, uh, speaking like the NBA media like going back to Bronny like the, the narrative that they were posting about how LeBron is forcing him to play and they’re showing his stats on the screen pretty much saying, oh, like Bronny he’s only averaging 0.4 points 0. this rebounds this and that like basically he had terrible stats. But again, if you watch the game.
If you understand how the game works, Bronny literally only plays two three minutes a game it he’s lucky. It it’s a blow out, if the Lakers are getting blown out or if the Lakers are blowing out that team, he’s going to play, and that’s only like three minutes into like three two minutes left in the game. He does not play that much.
And he’s even with the Stephen A. Smith critique pretty much saying he need to go to the G league so he can develop. He’s in the G League and he’s averaging like what the most points of any rookie in the G League? He’s playing outstanding in the G League.
And it makes Stephen A. Smith even look worse. When recently Bronny actually had a chance to play 30 plus minutes in an actual NBA game against the Milwaukee Bucks. And he scored 17 points on really good efficiency.
And Stephen A. Smith said, oh, I might have been wrong. I might have been this like. You just shouldn’t have spoke about what you thought about Bronny’s game If you weren’t too sure about how he plays, when you only see such a little sample size of how he played, he only played two minutes against in, uh, garbage time. Like, those are meaningless minutes for a regular NBA player.
But for Bronny obviously they mean a lot more but. If you have such a small sample size of how somebody’s playing in the NBA and you’re so quick to critique, pretty much saying that he’s not ready when in fact you don’t know that.
And now, based on how he’s playing on the G-League and how he played in the game against Milwaukee he’s- he’s- he’s going to be ready. Like he’s going to be ready. And yeah, I’m glad he’s doing well because you know he’s a he’d been through a lot. And uh to see Bronny doing playing playing well G-League and developing to a better player like I always it I could have been. It’s really nice to see.
Isaac: Yeah man it’s just I’m hoping all these events, you know, they finally players again, like I said like I hope players take a stand and I hope you know this chain of events leads to uh, media stepping it up because it’s been horrible. So yeah, that’s the last thing I got to say is just I hope things are going to start to change now because of this event and Bron speaking out.
Michael: I- I- I do too I do too. I hope the NBA media gets better. I hope the NBA media learned from what the players have been saying about them because again, not all of it is 100% true, but there’s a lot of truth into it and yeah, I think the NBA media should finally this is their moment and this is the moment of realization. It’s like, okay, look we need to do better because clearly We’re pretty much we’re getting exposed right now.
And even with LeBron’s latest podcast, The Mind the Game, like that’s pretty much that podcast was made to expose NBA media. It’s basically showing how they don’t watch the game. We’re going to show you how the game really works. Since the NBA media on ESPN and all other networks won’t show you, I’m really pleased.
So yeah but that’s all I really have to say about this situation. Uh, my last word on Stephen A. Smith I mean, I just think he’s, you know, he’s hypocritical. He’s, uh, he contradicts himself a lot and he’s just the definition of a shadow boxer.
[Isaac laughs]
Michael: You know, Mr. could’ve would’ve like, I would have done this. I would’ve done that. Well you had a chance to do it, but you didn’t do it. So that’s pretty much all I have to say about this situation.
Isaac: He a clown We got to hope for change, though. Hope this moves the media damn man we need some good ball talks.
Micheal: And it’s a shame because before I even wanted to do journalism one of my main motivation, main inspiration was somebody like Stephen A. Smith. I used to go up wanting to be like Stephen A. Smith. And you know they say, bro, never meet your ideals mane.
