LeBron James made NBA history once again in 2024-25 as he played his 22nd season, tying Vince Carter for the most seasons played all-time. He also was able to accomplish a personal goal as he teamed with his son, Bronny James, on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Things were not always smooth for the younger James, who was drafted 55th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft. The rookie guard averaged 2.3 points, 0.7 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.1 blocks in 6.7 minutes per game while shooting 31.3% from the field, 28.1% from three-point range and 78.6% from the free-throw line.
While he faced plenty of criticism claiming that he did not earn a spot in the NBA, the James family did not react to any of the noise early on. That was until Stephen A. Smith went on “First Take” to plead with LeBron as a father to stop the experiment of his son playing in the league.
The four-time NBA MVP later confronted Smith courtside at a Lakers game in a clip that went viral on social media. Radio host DJ Envy appeared on “The Big Podcast”, where he called out the sports media personality.
“I feel like you got to watch your tone and watch your mouth when you talk about somebody as a parent,” DJ Envy stated. “If you want to talk about you feel that Bronny is not good enough, Bronny doesn’t score enough, Bronny is not great at shooting, dunking, dribbling, whatever, that’s fine because that’s part of the game. That’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re an analyst and you’re supposed to talk about somebody’s athleticism and playing basketball, right? Same thing with Shedeur (Sanders), same thing with Shilo (Sanders). If you want to talk about them as athletes, I don’t have a problem with it. But when you start breaking down who a parent is, who a father is, that’s when there’s a problem. And I tell everybody all the time, you can play with me all day long. You could joke me all day long. But when you bring my kids into it or you bring my wife into it, I’m ready to fight. And I could win some, I could lose some. But like you said with your father, my dad taught me you got to protect and provide and that’s my two things. And when it gets to that point, I’m willing to do whatever for my family. It is what it is.”
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After publicly confronting the ESPN analyst, James claimed that Smith’s comments crossed the line by bringing his parenting skills into the conversation. LeBron is expected to return to the Lakers for a record 23rd season in the NBA — and his eighth in Los Angeles, which would mark the most seasons he has consecutively played for one franchise.
Meanwhile, Bronny is reportedly expected to take on a larger role in his sophomore season. Reports have suggested that he could play 10-15 minutes per game.
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