Get A Bucket Show

LeBron vs Stephen A: The Bronny Defense Drama

• Tré

Share episode

Send us a text

LeBron James confronted Stephen A. Smith at courtside over criticism of his son Bronny, revealing the complex dynamics of being a famous athlete's child in professional sports. The incident raises important questions about parental protection versus letting young athletes develop their own path in the spotlight.

• Understanding Bronny's context: heart condition recovery, limited playing time at USC behind talented players
• LeBron's public defense may inadvertently create more challenges for Bronny by amplifying scrutiny
• Public confrontation with Stephen A. Smith shows problematic power dynamics and potential bullying
• Drawing parallels to LaVar Ball, whose comments made Lonzo a target for NBA veterans
• Legacy athletes face unique pressures to prove they belong regardless of their famous surname
• Supporting Bronny doesn't mean escalating tensions or creating distractions during Lakers' playoff push
• Perspective on fair vs. unfair criticism and giving young players time to develop (average NBA career is 5 years)

Please like, subscribe, comment, and tell anyone who's anyone about the show.

Support the show

https://linktr.ee/GetABucketShow for more content!!!

Speaker 1:

What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show? Get a Bucket. I'm your host, trey, and as usual, I hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day.

Speaker 1:

Today we're going to talk about Braun versus Stephen A Smith. It has been a little spicy conversation, right? I can't lie to you, as someone who is a big Stephen A Smith fan to the point where I've gone on record to say he's my favorite analyst and for someone who I've also gone on record for saying I'm not the biggest Braun fan, but I do recognize his greatness in the NBA. And people have called me a Braun hater before. All of those guys are ignorant, to my knowledge. You know what I'm saying. They're just Braun stans. I'm going to talk about what's fair and unfair in this situation. So, with that being said, I was going to give you a quick little context, right. So the issue is Braun was really kind of towering over Stephen A Smith during the Lakers next game and he basically says stop fucking with my son, right? Pardon my French, but you know we're talking about direct quotes, right? And Stephen A Smith said hey, he was thrown off. Keep in mind, stephen A Smith just got a $100 million contract signed, so he's getting paid pretty decently. He also works for Walt Disney, so there's a couple of eyes on him, but it's not like Braun ain't in a similar scenario. Right, he got some eyes on him himself, but we do understand this is probably a narrative that we're going to focus on. It's a storyline that's going to captivate the audience for quite some time. Now, why was Braun saying stop fucking with my son? Well, the reports that Stephen A Smith is saying is well, braun is not ready for the NBA. Keep in mind.

Speaker 1:

A lot of people have been saying that for as oh actually shoot. Actually, for as long as I can remember, really and let's give a little context too Brawny was a school of McDonald's All-American. So that means in high school he was viewed as one of the best people, best players, even though some people tried to say, oh well, brawn's name helped out. That was the reason why. But Brawny actually played really well in the high school mcdonald's all american game. His stats actually compared to drew holidays. That's the reason why I said I was cool with brawny. Right, I said he has potential, a top 10 potential, and I had that recorded if y'all want to go check that out. But when he gets the usc he had his heart issue right, so now he's missing time. Then when he comes back, you gotta got to get your confidence back. It's a mental game. You're also behind Isaiah Collier, who some were predicting as the number one pick at one point in time during the season last year. And then you also got Boogie Ellis, who was a fifth-year senior who could get a bucket himself, although I got my gripes with him because he did commit to Duke at one point in time and then decommitted. That's another discussion for another day.

Speaker 1:

Point is, people were too impatient on Brawny and I think that was actually unfair for folks. So I get Braun trying to speak up for Brawny. That's fair. That's fair. It's unfair. When you're saying he's better than some NBA players right now, though, I get you. You see him as a father. You want him to be better. There is a little bit of a difference between professional and college. So you might've put too much of the spotlight on Bronny. But you know what, if y'all that confident, I'm cool with it too. But again we're putting spotlight on Bronny. A lot of people think Bronny did not deserve to be in the NBA of people think Bronny did not deserve to be in the NBA. Also, when you say whoever drafts Bronny, I'm going there. That adds extra fuel to well.

Speaker 1:

The entitlement conversation right, and Stephen A Smith has been pointing this part out. He also said hey, stop having Bronny flip flop between playing with the Lakers and playing with the G League. I can't say Stephen A Smith's points about Bronny and Braun have been unfair, although I think the part about him not being ready, I think you got to give him time. But still, I guess that is saying he's not ready, because I do think Bronny again has top 10 potential. He's a 6'2 combo guard who played comparable in a high school All-American game to Drew Holiday. He has a 6'7 to 6'9 wingspan and a 40-inch vertical and I believe in his three-point shooting. I'm not trying to say he's going to be an all-time great three-point shooter. I'm saying he could be a quality three-point shooter so that to me he can play solid defense. That to me is a quality combo guard, whether we're talking about starting coming off the bench, whatever the case may be At some point in time. That's how I view Bronny.

Speaker 1:

When we say stop fucking with my son, I can't say that's an adequate statement. Lebron James One. And Kenyon Martin makes an excellent point when he says you know who you can get away with stuff on. We know who people are going to be hostile. We know who are the people who have something to lose. And again I stated Stephen A Smith had just gotten a $100 million contract. We understand all this. We also understand that.

Speaker 1:

With that being said, what was wrong with a personal conversation? Because, if I'm being honest, this just makes it worse On a multitude of levels. One now Stephen A is forced to talk about this as opposed to a discreet conversation, which maybe he could have kept that in-house. We see it. So, if we see it, guess what the athletes see it. We know it's about Bronny.

Speaker 1:

He's already having to fight uphill battles and now you're just making it even worse. There's nothing worse than being labeled as a daddy's boy in athlete in sports I swear that's so annoying. That is irritated, as the uphill battle you don't feel like dealing with. And he already got to deal with that, because people are saying he got drafted because of LeBron James, not just the name. It's not like if Marcus Jordan got drafted by Jordan, well, jordan wasn't playing in the league during that time so you can say, oh, you got drafted off your name. If you went to UNC you can say he got. You went there because of your name, bron. You said whoever drafts him, I'm going there. Forget the paper. Like that's tough. That's a solid verbal contract, right there.

Speaker 1:

So again we're putting a lot of eyes and pressure on Bronny, but then we're getting upset when people are critiquing Bronny. Remember when LeVar Ball said hey, lonzo is better than Steph Curry? I'm pretty confident Steph beat that tail when he saw him that first go around. How about the first matchup Lonzo ever had Pat Bev Clippers? I remember it very clearly. Pat Bev set the tone, got a foul easily. Push Lonzo to the ground. Hey, young buck, welcome to the league. If you put eyes on people, guess what? We're going to try a little harder. We're going to critique them a little bit more. So you can't. You cannot cry and complain when you're boasting of your child If they're not meeting other folks expectations.

Speaker 1:

And again, I'm a person who has come from a place of grace, ladies and gentlemen, I'm still there. I'm saying give the man time, because when people harp on, oh well, see, he had a bad game here. Okay, cool, he has a good game later on, summer League G League. He scored in the NBA, like we got to chill out. He'll be there in time. The average NBA career is five years. Give him time, ladies and gentlemen, but brought the discretion piece you definitely could have shown.

Speaker 1:

And this actually reminds me of a situation where I hit personally, where I have two friends who, long story short, there was a disagreement and one friend kind of made a public statement, right, and it was in regards to the other person. And keep in mind, if we had just kept it in-house and just brought it to the other person, I'm sure, like just between them two directly, I'm sure it would have been okay, it would have been understood, because, at the end of the day, we have to understand that everybody has their own opinions. Right, state it respectfully, call it a day, but because it was in a public forum, because we could put eyes on it, hey, it blew up. So again, ladies and gentlemen, it's the public forum that I have an issue. If I don't care that braun has a problem, you can say hey, bro, stop talking about my son. That's not going to make steven a. Stop talking about your son. That he has to say all right, cool, I'll stop doing it. But what happens if his bosses say, hey, you have to talk about brawny. I'm sure that could happen. Keep in mind, we made a whole spectacle about it, drafting him, because you're the first father son to be drafted on play on the same team. I'm pretty sure it'll be a solid storyline that the heads of ESPN will say, hey, let's follow this.

Speaker 1:

So again, we've made this into a story, ladies and gentlemen, and when I say we, I mean Braun, and I think that's unfair. It's so frustrating trying to one live up. Imagine Braun. He stands trying to live up to the expectations of braun. Brawny just wants to be in the nba, he wants to hoop, but because of the name, you're automatically going to get compared and that's natural, that's cool. But this is extra level of attention. You flip-flopping between g league and lakers that's going to put extra level of attention. People already think you don't deserve the nba title.

Speaker 1:

I have tried to defend Bronny against friends myself and they don't believe you deserve it. I know how athletes who want it feel. But again, ladies and gentlemen, I wanted to state this because I felt it was necessary to talk about what was fair versus unfair. Again, it's very fair to try to defend your child. I understand that completely. I'm not a father myself. I understand, as a person who has friends who are fathers, I have a father myself. You understand what I'm saying.

Speaker 1:

I get that there's also a level of entitlement that comes with the perception of the overbearing father, right? Let's say, for example, I'm in a fraternity the best fraternity, capital, alpha, paternity Incorporated, yota the Nukes, right. But the general consensus of legacies is there's a level of entitlement that comes with them because they feel as though okay, well, because my dad's one, I automatically get let in, and that is told to some people, by the way. So that is an uphill battle that the son has to endure and you have to try to convince people hey, no, you genuinely want this. Right now, bronny's at that point where he has to convince folk hey, he genuinely wants this and he has been doing that for me, he genuinely has. You got some trolls out there, but I think he has. You got to give them time, but Bron's not even giving him time.

Speaker 1:

Stuff like this is putting more spotlight on Bronny. Let him just him, just hoop off his name alone. He's going to get attention. If you really want what's best for him, let him just get a bucket easy and at the same time, I get it. It might not be easy, because that's your son. You have so much care and to also keep in mind.

Speaker 1:

Ron has been away from his kid for quite some time too, so maybe you want to bring him into the focus. You get to spend time with his kid. I get that wholeheartedly, wholeheartedly. Even still, y'all are both professional basketball players. Spend time with your boy, but also let him be an NBA player. That's my two cents, because, again, I'm not a father.

Speaker 1:

I'm not trying to critique Braun and saying you're a bad father. I'm urging you to not put as much eyes on your son as you have been doing, because stuff like this, approaching Stephen A Smith, it's not the best. Look optic wise and as humans we pay attention to optics so much. Braun knows that because, again, he likes to control narratives. But, ladies and gentlemen, I'm definitely curious on y'all thoughts. What did you think about this whole situation? Which side did you actually side, with Braun or Stephen A Smith? And what is your take on Brawny? I'm definitely curious. So definitely please like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. Thank you all for listening. Hope you all have a good one. Take care.