Bronny James is slowly but steadily making strides in ensuring a spot for himself in the NBA draft. After being ranked 98 in ESPN’s Top 100 NBA Draft Prospects, the youngster’s performance in the Draft Combine boosted him to 54. While this is good news for those who rooted for Bronny amidst all the negativity, Stephen A. Smith believes that Bronny’s position has purposely been placed like this for his father’s advantage.

While he appreciated the fact that Bronny is doing so well and that LeBron would be in no wrong trying to help his son out, he also highlighted how convenient it was that the 19-year-old held the 54ranking, and nothing lower or higher. Convenient because the Los Angeles Lakers have the option to pick the 55 pick in the second round of the upcoming draft.

“LeBron James, in case you don’t know, and I’m not saying that you’re guilty of this coincidence, I don’t know… what’s it going to look like what you did next? Literally walked into a dot.com site or a newspaper site, or to a television studio and wrote the damn script for everybody,” Stephen A. Smith strongly put forward.

“I mean, I know people like to spit in our faces and tell us it’s raining, but do you have to be so obvious? Really? Really, stop it,” he concluded on the YouTube channel. On more than a few occasions, LeBron James has highlighted that he would like to play with his son in the NBA before retirement. If the situation calls for it, he would even allegedly leave his current franchise and head wherever his 19-year-old son would be.

However, Bronny’s disappointing stint at USC raised questions about whether any team would take him in. It didn’t take long for rumors to arise that to retain their star player, Rob Pelinka and Co. may consider taking Bronny into their fold. Smith’s remarks have only added more fuel to these speculations. He has taken this theory even further to reportedly claim that LeBron himself has an active role in his son’s draft process!

LeBron James and Savannah commemorate their son’s draft decision

Stephen A Smith’s recent remarks were barely a few hours after Bronny James chose to forego his college eligibility. This means the young star has now fully committed himself to the upcoming NBA Draft. Well, LeBron James did not choose to let it pass by unnoticed. The Laker took to his official Instagram account with 159 million followers and highlighted the ESPN post that covered Bronny’s decision to not fall back on his safety net and continue to remain in the NBA draft.

LeBron’s ‘The Shop’ cohost Paul Rivera wrote a caption alongside the post that read “Let’s get to it @bronny”. The NBA player highlighted the same quote and also added a couple of ‘folding hands’ emojis.

Joining LeBron in sending congratulations was his wife and Bronny’s mother, Savannah, as well. She highlighted the very same post as well. She proceeded to write a caption that read “Working”, accompanied by a couple of ‘flexed biceps’ emojis.

With the NBA Draft set to take place one month from now, a majority of the eyes will be on Bronny. Through his recent remarks, we know that Stephen A. Smith will certainly be watching to find out whether his theory about LeBron James comes to fruition.

If you wish to know more about the latest happenings in the world of the NBA, then be sure to check out what Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say about the marketing genius.