“We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.” Stephen A. Smith didn’t hold back when questioning Bronny’s place in the league, echoing doubts that had followed the young guard all the way from college. But every rookie has something to prove. And No. 9 just delivered his loudest statement yet!

In today’s match-up against Santa Cruz Warriors, Bronny James proved his worth once again by scoring a career-high 39 points, seven rebounds, and four assists—leading the South Bay Lakers to a victory. The match-up was close with the final 34 seconds as Santa Cruz forward, Blake Hinson, made two of his four 3s to close the score difference only to suffer defeat at the hands of Stanley Johnson, who sank a pair of free throws with just 10.7 seconds on the clock! And Bronny?

With his third 30-point game in the G League, the young guard is averaging 22.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 10 starts for South Bay—wild numbers. That was not all, though. The 20-year-old is also the youngest player in the NBA’s developmental league to average at least 20/5/5 this season, per StatMamba.

But if you thought Bronny James was making waves only in the G League, think again. Last Thursday, the Lakers faced the Bucks without key scorers on their team roster, including LeBron James, alongside Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Bronny James delivered his best NBA game yet against Milwaukee, scoring 17 points. This is the same guy who has averaged only 2.3 points in 23 games for the Purple & Gold.

Unsurprisingly, all this consistent output from Bronny James is sending shockwaves across the league. And, of course, fans wasted no time letting SAS know exactly how they felt about his past comments.

Fans celebrate as Bronny James silences haters with record-breaking performance

As Bronny delivered his career-best performance (one of many, no doubt), fans who stood by him all along felt vindicated. Meanwhile, those who didn’t, well, let’s just say, they were at the receiving end of some hilarious reactions.

One fan couldn’t resist clowning ESPN’s own in the process. “Stephen As hairline just receded to the back of his neck.” Smith has never shied away from calling out players (remember his unlikeable, not marketable comment on Jaylen Brown?), but clearly, this time, it came to bite him. The veteran analyst’s doubts about Bronny’s legitimacy in the league aged about as well as the hairline joke suggests – especially after the above-mentioned career-best.

This next fan had just one demand: “Stephen a… apologize.” For obvious reasons! Interestingly, the man had something nice to say about James Jr. after his 17-point game. In The Stephen A. Smith Show, the man didn’t hesitate to praise Bronny: “I might have been wrong… I thought he might have been in the G-League for the year. But if the brother going to look this way, I got to give love where its due.”

In fact, he didn’t stop there. Stephen A. had quite the complimentary remarks for Bronny, like, “looked like he belonged,” “looked composed,” “completely unfazed.” Well … I am impressed. Then again, I suppose this is as close as we are going to get to an apology from Smith.

Yet another fan may have taken the proverb—a picture is worth a thousand words—a little too literally, as he had just a picture directed toward Stephen A. Smith.

However, not all of them were fans calling Smith out. Take this user, for example. They were simply moved by how far Bronny has come since the negative spotlight and ridicule. “He’s really starting to get comfortable.” If you remember, during a matchup in college, Cal fans tried to throw Bronny off his game with relentless boos and chants whenever the ball was in his possession. And there have been instances when hecklers at a game throw timely digs at him. But with his recent standout performances in the G-League and the NBA, Bronny James is starting to clear the air—and ardent supporters are loving it.

And finally, this fan had some loud words for a lot of people. “NEPOTISM WHERE?? WE REALLY DO THIS!!” At this point, calling Bronny a nepo baby is not surprising at all. He has been called that simply owing to the fact that he was born with James as his surname. For example, in a late June 2023 episode of The Carton Show, the controversial radio host Craig Carton went off on the then-18-year-old.

“If Bronny James is Bronnie Wilson and his father ain’t LeBron…he ain’t a McDonald’s All-American, he ain’t on Team USA, and he’s not playing for USC. This is called nepotism,” he said, pointing out that all those accolades, achievements, and milestones wouldn’t have been possible if he was just another average hooper, downplaying Bronny’s efforts and hard work all because of the James surname. But clearly, much like Stephen A., Bronny has answered all those critics’ doubts loud and clear that he’s not in the league because of his last name. He’s there because he belongs.

As the season unfolds, the narrative has shifted—and for those who never doubted him, Bronny’s success feels like a victory they’ve been waiting for.