Back with a Bang! Bronny James made an ultimate collegiate debut on Sunday. It was a sight for sore eyes when he hit that impressive chase-down block imitating his superstar father’s iconic move. Although the Trojans lost the match, Bronny’s debut became a grand event in itself. With the spotlight on the prodigy, it is quite noticeable how Bronny catapulted into the public eye only recently, having been away for most of his formative years. This brews the question of why Bronny was kept away from the spotlight for so long. And this was recently addressed by sports journalist Stephen A. Smith.

Bronny James growing off the radar was intentional, says Stephen A Smith

Conducting a live discussion on ESPN First Take with Shannon Sharpe, Stephen made a significant admission about Bronny and his father LeBron James. Diving into the star kid’s life, the journalist admitted that avoidance of discussing the young player was intentional.

“One of the reasons, especially sitting in this chair and in this position covering basketball the way that I do, you rarely hear me talk about this kid over the years cuz I knew how unfair it was because of who his dad was. I just wanted, I knew eventually obviously get to the Collegiate level and all that other stuff, but because of who his dad was, I’ve talked about him very, very little. But now that he’s on a Collegiate level at USC, obviously we’re going to have to and we’ll eye all his progress,” he said.

Evidently, Smith never talked about Bronny because of his father LeBron James, as he believes it’s unfair to bring Bronny under that kind of scrutiny. This approach has allowed Bronny to develop his own identity and career which everyone witnessed is off to a tremendous start.

Elaborating more on the subject, Shannon Sharpe also shared a piece of his mind, saying, “He’s got a very hard job, guys. His dad is LeBron James, and you know what the expectations are when your father is who he is.”

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While that’s true, it’ll be interesting to see how the young player breaks from his shell and makes a name for himself. From what can be understood from his debut game, Bronny James seems to have what it takes!

James Jr. making an impact

This Sunday the audience was compounded with some special attendance as Bronny James returned to the court. His father was also seen on the courtside cheering for his son. What made the game more notable was the fact that it was Bronny’s first game post recovery after he suffered a cardiac arrest in July. And, from the looks of it, Bronny was on fire. The boy shone on the court with his impressive performance.

He scored 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 jaw-dropping block in just 17 minutes. Now that’s an impressive performance. To commemorate the special occasion, LeBron James took the celebration to social media when he posted a heartfelt message for Bronny.

He wrote, “Can’t even tell y’all how EMOTIONAL today was for me! I’m literally drained and all I can see is @bronny you’re simply INCREDIBLE!! Damn that wins and loses will occur. You’ve already won the ultimate goal/ championship and that’s LIFE!!! Proud of you kid and today you’ve given me more life! Thank you and I love you” 

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Surely, Bronny has grown well off the radar and is set to flourish in his career, just like his father has.