March 21, 2025 • 12 mins
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.
https://linktr.ee/GetABucketShow for more content!!!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's up everybody?
It's your favorite show'sfavorite show?
Get a Bucket.
I'm your host, trey, and asusual, I hope you're all having
a wonderful, wonderful day.
Today we're going to talk aboutBraun versus Stephen A Smith.
It has been a little spicyconversation, right?
I can't lie to you, as someonewho is a big Stephen A Smith fan
to the point where I've gone onrecord to say he's my favorite
analyst and for someone who I'vealso gone on record for saying
(00:24):
I'm not the biggest Braun fan,but I do recognize his greatness
in the NBA.
And people have called me aBraun 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'sfair and unfair in this
situation.
So, with that being said, I wasgoing to give you a quick
little context, right.
So the issue is Braun wasreally kind of towering over
(00:48):
Stephen A Smith during theLakers next game and he
basically says stop fucking withmy son, right?
Pardon my French, but you knowwe're talking about direct
quotes, right?
And Stephen A Smith said hey,he was thrown off.
Keep in mind, stephen A Smithjust got a $100 million contract
signed, so he's getting paidpretty decently.
He also works for Walt Disney,so there's a couple of eyes on
(01:12):
him, but it's not like Braunain't in a similar scenario.
Right, he got some eyes on himhimself, but we do understand
this is probably a narrativethat we're going to focus on.
It's a storyline that's goingto captivate the audience for
quite some time.
Now, why was Braun saying stopfucking with my son?
Well, the reports that StephenA Smith is saying is well, braun
(01:38):
is not ready for the NBA.
Keep in mind.
A lot of people have been sayingthat for as oh actually shoot.
Actually, for as long as I canremember, really and let's give
a little context too Brawny wasa school of McDonald's
All-American.
So that means in high school hewas viewed as one of the best
people, best players, eventhough some people tried to say,
oh well, brawn's name helpedout.
(02:00):
That was the reason why.
But Brawny actually playedreally well in the high school
mcdonald's all american game.
His stats actually compared todrew holidays.
That's the reason why I said Iwas cool with brawny.
Right, I said he has potential,a top 10 potential, and I had
that recorded if y'all want togo check that out.
But when he gets the usc he hadhis heart issue right, so now
(02:21):
he's missing time.
Then when he comes back, yougotta got to get your confidence
back.
It's a mental game.
You're also behind IsaiahCollier, who some were
predicting as the number onepick at one point in time during
the season last year.
And then you also got BoogieEllis, who was a fifth-year
senior who could get a buckethimself, although I got my
gripes with him because he didcommit to Duke at one point in
time and then decommitted.
(02:41):
That's another discussion foranother day.
Point is, people were tooimpatient on Brawny and I think
that was actually unfair forfolks.
So I get Braun trying to speakup for Brawny.
That's fair.
That's fair.
It's unfair.
When you're saying he's betterthan some NBA players right now,
though, I get you.
You see him as a father.
(03:03):
You want him to be better.
There is a little bit of adifference between professional
and college.
So you might've put too much ofthe spotlight on Bronny.
But you know what, if y'allthat confident, I'm cool with it
too.
But again we're puttingspotlight on Bronny.
A lot of people think Bronnydid not deserve to be in the NBA
of people think Bronny did notdeserve to be in the NBA.
(03:24):
Also, when you say whoeverdrafts Bronny, I'm going there.
That adds extra fuel to well.
The entitlement conversationright, and Stephen A Smith has
been pointing this part out.
He also said hey, stop havingBronny flip flop between playing
with the Lakers and playingwith the G League.
I can't say Stephen A Smith'spoints about Bronny and Braun
(03:47):
have been unfair, although Ithink the part about him not
being ready, I think you got togive him time.
But still, I guess that issaying he's not ready, because I
do think Bronny again has top10 potential.
He's a 6'2 combo guard whoplayed comparable in a high
school All-American game to DrewHoliday.
He has a 6'7 to 6'9 wingspanand a 40-inch vertical and I
(04:10):
believe in his three-pointshooting.
I'm not trying to say he'sgoing to be an all-time great
three-point shooter.
I'm saying he could be aquality three-point shooter so
that to me he can play soliddefense.
That to me is a quality comboguard, whether we're talking
about starting coming off thebench, whatever the case may be
At some point in time.
That's how I view Bronny.
When we say stop fucking with myson, I can't say that's an
(04:34):
adequate statement.
Lebron James One.
And Kenyon Martin makes anexcellent point when he says you
know who you can get away withstuff on.
We know who people are going tobe hostile.
We know who are the people whohave something to lose.
And again I stated Stephen ASmith had just gotten a $100
million contract.
We understand all this.
(04:56):
We also understand that.
With that being said, what waswrong 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 totalk about this as opposed to a
(05:18):
discreet conversation, whichmaybe he could have kept that
in-house.
We see it.
So, if we see it, guess whatthe athletes see it.
We know it's about Bronny.
He's already having to fightuphill battles and now you're
just making it even worse.
There's nothing worse thanbeing labeled as a daddy's boy
in athlete in sports I swearthat's so annoying.
(05:40):
That is irritated, as theuphill battle you don't feel
like dealing with.
And he already got to deal withthat, because people are saying
he got drafted because ofLeBron James, not just the name.
It's not like if Marcus Jordangot drafted by Jordan, well,
jordan wasn't playing in theleague during that time so you
can say, oh, you got drafted offyour name.
If you went to UNC you can sayhe got.
(06:01):
You went there because of yourname, 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.
So again we're putting a lot ofeyes and pressure on Bronny, but
then we're getting upset whenpeople are critiquing Bronny.
(06:22):
Remember when LeVar Ball saidhey, lonzo is better than Steph
Curry?
I'm pretty confident Steph beatthat tail when he saw him that
first go around.
How about the first matchupLonzo ever had Pat Bev Clippers?
I remember it very clearly.
(06:44):
Pat Bev set the tone, got afoul easily.
Push Lonzo to the ground.
Hey, young buck, welcome to theleague.
If you put eyes on people,guess what?
We're going to try a littleharder.
We're going to critique them alittle bit more.
So you can't.
You cannot cry and complainwhen you're boasting of your
child If they're not meetingother folks expectations.
And again, I'm a person who hascome from a place of grace,
(07:07):
ladies and gentlemen, I'm stillthere.
I'm saying give the man time,because when people harp on, oh
well, see, he had a bad gamehere.
Okay, cool, he has a good gamelater on, summer League G League
.
He scored in the NBA, like wegot to chill out.
He'll be there in time.
The average NBA career is fiveyears.
Give him time, ladies andgentlemen, but brought the
(07:30):
discretion piece you definitelycould have shown.
And this actually reminds me ofa situation where I hit
personally, where I have twofriends who, long story short,
there was a disagreement and onefriend kind of made a public
statement, right, and it was inregards to the other person.
And keep in mind, if we hadjust kept it in-house and just
(07:50):
brought it to the other person,I'm sure, like just between them
two directly, I'm sure it wouldhave been okay, it would have
been understood, because, at theend of the day, we have to
understand that everybody hastheir own opinions.
Right, state it respectfully,call it a day, but because it
was in a public forum, becausewe could put eyes on it, hey, it
blew up.
So again, ladies and gentlemen,it's the public forum that I
(08:15):
have an issue.
If I don't care that braun hasa problem, you can say hey, bro,
stop talking about my son.
That's not going to make stevena.
Stop talking about your son.
That he has to say all right,cool, I'll stop doing it.
But what happens if his bossessay, hey, you have to talk about
brawny.
I'm sure that could happen.
Keep in mind, we made a wholespectacle about it, drafting him
(08:36):
, because you're the firstfather son to be drafted on play
on the same team.
I'm pretty sure it'll be asolid storyline that the heads
of ESPN will say, hey, let'sfollow this.
So again, we've made this into astory, ladies and gentlemen,
and when I say we, I mean Braun,and I think that's unfair.
(08:57):
It's so frustrating trying toone live up.
Imagine Braun.
He stands trying to live up tothe expectations of braun.
Brawny just wants to be in thenba, he wants to hoop, but
because of the name, you'reautomatically going to get
compared and that's natural,that's cool.
But this is extra level ofattention.
You flip-flopping between gleague and lakers that's going
(09:20):
to put extra level of attention.
People already think you don'tdeserve the nba title.
I have tried to defend Bronnyagainst friends myself and they
don't believe you deserve it.
I know how athletes who want itfeel.
But again, ladies and gentlemen, I wanted to state this because
I felt it was necessary to talkabout what was fair versus
(09:47):
unfair.
Again, it's very fair to try todefend your child.
I understand that completely.
I'm not a father myself.
I understand, as a person whohas friends who are fathers, I
have a father myself.
You understand what I'm saying.
I get that there's also a levelof entitlement that comes with
(10:07):
the perception of theoverbearing father, right?
Let's say, for example, I'm ina fraternity the best fraternity
, capital, alpha, paternityIncorporated, yota the Nukes,
right.
But the general consensus oflegacies is there's a level of
entitlement that comes with thembecause they feel as though
(10:30):
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 battlethat the son has to endure and
you have to try to convincepeople hey, no, you genuinely
want this.
(10:50):
Right now, bronny's at thatpoint where he has to convince
folk hey, he genuinely wantsthis 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, butBron's not even giving him time.
Stuff like this is putting morespotlight on Bronny.
Let him just him, just hoop offhis name alone.
He's going to get attention.
If you really want what's bestfor him, let him just get a
(11:13):
bucket easy and at the same time, I get it.
It might not be easy, becausethat's your son.
You have so much care and toalso keep in mind.
Ron has been away from his kidfor quite some time too, so
maybe you want to bring him intothe focus.
You get to spend time with hiskid.
I get that wholeheartedly,wholeheartedly.
(11:36):
Even still, y'all are bothprofessional basketball players.
Spend time with your boy, butalso let him be an NBA player.
That's my two cents, because,again, I'm not a father.
I'm not trying to critique Braunand saying you're a bad father.
I'm urging you to not put asmuch eyes on your son as you
(12:01):
have been doing, because stufflike this, approaching Stephen A
Smith, it's not the best.
Look optic wise and as humanswe pay attention to optics so
much.
Braun knows that because, again, he likes to control narratives
.
But, ladies and gentlemen, I'mdefinitely curious on y'all
thoughts.
What did you think about thiswhole situation?
(12:22):
Which side did you actuallyside, 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.
(12:43):
Take care.
What's up everybody?
It's your favorite show'sfavorite show?
Get a Bucket.
I'm your host, trey, and asusual, I hope you're all having
a wonderful, wonderful day.
Today we're going to talk aboutBraun versus Stephen A Smith.
It has been a little spicyconversation, right?
I can't lie to you, as someonewho is a big Stephen A Smith fan
to the point where I've gone onrecord to say he's my favorite
analyst and for someone who I'vealso gone on record for saying
(00:24):
I'm not the biggest Braun fan,but I do recognize his greatness
in the NBA.
And people have called me aBraun 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'sfair and unfair in this
situation.
So, with that being said, I wasgoing to give you a quick
little context, right.
So the issue is Braun wasreally kind of towering over
(00:48):
Stephen A Smith during theLakers next game and he
basically says stop fucking withmy son, right?
Pardon my French, but you knowwe're talking about direct
quotes, right?
And Stephen A Smith said hey,he was thrown off.
Keep in mind, stephen A Smithjust got a $100 million contract
signed, so he's getting paidpretty decently.
He also works for Walt Disney,so there's a couple of eyes on
(01:12):
him, but it's not like Braunain't in a similar scenario.
Right, he got some eyes on himhimself, but we do understand
this is probably a narrativethat we're going to focus on.
It's a storyline that's goingto captivate the audience for
quite some time.
Now, why was Braun saying stopfucking with my son?
Well, the reports that StephenA Smith is saying is well, braun
(01:38):
is not ready for the NBA.
Keep in mind.
A lot of people have been sayingthat for as oh actually shoot.
Actually, for as long as I canremember, really and let's give
a little context too Brawny wasa school of McDonald's
All-American.
So that means in high school hewas viewed as one of the best
people, best players, eventhough some people tried to say,
oh well, brawn's name helpedout.
(02:00):
That was the reason why.
But Brawny actually playedreally well in the high school
mcdonald's all american game.
His stats actually compared todrew holidays.
That's the reason why I said Iwas cool with brawny.
Right, I said he has potential,a top 10 potential, and I had
that recorded if y'all want togo check that out.
But when he gets the usc he hadhis heart issue right, so now
(02:21):
he's missing time.
Then when he comes back, yougotta got to get your confidence
back.
It's a mental game.
You're also behind IsaiahCollier, who some were
predicting as the number onepick at one point in time during
the season last year.
And then you also got BoogieEllis, who was a fifth-year
senior who could get a buckethimself, although I got my
gripes with him because he didcommit to Duke at one point in
time and then decommitted.
(02:41):
That's another discussion foranother day.
Point is, people were tooimpatient on Brawny and I think
that was actually unfair forfolks.
So I get Braun trying to speakup for Brawny.
That's fair.
That's fair.
It's unfair.
When you're saying he's betterthan some NBA players right now,
though, I get you.
You see him as a father.
(03:03):
You want him to be better.
There is a little bit of adifference between professional
and college.
So you might've put too much ofthe spotlight on Bronny.
But you know what, if y'allthat confident, I'm cool with it
too.
But again we're puttingspotlight on Bronny.
A lot of people think Bronnydid not deserve to be in the NBA
of people think Bronny did notdeserve to be in the NBA.
(03:24):
Also, when you say whoeverdrafts Bronny, I'm going there.
That adds extra fuel to well.
The entitlement conversationright, and Stephen A Smith has
been pointing this part out.
He also said hey, stop havingBronny flip flop between playing
with the Lakers and playingwith the G League.
I can't say Stephen A Smith'spoints about Bronny and Braun
(03:47):
have been unfair, although Ithink the part about him not
being ready, I think you got togive him time.
But still, I guess that issaying he's not ready, because I
do think Bronny again has top10 potential.
He's a 6'2 combo guard whoplayed comparable in a high
school All-American game to DrewHoliday.
He has a 6'7 to 6'9 wingspanand a 40-inch vertical and I
(04:10):
believe in his three-pointshooting.
I'm not trying to say he'sgoing to be an all-time great
three-point shooter.
I'm saying he could be aquality three-point shooter so
that to me he can play soliddefense.
That to me is a quality comboguard, whether we're talking
about starting coming off thebench, whatever the case may be
At some point in time.
That's how I view Bronny.
When we say stop fucking with myson, I can't say that's an
(04:34):
adequate statement.
Lebron James One.
And Kenyon Martin makes anexcellent point when he says you
know who you can get away withstuff on.
We know who people are going tobe hostile.
We know who are the people whohave something to lose.
And again I stated Stephen ASmith had just gotten a $100
million contract.
We understand all this.
(04:56):
We also understand that.
With that being said, what waswrong 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 totalk about this as opposed to a
(05:18):
discreet conversation, whichmaybe he could have kept that
in-house.
We see it.
So, if we see it, guess whatthe athletes see it.
We know it's about Bronny.
He's already having to fightuphill battles and now you're
just making it even worse.
There's nothing worse thanbeing labeled as a daddy's boy
in athlete in sports I swearthat's so annoying.
(05:40):
That is irritated, as theuphill battle you don't feel
like dealing with.
And he already got to deal withthat, because people are saying
he got drafted because ofLeBron James, not just the name.
It's not like if Marcus Jordangot drafted by Jordan, well,
jordan wasn't playing in theleague during that time so you
can say, oh, you got drafted offyour name.
If you went to UNC you can sayhe got.
(06:01):
You went there because of yourname, 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.
So again we're putting a lot ofeyes and pressure on Bronny, but
then we're getting upset whenpeople are critiquing Bronny.
(06:22):
Remember when LeVar Ball saidhey, lonzo is better than Steph
Curry?
I'm pretty confident Steph beatthat tail when he saw him that
first go around.
How about the first matchupLonzo ever had Pat Bev Clippers?
I remember it very clearly.
(06:44):
Pat Bev set the tone, got afoul easily.
Push Lonzo to the ground.
Hey, young buck, welcome to theleague.
If you put eyes on people,guess what?
We're going to try a littleharder.
We're going to critique them alittle bit more.
So you can't.
You cannot cry and complainwhen you're boasting of your
child If they're not meetingother folks expectations.
And again, I'm a person who hascome from a place of grace,
(07:07):
ladies and gentlemen, I'm stillthere.
I'm saying give the man time,because when people harp on, oh
well, see, he had a bad gamehere.
Okay, cool, he has a good gamelater on, summer League G League
.
He scored in the NBA, like wegot to chill out.
He'll be there in time.
The average NBA career is fiveyears.
Give him time, ladies andgentlemen, but brought the
(07:30):
discretion piece you definitelycould have shown.
And this actually reminds me ofa situation where I hit
personally, where I have twofriends who, long story short,
there was a disagreement and onefriend kind of made a public
statement, right, and it was inregards to the other person.
And keep in mind, if we hadjust kept it in-house and just
(07:50):
brought it to the other person,I'm sure, like just between them
two directly, I'm sure it wouldhave been okay, it would have
been understood, because, at theend of the day, we have to
understand that everybody hastheir own opinions.
Right, state it respectfully,call it a day, but because it
was in a public forum, becausewe could put eyes on it, hey, it
blew up.
So again, ladies and gentlemen,it's the public forum that I
(08:15):
have an issue.
If I don't care that braun hasa problem, you can say hey, bro,
stop talking about my son.
That's not going to make stevena.
Stop talking about your son.
That he has to say all right,cool, I'll stop doing it.
But what happens if his bossessay, hey, you have to talk about
brawny.
I'm sure that could happen.
Keep in mind, we made a wholespectacle about it, drafting him
(08:36):
, because you're the firstfather son to be drafted on play
on the same team.
I'm pretty sure it'll be asolid storyline that the heads
of ESPN will say, hey, let'sfollow this.
So again, we've made this into astory, ladies and gentlemen,
and when I say we, I mean Braun,and I think that's unfair.
(08:57):
It's so frustrating trying toone live up.
Imagine Braun.
He stands trying to live up tothe expectations of braun.
Brawny just wants to be in thenba, he wants to hoop, but
because of the name, you'reautomatically going to get
compared and that's natural,that's cool.
But this is extra level ofattention.
You flip-flopping between gleague and lakers that's going
(09:20):
to put extra level of attention.
People already think you don'tdeserve the nba title.
I have tried to defend Bronnyagainst friends myself and they
don't believe you deserve it.
I know how athletes who want itfeel.
But again, ladies and gentlemen, I wanted to state this because
I felt it was necessary to talkabout what was fair versus
(09:47):
unfair.
Again, it's very fair to try todefend your child.
I understand that completely.
I'm not a father myself.
I understand, as a person whohas friends who are fathers, I
have a father myself.
You understand what I'm saying.
I get that there's also a levelof entitlement that comes with
(10:07):
the perception of theoverbearing father, right?
Let's say, for example, I'm ina fraternity the best fraternity
, capital, alpha, paternityIncorporated, yota the Nukes,
right.
But the general consensus oflegacies is there's a level of
entitlement that comes with thembecause they feel as though
(10:30):
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 battlethat the son has to endure and
you have to try to convincepeople hey, no, you genuinely
want this.
(10:50):
Right now, bronny's at thatpoint where he has to convince
folk hey, he genuinely wantsthis 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, butBron's not even giving him time.
Stuff like this is putting morespotlight on Bronny.
Let him just him, just hoop offhis name alone.
He's going to get attention.
If you really want what's bestfor him, let him just get a
(11:13):
bucket easy and at the same time, I get it.
It might not be easy, becausethat's your son.
You have so much care and toalso keep in mind.
Ron has been away from his kidfor quite some time too, so
maybe you want to bring him intothe focus.
You get to spend time with hiskid.
I get that wholeheartedly,wholeheartedly.
(11:36):
Even still, y'all are bothprofessional basketball players.
Spend time with your boy, butalso let him be an NBA player.
That's my two cents, because,again, I'm not a father.
I'm not trying to critique Braunand saying you're a bad father.
I'm urging you to not put asmuch eyes on your son as you
(12:01):
have been doing, because stufflike this, approaching Stephen A
Smith, it's not the best.
Look optic wise and as humanswe pay attention to optics so
much.
Braun knows that because, again, he likes to control narratives
.
But, ladies and gentlemen, I'mdefinitely curious on y'all
thoughts.
What did you think about thiswhole situation?
(12:22):
Which side did you actuallyside, 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.
(12:43):
Take care.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.