With LeBron James, Luka Doncic and several other stars nursing injuries, the Los Angeles Lakers needed a lot of their young players to step up against the Milwaukee Bucks yesterday.

Bronny James Opens Up About Controversial First Season in NBA

And while they couldn’t get the victory, Bronny James silenced a lot of doubters with his performance – chief among them being ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

Bronny played 30 minutes for the Lakers off the bench and had a career-high 17 points in a 118-89 loss at Crypto.com Arena. He went seven of 10 on field goals with five assists and three rebounds while going two of four on three-point shots.

As you might expect, Bronny’s fans promptly called out Stephen A. Smith and demanded that he talk positively about the Lakers rookie if he wants to be fair and balanced.

“(Stephen A. Smith) we all expect a 10 minute breakdown of his highlights on Monday just like you did when he played 10 garbage time minutes and you begged Lebron as a father to stop this,” one user remarked.

“If you listen to Stephen A you’d think Bronny was a Make-A-Wish kid who didn’t deserve to be on an NBA court,” wrote another.

“17 points. 7-10 FG. 5 assists. 3 rebs. I’d say that’s really solid Bronny looks like he belongs to the NBA. Take that (Stephen A. Smith),” a third wrote.

Bronny James on the road.

TORONTO, CANADA – NOVEMBER 1: Bronny James #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on before the game against the Toronto Raptors on November 1, 2024 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NBAE via Getty Images)

Mark Blinch/Getty Images

Smith and LeBron James got into a heated confrontation a few weeks ago over Smith’s assertion that LeBron has been a bad parent for putting Bronny in a position to fail at the NBA level.

This performance should at least show that he has promise at this level.