Nick Wright calls out Stephen A. Smith while ripping Bronny James’ critics

Nick Wright is ripping people who’ve criticized Bronny James recently, and while he pointed to “so much disingenuous commentary” on the topic, he mentioned only one critic by name.

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

After the Los Angeles Lakers rookie struggled Tuesday night in extended playing time against the Philadelphia 76ers, Smith sent a message on First Take: “I’m pleading with LeBron James … stop this.”

Smith revealed Friday that LeBron James’ camp had reached out to him about his message. And many people had claimed Smith went overboard in his comments, including Dan Patrick, who joked Smith sounded like “Liam Neeson in Taken.”

Wright said Thursday on his What’s Wright? podcast all the Bronny criticism is unfair.

“There has been so much disingenuous commentary surrounding the Lakers and surrounding Bronny. He gets the minutes against the Sixers, and Stephen A. pleads with LeBron to stop this?” Wright said. “Now listen, Bronny did not play well, he was 0-for-5, he had three turnovers. That is just life for a late second-round, end-of-the-bench guy.

Smith mentioned James] statistics (0.3 points per game through Tuesday night) in his criticism.

“If we’re going to recite Bronny’s current NBA stats, then let’s put them in context,” Wright said. He then listed stats of players chosen immediately after James in the second round, which were comparable.

“They’re all the same!” Wright said. “So to have that data, and then seize on 10 bad minutes against the Sixers and do an impassioned plea to LeBron or to the league or to the Lakers to stop this like it’s a farce.”

.@getnickwright has had enough of the disingenuous Bronny James criticism pic.twitter.com/jJcLIj3NYg

— What’s Wright? with Nick Wright (@WhatsWrightShow) January 31, 2025

“And the fact that all of these people were so quiet when he was cooking in the G League. I just think it’s bulls***,” Wright said.