Colin Cowherd: Stephen A. Smith has the right to be honest about Bronny

Colin Cowherd didn’t think LeBron James confronting Stephen A. Smith was worth airing on TV.

At least on The Herd.

But Stephen A. Smith disagreed. He took to First Take to double down on his comments and later revealed the details of his conversation with LeBron on The Stephen A. Smith Show, which reportedly included a mention of LeBron’s son, Bronny.

Despite Kevin Love mocking his need to address the story, Smith has undeniably become the story. And that’s especially true when talking heads at other outlets, like Cowherd on his The Colin Cowherd Podcast, are talking about the “GOAT” stepping up to ESPN’s new $100-million man.

“It’s funny, I’ve always been a fan of LeBron,” Cowherd said on his podcast. “And I know Stephen A. I texted him twice recently; former teammate over at ESPN. I’m always sensitive — I’m glad my son and daughter didn’t choose broadcasting. I wouldn’t want them to be compared to their dad. And if they got criticized, my take is, well, you got in this business.

“So, my first reaction is: Bronny James is a Laker because Klutch Sports and LeBron James made sure everybody knew, ‘We want him to be a Laker.’ He was not a dominant college player. In fact, his size and skill set is really not that of an NBA player. He’s 6-foot-2 but not a point guard. Not a lot of 6-2 off-[ball] guards in NBA history, and right now, he’s not shooting. He’s a good kid, smart. I think he was draftable — it was one of the weaker drafts. I defended the Lakers drafting him.”

Cowherd also tends to defend journalists’ right to opinions.

“I think LeBron James, in his mind, is doing the right thing,” Cowherd explained. “‘Don’t badmouth my son.’ But I’ve seen many broadcasters get their kids into broadcasting, and their kids aren’t very good. Some are, some are not. And that’s the reality of a public-facing job: mayor, basketball player, sportscaster. You know, this is not a job that you write annuities, or you’re in waste management, like everybody knows his name. So, my take is that you have an $8 million contract, you’re fair game; that’s the way it goes.”

It’s the way it goes. But Cowherd has never tried to make it personal or cross the proverbial line, for that matter.

“I think the audience wants me to have definitive takes and take a side,” Cowherd says. “But, I think Stephen A. Smith does have a right to be honest about Bronny, but I also get the dad part. But, I do come back to listen: the minute you made that decision to wedge Bronny onto the Lakers, the most sacred part of sports is the uniform. You gave somebody a uniform,and many questioned if he’s ‘uniform-worthy’ at the NNBA level Like, you can say what you want… but that uniform, in any sports, that’s what makes grown men cry. They work 20 years to wear an NBA uniform.

“Hell, it could be a 10-day contract, man. If you get 10 days in the NBA for the rest of your life, ‘I was an NBA player.’ And so, when you get somebody to put that jersey on for the Los Angeles Lakers, there’s gonna be some animosity… It’s one of those [that] I know I’m supposed to take a side on this, and I’ve said this to people privately. I don’t talk about this, that, the Ukraine-Putin-Zelensky-Russia-United States, it’s way more complicated. I’ve watched more videos on that story in the last six months than everything except sports. There’s a lot of complexity with the history of NATO and Russia and us.

“And sometimes, if I’m ever critical of the media, social media has made simplicity the go-to apparatus. And I think Bronny-Stephen A.-LeBron, I think it’s complicated. I think there’s the dad thing. There’s the history thing. There’s the journalist thing. And I hated to see it because I love LeBron, and I really like Stephen A. Smith. I like them both. They’re really good at what they do. And I know that’s considered a soft pedal, but that’s how I feel about it.”

Cowherd may not have seen the confrontation as TV-worthy, but as long as LeBron, Bronny, and ESPN’s new $100-million man are at the center of it, the debate will be on the Worldwide Leader’s airwaves as often as the Dallas Cowboys.