Stephen A. Smith offered support Tuesday morning to Bronny James and LeBron James’ family after Bronny suffered cardiac arrest Monday.
“I’m just thankful, thank the good Lord, that he’s doing OK and whatever caused this is something they will identify and alleviate as soon as possible so he can restore his life,” Smith said Tuesday during “First Take.”
Smith, who is known for his boisterous personality, had a solemn tone while discussing the scary incident involving LeBron’s son.
Bronny, an incoming freshman at USC and ESPN’s No. 20 recruit, suffered cardiac arrest while practicing Monday.
The medical staff treated him and took him to hospital, according to the James family, and he is now in stable condition and no longer in the ICU.
“When you hear that, it scares you to death because these are the kinds of things that are an anomaly but nevertheless are incredibly possible,” Smith said.
Smith had nothing but nice things to say about Bronny, 18, and the entire James family.
“Anything we’ve heard about Bronny James, we’re thinking about an All-American and somebody that has aspirations of being in the NBA. We’ve heard the great LeBron James allude to … his dream is to play in the NBA with his son, etc., etc., and all that gets thrown to the wayside when it comes to something like this,” Smith said.
“If you know anything about LeBron James, you can say whatever you want, people can be critical, but nobody debates what a loving, wonderful father he is and how much he loves his children, especially Bronny.
Bronny James, here playing for Sierra Canyon, suffered cardiac arrest during a USC workout. AP
Stephen A. Smith discussing Bronny James suffering cardiac arrest on “First Take.” ESPN“We see Bronny everywhere, we see him talking about Bronny all the time, his wonderful wife, Bronny’s mother, Savannah, first class all the way, a wonderful human being. They have a great, great family and Bronny has never done anything to besmirch or sully the James name.
“By all accounts, he’s an absolutely wonderful kid we look at and hope the best for and that was just as a basketball player because of his aspirations and he’s LeBron James’ son.”
Here's everything to know about Bronny James' cardiac arrest
Bronny James, the 18-year-old son of NBA superstar LeBron James, went into cardiac arrest during a basketball practice with his team at the University of Southern California on Monday.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Group cardiologist Merije Chukumerije said in a statement Thursday that Bronny “has been discharged home, where he is resting.”
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It’s too soon to know how Bronny’s episode will affect his basketball career, since it largely depends on the underlying causes of the cardiac arrest.
“When they come up with a mechanism for why he had the cardiac arrest, you could then and only then make an informed decision regarding his recovery and his ability to go back on the court,” Dr. Marc Cohen, Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Newark-Beth Israel Medical Center, told The Post.
Smith also tweeted his support for the family and is thankful for the medical staff that helped Bronny.
LeBron James was in his freshman season at USC. Instagram/USChoops“When you hear something like this, you thank the good Lord that the medical staff was there in attendance, he wasn’t practicing by himself with nobody around, that there were people around to see what transpired and ultimately come to the rescue,” Smith wrote.
