Behind Yang Yi's Mistake in the United States: Compromise with James' Super Influence? Bronny was treated with a double standard

On March 22, Beijing time, Stephen A. Smith, a well-known ball critic known as "American Yang Yi", publicly admitted his mistake on the show, saying that he was "probably wrong" in terms of what he said about Bronny. Bronny contributed 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting against the Bucks yesterday and was efficient. A-Smith's confession, like the previous conversation between him and James on the sidelines, once again caused heated discussions on social media. Does a professional commentator need to apologize for his remarks?

Stephen A. Smith is probably the NBA's most famous commentator, always torn between "poisonous commentary" and "expert analysis", and his discussions are often highly controversial and trafficked. The new discussion sparked by this incident is: Do professional commentators need to apologize for negative comments based on professional judgment? When Bronny's on-court performance makes a substantial improvement, is the revision a sign of professionalism or a compromise to the influence of a superstar?

As we all know, in the age of the Internet, today's NBA superstars have an absolute right to speak, and this voice is not only reflected in the influence of the team's affairs. James is a prime example of this, as he is one of the most commercially valuable athletes in the history of modern sport, and his own and his family's movements have long gone beyond the realm of pure sports.

ESPN data shows that any media coverage involving the James family has a peak traffic of basically 3.7 times that of regular NBA news. This has forced commentators to consider the huge fan backlash when criticizing their family members. Smith does get traffic, but it can also have a negative impact. There are reports that Smith's negative evaluation of Bronny's draft prospects in 2023 has caused his personal social media to lose more than 120,000 followers in a single day.

However, A-Smith is, after all, a commentator who may run for president of the United States in the future, and he understands all too well the relationship between polarized public opinion and commercial value. In the early stage, he sang Bronny, created confrontation through the controversial remarks of "Bronny should go to the G League", and harvested the traffic of the "anti-James group"; Later, he admitted that "he may be wrong" after Bronny's performance, creating a character of "rational reflection", and at the same time binding the topic of James father and son, leaving an opportunity for continued discussion in the future. Does he need an apology? His work is tied to traffic, and if there is traffic in the apology, there is nothing wrong with it.

James brings his own traffic, and he certainly knows what A-Smith is doing around himself. He could have pursued a "no-response philosophy," but some of A-Smith's words even meant to teach James how to be a father, which made the 40-year-old Lakers supergiant unbearable.

Brownie's situation is actually the situation of some "second generation stars", who are regarded as the lucky ones who grew up with a "golden key" and are the envy of many people, but at the same time, they are also facing the "double standard treatment" that ordinary people do not have.

For example, if the average young player does not play well in one or two games, the outside world thinks that this is the price of growth, while if Bronny does not play well in a row, he will soon be ridiculed as a "relation". Ordinary young players broke out in the G League and were praised as "counterattacks", while Bronny played a few good games in the G League and was questioned for "brushing up the data" there. Ordinary players who play a good game in the NBA may be predicted to be "rising stars", but when Bronny plays a good game, there will still be people who question that his teammates are feeding him the ball, which is not a reflection of his real strength, and in the final analysis, it is still "relying on his father".

For Bronny, he is the son of James, which is an immutable fact and a label that will always be attached to him in the NBA in the future. Since he has chosen this path, he must be prepared to be judged. Only by consistently playing like the last game can you really earn more respect. As for A-Smith, whether it is criticism or admitting mistakes, he should know very well in his heart: the traffic has always been firmly held in his hands.