Bronny James had an NBA breakthrough during Thursday night's Los Angeles Lakers loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith—just weeks removed from a courtside confrontation with Bronny's father, LeBron James, over his comments about the young guard—made sure to compliment Bronny on Friday's First Take. He also took time to set the record straight on what he's said about James's early NBA career.

James led the shorthanded Lakers, who were without LeBron, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jared Vanderbilt, in scoring (17 points) and assists (5) in the outing, setting career highs in both categories. Smith liked what he saw from the 20-year-old.

"I was very impressed, because I saw an elevation in his level of confidence and poise. It didn't really phase him, he didn't look as nervous as he had looked in previous appearance on the basketball court. He looked like someone that belonged."

He also admitted he might be wrong about the Lakers' development plan for Bronny. In January, Smith pleaded with LeBron to "stop this" after a rough start to his son's NBA career, arguing that his entire rookie season should be spent in the G League.

"This is the big picture here that I want to bring up: I might've been wrong. ... My position was all along, Bronny James needed to be in the G League. Let him be in the G League for his first year, and then after that, let him come on, because I've always believed that this kid has the potential, once I watched him, to be in the NBA. But what I saw last night made me say to myself, 'Wait a minute.'"

Smith has continuously said that his only argument was that Bronny not ready for the NBA this year, not that he would never be. To his credit, he did say just that in his lengthy podcast monologue about Bronny on Jan. 30.

Even so, we all know what happened next: LeBron confronted Smith ahead of a Lakers game earlier this month, calling out for his perceived criticisms of Bronny, something that host Molly Qerim couldn't help but bring up during the Thursday First Take segment. Smith used the opportunity to admit that he may have been off the mark given Bronny's blossoming game, but maintained that he never personally criticized the young guard.

Now, Smith says that the hybrid treatment of Bronny as a part-time NBA player, part-time G Leaguer seems to be working well for his development.

"The reason why I want to emphasize that point, Molly, is that when I was approached by pops at courtside and all of this other stuff ... I will contend 'til the cows come home, I was never disrespecting Bronny James. ... This notion that I was disrespecting his son, it's a lie. It is false. We have numerous tapes that show I did not do that. But I did believe that he belonged in the G League to get himself honed for the NBA level. What may be wrong about that is that evidently being around JJ Redick and that staff and being around Pops and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers, combined with the G League—going back and forth—may be doing wonders for him sooner than we anticipated, because I liked what we saw last night."

Even as he shared just how impressed he was on Thursday, he managed to fit in one last barb at LeBron over the ongoing beef in the process.

"When he plays well, we're going to give him props. When he doesn't play well, we're going to say so. That's what happens with covering the league. Maybe his pops didn't tell him that, but I'm going to tell him that. Congrats on a good performance last night, I hope it continues. I believe it will. And I believe he'll be an NBA player, a bona fide NBA player, a lot sooner than people think based on the progress we've seen him make. Props to him."

The Lakers are back in action on Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. ET against the Chicago Bulls.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Stephen A. Smith Reacts to Bronny James's Career Night for Lakers.