LeBron and Bronny James made history Monday by becoming the first father-son duo to play together in an NBA game. It was preseason, but the unusual event is already in the books.
The father got his wish, although next up is doing so in the regular season. His son fights against rivals and also against the pressure of sharing the jersey and surname with one of the best players of all time. Everything Bronny does or says will be looked at under a microscope.
Many believe that Bronny’s arrival in the NBA has been more about LeBron’s desire to play with his son for a year than the youngster’s performance. In his only season at USC and after overcoming a heart condition, Bronny averaged 4.8 points (on 36.6% shooting from the field and 26.7% from three-point range), 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
Despite his limited stats, the Lakers selected him 55th overall in the draft. Never before in history has there been so much attention on a player drafted that low.
“The expectations that fans and LeBron have don’t match the reality of his game. If they had a real sense of how far away he is, they simply wouldn’t have done this,” assures one NBA general manager when discussing Bronny’s career.
ESPN has spoken to numerous executives and scouts from franchises around the competition and most are equally skeptical. Some are very pessimistic in their predictions: “He’s destined to fail.”
The opinions focus, above all, on the fact that the 1.88-meter point guard is not yet at the level to play in the NBA.
“It’s surreal that this has gone this far. If you just had the numbers on a page and had no last name associated with it, it wouldn’t project in any way as an NBA player. There’s nothing that makes this make sense … except the last name,” assures another general manager. “His resume is thin. He got here because of his last name. If he had another one, we wouldn’t be talking about this,” opined another.
Magic recommends the G League
There are many who believe Bronny should have stayed at least one more year in the NCAA and many who believe his reality will be the G League. Even Magic Johnson thinks so: “If I were Bronny, I would tell my dad: ‘Let me play in the G League all season so I can develop. He needs playing time. He doesn’t need to sit on the Lakers’ bench and not play. He’s just not ready.”
Among the virtues highlighted by those who have commented on Bronny are his humility, work ethic, ability to work hard…. He comes to practice every day even when there’s a break, he’s the first one in the gym.
“He’s going to work very hard, because what LeBron will never tolerate is being told that his son is not a good worker.” But lack of talent trumps all of that. “He’s someone you’d have on your radar, but not a priority.”
In the Summer League with the Lakers, the youngster averaged 7.0 points on 32.7% shooting from the field, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in six games. His first three-pointer came after 15 misses. In the preseason, he scored two points in his debut when the game was coming to an end and the day he played alongside his father he couldn’t score a basket.
At this point there is nothing in the numbers nor what has been seen so far that makes you think that Bronny will have a brilliant NBA career.
“I want to ignore all the noise and all the people who think I shouldn’t be here. My dream has always been to get my name out there. I just want people to know that I’m Bronny James and not just be identified as LeBron James’ son,” he says. An almost impossible mission.
