Lebron James is one of–if not–the greatest basketball players of all time. James is the all-time leading scorer of the league, a 3x Olympic gold medalist, and 4x NBA championship winner. Beyond that, James made basketball history again when he and his son, Lebron James Jr. (or Bronny James) played as a father-son duo for the Los Angeles Lakers. The pair made their first on court appearance playing against the Minnesota Timberwolves for a span of two and-a-half minutes. Despite the legendary event, news broke that Bronny would be headed for the NBA’s G League. The G League is the “minor league” of the NBA where players, coaches, and other staff develop and prepare themselves for the big league. Though players in the G League are still professional talent, the news has stoked the biggest criticism of Bronny: that he isn’t ready for the NBA.
Bronny has been playing basketball throughout his middle and high school career. Contrary to the image that may immediately come to mind, one of an entitled nepo-baby, Bronny has been described by his middle school teachers as a “team-player” and “great kid” according to The New York Times. By the age of ten he began receiving recruitment and scholarship offers from colleges and a year later was considered a NCAA Division I prospect. He graduated high school in 2023 and was ranked as a top ten prospect in his class in projections for the 2024 NBA draft. Among his top three picks of Ohio State, the University of Oregon, and the University of Southern California, Bronny committed to the USC Trojans basketball team and majored in Business Administration.
Bronny’s hype would wither into his college freshman year. Criticism of him during his time at USC aimed at him being an overall mediocre player. He was only a starter for six of the 25 games he played with the Trojans, and only because the other starters had been injured. His stats were never particularly impressive and fell short of what was considered the ideal future NBA player.
Criticism of Bronny is undercut by the fact that it was only his first season of D1 college basketball. The fact that Bronny had also suffered cardiac arrest due to a congenital heart disease during the 2023 preseason also adds to the idea that his critics are unfair. Many of his defenders claim that he simply needs to be given more time to develop and unlock his potential whereas his critics were simply being too harsh. Many NBA players, such as the legendary Russel Westbrook, had similarly unremarkable and even worse stats during his early years.
Despite his struggles, he was drafted to the NBA at the age of 19 with only a year of collegiate basketball under his belt. Many commentators attribute that fact to one thing: his father. Critics responded to the drafting of Bronny by saying he occupied a place on the roster more deserving of a higher qualified player.
Bronny’s time with the Lakers ended with their away game against the Memphis Grizzlies on November 6. Afterwards, he’ll be moved to the G Leagues South Bay Lakers, the affiliate team of the L.A. Lakers in which he’ll split time playing for both teams. In the G League, where both his teammates and opposing teams will be fighting tooth and nail for their own spot in the big league, it’ll be sink or swim for the young Bronny.
