There has never been a more famous or more criticized second-round pick in league history than the Los Angeles Lakers selecting USC guard Bronny James with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Given that the Lakers are home to LeBron James, the pick was widely panned as nepotism, with many feeling that Bronny wasn’t deserving of his place.
The Lakers, in the months since, have made no qualms about the fact that Bronny is a development project that may take some time before he reaches his full potential. He has some great on-court attributes — such as his perimeter defense — and is seen as an extremely hard worker willing to play any role asked of him. But he is severely lacking in some areas as well.
Bronny’s agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, has had to answer questions about whether or not the 20-year-old was pressured to go to the NBA by his father or by Paul himself to get drafted by L.A. But the truth is almost the complete opposite, with Bronny not even caring about being a Laker, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPN:
Inside that office, Paul said, Bronny was signing basketball cards when they began outlining his options. Paul, the CEO of Klutch Sports Group, was blunt. He had canvassed executives from across the NBA and said he told Bronny he was not projected to be a first-round pick in the draft in late June, that he was probably a second-round pick, if that. That he could even go undrafted.
Paul asked Bronny what he wanted to do.
“I just want to hear my name called,” Bronny told him.
“Do you care where it’s at?” Paul asked.
“No,” Bronny replied.
Bronny’s decision to declare for the NBA Draft regardless of where he was selected was a choice made entirely by the young guard, with no outside pressure according to Paul:
“Nobody pressured Bronny to go pro,” Paul said. “Bronny had a choice to stay at USC, he had a choice to transfer somewhere else or he had a choice to go pro.”
This was Bronny’s call, Paul said, and Bronny’s alone — and one that publicly and privately drew immediate criticism.
Perhaps Bronny could have benefitted by staying at USC another year or transferring to another school. But his dream was to hear his name called, and after the events of the 2023-24 college season, he knew that dreams can go away in the blink of an eye.
He took the risk and got the chance to hear his name called. Now, he has appeared more than ready to put in the work and do whatever necessary to succeed at the NBA level.
Bronny James discusses sharing court with LeBron
On Sunday night, NBA history was made as LeBron and Bronny James shared the court together in the Lakers’ preseason game against the Phoenix Suns. They became the first-ever father-son duo to play together in the history of the league and it was truly a special moment.
From the moment the Lakers drafted Bronny, this was something that everyone knew was coming at some point, but once it did happen it was surreal. Even LeBron himself said that it didn’t feel real, but for Bronny while he was out there, it just felt like any other game.
“JJ told us we were gonna be playing together earlier in the day, so I was pretty psyched for that,” Bronny said after the contest. “But I just got out there and it felt like a normal game with my teammate, to be honest.”
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