The Los Angeles Lakers received a lot of criticism when they took Bronny James, the oldest son of LeBron James, with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
After undergoing cardiac arrest in a health scare last summer, Bronny only played limited minutes in his lone season at USC and many feel he is not yet ready for the NBA.
That has shown so far during Summer League as although Bronny’s point-of-attack defense has been solid, he has struggled on the offensive end. In four games in the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer Leagues, James has shot just 7-for-31 from the field and 0-for-15 from 3-point range.
In Monday night’s loss to the Boston Celtics, Bronny finished with two points, three rebounds and one assist on 1-of-5 shooting.
Reigning NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown was in the arena sitting courtside rooting on his team and at one point, cameras caught him appearing to criticize Bronny by saying he isn’t a pro player. Brown would later take to social media to clarify his comments:
It’s a flex to have your son alongside you in the nba it reflects greatness and longevity !Bronny has all the tools around him to be successful I look forward to watching his growth https://t.co/qO4muFSvrn
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) July 16, 2024
Jaylen Brown: “I don’t think Bronny [James] is a pro.”
Kysre Gondrezick: “I think he’ll be on the G-league team for sure.”
JB: “I don’t think so, I think because of his name he’ll be on the Lakers.” ?
(via @NBCSCeltics)pic.twitter.com/XNXeAT0wUZ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 16, 2024
While Brown is clearly impressed with LeBron James’ longevity, still being in the league to play with his son, and is certainly rooting for Bronny, he didn’t exactly walk back his criticism with the social media post.
Brown is certainly entitled to his opinion, and it will be up to Bronny to silence him and the other critics with his play, which he hasn’t been able to do so far.
Bronny James willing to play at any level
When the Lakers drafted Bronny James, however, they knew it would take time for him to develop after missing out on so many valuable reps last year due to his heart issue.
With that being the case, Bronny is expected to spend a majority of his rookie season at the G League level, which he doesn’t seem opposed to recently saying he is willing to play at any level.
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