Nov 1, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) during warm-up before a game against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images Bronny James received some meaningful regular season minutes in Tuesday night’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, and it did not go as planned.
On Wednesday, Stephen A. Smith had to sound off on ESPN’s First Take about just how poorly Bronny played.
“I am pleading with LeBron James as a father. Stop this. We all know Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad,” Smith said.
Bronny played 15 minutes in Tuesday’s loss, was 0-for-5 from the field, had three rebounds and an assist that was good for a -8 rating in the box score. After the game, he told reporters that he was surprised by getting real minutes in the first quarter, and head coach JJ Redick apologized, stating that he put Bronny in a very tough spot.
But Smith’s rant on this entire saga was perfect. The Los Angeles Lakers gave the sports world and the James family an incredible moment on NBA Opening Night when Bronny and LeBron became the first father and son duo in NBA history.
But this has become the most-discussed second-round pick in the history of the sport. Bronny was selected No. 55 overall. It’s wildly unfair to expect him to contribute meaningful minutes to any NBA roster, let alone the Lakers, who are eyeing a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
There’s no need for him to be on this stage, regardless of how banged up or undermanned the Lakers might be.
ESPN’s top basketball talker should not have to be forced to get on his show and break down in gruesome detail just how bad the No. 55 overall pick is playing because it’s to be expected.
Leave nepotism out of it for a second. We’re talking about a 20-year-old kid who did not play much college basketball, has some innate tools and traits of a good basketball player, but is a complete project that needs time to develop. But because of his last name—and because of who his dad is—top sports talk personalities are forced to talk about him after every single failed outing. It’s unfair to everybody involved.
It’s clear that he needs to develop—and that was happening with a few good performances strung together in the G League with South Bay.
Let Bronny develop. At this point, there are countless G League success stories of players that were not ready to play in the Association right away, but when their time came, they were ready to be everyday NBA contributors.
Right now, Bronny playing meaningful NBA minutes is nothing more than a gimmick and it’s a little bit sad. Sure, he worked tremendously hard. We’ve seen that he has all of the tools required to be an elite player in the G League, even as a rookie.
Allow him to continue his development down there, out of the spotlight, and one day he could be playing meaningful NBA minutes as a contributor.
