In Defense of Bronny James

When it is generally concluded that a player is making a lot more than he's worth, then said player can expect to deal with criticism accordingly.  For example, Tobias Harris, making nearly $40mil, was amongst the top 20 highest-paid players in the NBA last season.

Harris is a fine, above-average PF, someone who reminds me of Aaron Gordon.  But he obviously isn't worth that much, in the very least not within the grand scheme of Philly's style of play.  He's a contributor though one who is akin to, in the postseason especially, a nonfactor in relation to his salary.

So of Tobias has had to deal with the BS, even topping Bleacher Report's recent list of the "NBA's Worst Contracts of the Last 5 Years".  And sometimes, considering how much he's paid, Harris must also deal with being the scapegoat of the Sixers' lackluster success.

The reason I'm using that example is because no one would actually argue that Tobias doesn't belong in the NBA, but he still has to deal with a lot of flack.  So how much worse will it likely be for Bronny James, a big-name draftee, albeit one who could barely break the rotation of a quality college team?

With most draftees, the expectation or hope is that they prove to be solid NBA players.  With Bronny, it's like those in the know are already anticipating that he's going to be garbage.

NO, BRONNY IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE NBA PLAYER

Let's just get this out of the way from the jump.  From a skills' perspective, Bronny James is not good enough to be drafted into the NBA.  Nor should he have played in the McDonald's All-American Game last year, even if he did put up a notable stat line.  Bronny may be the first truly geniune example of an NBA nepo baby.

It isn't that uncommon for the sons of NBA players to also make into the league.  But to my knowledge, none have actually been drafted who didn't deserve it.

If Bronny turns out to be a walk-on benchrider for the Lakers, that's one thing.  The Jazz even gave John Stockton's son a chance a few years ago.

There's nothing wrong with an organization showing love to an all-time great or player they respect like that, by giving his son an opportunity.  And at the end of the day, like you never really know.  No one can see the future type shit.

Maybe a son who just barely makes it into the league will also go on to etch out an NBA career, like his dad.  That's why, you know, niggas had to give Scottie Pippen Jr. a chance.  Dennis Rodman has a son, DJ, who was a teammate of Bronny at USC and is obviously a better player, considering that he actually started.  But it doesn't read like DJ is exactly turning heads.  So if he does get a chance, it'll also likely be, at least in part, on the strength of his dad.

THE JORDAN FACTOR

The reason I have to mention Michael Jordan in this post is because he was the predecessor of Lebron James.  I even remember watching this obscure documentary that showed a picture of LBJ, at like 14 years old, meeting Jordan in the hallway after a Bulls' game.

Lebron wasn't one of those players who had to fight to make a name for himself in the NBA.  He came into league with people expecting him to be 'the next Jordan', i.e. the undisputed best player.  And, he lived up to those expectation.

In order words, Lebron already knew he was going to be a superstar and the face of the league.  He knew what time it was and, I believe by watching what Jordan went through in terms of his relationship with organizations, knew how to weld that power accordingly.

I don't think anyone, including Jordan himself, knew how popular he would become and how much influence a basketball player could actually possess.  But after watching Michael's career as the most-popular athlete in the world, Lebron knew what time it was.  So it's been under Lebron's leadership that the NBA entered the 'player empowerment era', where players have become more powerful than coaches and for the really big stars, like James, even seemingly more powerful than the organizations they play for.

Remember that Michael Jordan also had a couple of sons who played college basketball.  One of them, Marcus, was actually pretty good or at least a lot better than Bronny.

According to Wikipedia, both of Jordan's sons quit basketball.  In Marcus's case especially, since he potentially had a future in the sport, it sorta felt like some 'fuk, my dad is already rich, like what am I pushing myself for' type shit.

Marcus, to my remembrance, wasn't a big-name basketball star, even though he did make headlines from time to time.  But if he had stayed on that path, some team would have likely given him a chance due to the name recognition.  This wasn't some 'my dad was an obscure NBA player' type shit.  Like when Kobe made the NBA for instance, it wasn't a case where he needed his father's name to do so.

But it wasn't like Michael was trying to force Marcus into the NBA.  And my point is that, maybe MJ felt he couldn't force Marcus in or that it wasn't worth the effort.  Jordan may be more popular than Lebron, but I would argue that he was never, even as an owner, as powerful in the NBA as LBJ is, who himself learned from Michael's example.

THE LEBRON FACTOR

That's sort of the scary thing about the Bronny situation, i.e. if another team, especially a middling one besides the Lakers, decides to draft him.  Since he is Lebron's son, he'll instantly be one of the most popular players on the team.  There's even some NBA squads which, if they were to draft Bronny, he has more name recognition than anyone on their current roster.

That means that fans will actually buy tickets to see him play.  So then, such an organization would be forced to give him minutes, even though he isn't worthy, like some Sebastian Telfair type shit.  And you know, in the eyes of public/media, the only thing more exhilarating than watching someone succeed is watching them fail.

So the Lakers would be the best situation for Bronny.  I would imagine that there's also players out there who aren't particularly fond of Lebron.  You know, this isn't a case of 'my dad played in the NBA, back when we were all kids' type shit.  This is 'my dad is playing in the NBA', meaning that he has active rivals.  So since Bronny isn't, you know, a genuine prospect , like I know both he and Lebron said he must forge his own path, but let's be realistic type shit.

There's so many of us out there who wish we had fathers who actually contributed to our success, so no need to waste that advantage.  If Bronny intends to actually have a career post-Lebron, he's going to need his dad by his side during these early goings.  Also, if he and Lebron are on the same team, it won't look as bad if he's riding the bench.

CONCLUSION

I believe Bronny James is going to get drafted.  The strange thing about it is that he's actually the most-popular player in the 2024 NBA Draft.  And like I always say, popularity doesn't always win rings, but it does sell tickets.

That said, not only does Bronny need his dad to make into the NBA, but he's also going to need Lebron to advocate for his playing time.  So yes, it would make the most sense if he goes to the Lakers.  And I personally don't see this as a bad thing.

Does Bronny deserve to play in the NBA, based on his own basketball merit?  No.  But this isn't a case like the McDonald's All-American Game, where him participating would deny a more deserving player a slot.  All NBA teams have dudes on the bench who are basically cheerleaders / practice fodder which, if a player like of Bronny's skill level were to make a squad, would logically be the role he plays.

But my ultimate point is like, hell yeah.  If you have chosen a coveted career path, and your dad is able to help you get your foot in the door, then, you know, it's not on anyone else to talk shit.  To the contrary, that's what dads are for.

Lebron James, the NBA's Superstar

I know I talk a lot of shit about Lebron James, but that's how it is when you're the face of the NBA.  Back when Jordan was playing live, it was all awe because he's older than me.  But Lebron is younger and came at a time when I was an established NBA TV vet.  And whereas I may not be particularly fond of how he treats teammates, I respect Lebron for coming into the league with the burden of being the next MJ on his shoulders and actually living up to expectations, you know, along with the help of the NBA type shit, just like his predecessor.

Kobe didn't come into the league with those types of expectations.  He was hella famous, but no one is going to pick the player they truly believe to be the next Jordan all the way down at number 13.

Lebron was different.  He was a unanimous number 1 pick who everyone was expecting, even before he ever became a professional, to lead a team to a championship.  And of course he did get there.  He had to form superteams to do it, but still, goal accomplished.

The NBA is a lot harder than it looks.  It isn't like you have just eight teams anymore, where one can dominate year after year after year.  Now, there's deadass 30 teams and like hundreds of new, fresh dudes coming into the league every year.  So even if you can legitimately dominate for a while, like the Warriors did some years ago, it can't last forever, especially not these days.  You're either going have a key player who leaves or get injured or, no matter how skillful you may be, there's going to be some younger team that's just faster and has your number.  That's why you need to be a star, because like a good movie, the star always emerges victorious at the end of the day.

Or, let me put it like this.  Say you go to watch a Tom Cruise film.  If he dies during the first 30 minutes, you're probably going to get frustrated and walk out.  I mean think about it.  You're paying ot see Keanu Reeves or Jackie Chan in action; it's their face on the poster, but when the movie is reaching its climax, the character is nowhere to be found.  Like who wants to see that shit?  (Unless, of course, you're Bruce Willis.)  And that, my friend, is what you call star power.  The person who's actually writing the script wants you to succeed, even when the odds are against you.

So it doesn't surprise me that the Lakers look like they're going to make the playoffs.  These guys sucked all year but now, at the time they needed it most, are getting their shit together, and AD is finally like playing every game.  That's the official narrative.  The NBA Inception understanding is that, who wants to see the playoffs without Lebron anyway?  Him breaking Kareem's record is the sports story of the year.  So now you can't be like oh, the Lakers can't get their shit together, so no Lebron for the playoffs.  And then the scary thing about it is that, just like Ethan Hunt and his team when they really put their minds together, LAL, i.e. Lebron + AD, really can fukaround and win it all if they like play the right way (and the role players do their thing).

Then there's Bronny James.  Look, I have nothing but respect for dude.  In the whole entire history of the NBA only one superstar, Rick Barry, had a child(ren) who went on to become respected vets.  No other NBA player who children accomplished that, not even Arvydas Sabonis, were superstars when they were playing.  And Jordan's sons never even really got close to the NBA.

But that's what dads are for.  I can't say I ever remember there being a controversy about McDonald's All-American Game participants.  But then again, it's not often you have the son of a superstar playing.  None of Rick Barry's sons, who actually made it to the NBA, played.  And when you can influence McDonald's, that's some real starpower shit.

And that's the point I was trying to make in comparing Lebron to MJ earlier.  Jordan was the biggest sports star in the world around the time LBJ game into the NBA.  Before that we had Dr. J and Kareem and Magic in them, but his popularity dwarfed them all.  So now, everybody knew how profitable being the face of the NBA can be.  Jordan had sneakers and videogames and endorsements and all types of shit going on.  So now, Lebron knew what he was looking forward to.

But what Jordan, and those around him, did lack though was knowledge of how to weld power all that power.  It's sorta like you can be the greatest in the world, but still can't comprehend how powerful you can be, because you don't have someone else's experiences to build on.  That's why the Bulls were able to do all that dumb shit like breakup the team even though they were winning championship and had the greatest athlete of the generation on their roster.  They were out prove an outdated point, that no player is more powerful than the organization itself. 

But after watching what Jordan went through, the next superstar, as well as NBA teams, knew what time it was.  And that's why now we have "GM Lebron" and shit like that.  I can't say I ever heard of Jordan like forcing the Bulls to acquire or get rid of a player.  Meanwhile, whenever any team Lebron is on makes a major move, the public believes he's directly involved, even if he isn't.

CONCLUSION

And I can see how now, there's sort of this void that rationalizes keeping LBJ around, into perpetuity type shit.  Kobe may not have been a Jordan per se, but the major goal he did accomplish was giving the NBA a face in between the retirement of MJ and the rise of Lebron.  Bryant may even be more popular than LBJ to this day.  But if James were to retire right now, who's the face of the NBA?  Curry may not be around much longer himself, and Morant's image is currently in the doghouse.  Meanwhile Luka, who's not only talented but also has a more-marketable face than any superstar, first of all is stuck on a franchise that doesn't know what WTF they're doing and secondly doesn't really seem to be on it like that.

So all of this is my fancy way of saying, Lebron deserves it.  Say you want about the powers-that-be cheating for the Dubs, but don't say that shit about LAL because, Lebron.  It'll be shameful if the Lakers unfairly make the playoffs as the expense of some less-popular team, but that depends on how you define 'unfair', because we, the fans, matter also.  Or ask yourself this.  Like would you even know the McDonald's All-American Game just passed if Bronny James wasn't in it?