Bronny James isn’t having a good time with the Los Angeles Lakers. Four inconsistent performances in the California Classic and the Summer League had sparked a massive controversy around the son of LeBron James.
The big question is if the young prospect of USC has what it takes to perform in the NBA. The numbers weren’t there with a worrying average of 5 points and a poor 23% percentage in field goals, but, he bounced back with 12 points in the last game against the Atlanta Hawks.
As a consequence, Bronny’s critics are taking constant shots at the rookie by claiming he was the No.55 draft pick because of his father’s influence. However, an NBA executive has a totally different opinion.
Bronny James wasn’t a mistake for Lakers
Of course, the main reason why the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Bronny James was to fulfill the greatest dream of LeBron James. A few months ago, the King warned that he would only play for the team which recruited his son. It was a no brainer for general manager Rob Pelinka.
The problem is if Bronny was a second-round talent based only in his performances. A very interesting report from Steve Bulpett points out the revealing opinion from a veteran NBA executive.
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“I would take Bronny over I-don’t-know-how-many players in that second round. I think all the controversy stuff is a lot to do about nothing. I mean, I don’t think that one year he had is an indication of who he was or what he is or certainly not what he can be. The Lakers probably saw him working out and hanging around the team. They saw something good in him, so why not take him? A lot of people saw good things in him, but I think they were scared off.”
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Another key factor of criticism for the Lakers is why they used a second-round pick in a player which had a really complicated year in his only season at college. It’s important to remember that Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest at USC and his recovery was remarkable.
“You can’t really take much of anything from his season at USC. It was a dysfunctional team and then he came in late with the protocols he had to go through. I do know there were teams that talked about taking him earlier, but there’s a whole lot of attention that comes with having LeBron’s son on your team, and, if you’re not the Lakers, do you really want to deal with that for a second round pick?”
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