LeBron James and Bronny James are set to make history as the first father-son duo to play in the NBA simultaneously, and also as teammates. However, former LA Lakers star Magic Johnson issues a major warning regarding this situation.
In an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host asked Magic about this topic, and he gave his sincere opinion: “If I’m Bronny, I would tell my dad: let me play in the (NBA) G League so that I can develop. He needs playing time, he doesn’t need to be sitting on the lakers bench and not playing. That’s not a knock against him, he’s just not ready. He needs to develop more, and then he’ll be ready.
Because he had some great talent and skills, but he needs to develop those skills at a much better clip if he wants to play 15, 20 minutes a night in the NBA or more.” He was also asked about the nepotism accusations, with LeBron making him play: “I wouldn’t say that, because I don’t know that. But if I’m his father, like LeBron is, he needs to develop, it’s just that simple.”
Many fans are eager to see LeBron and his son share the court. However, Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson isn’t as keen on seeing Bronny play right from the start of the season.
LeBron ‘Bronny’ James Jr. #0 of Sierra Canyon High School is greeted by his father LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers following the Ohio Scholastic Play-By-Play Classic against St. Vincent-St. Mary High School at Nationwide Arena on December 14, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio.
Although he expressed skepticism about Bronny’s immediate impact in the league, Magic seized the opportunity to praise the Lakers’ development of young talent: “Lakers have done a wonderful job developing players. Caruso and so, all these guys have developed under the Lakers G League coach, so, they’ve done a good job of bringing guys up and playing them in the NBA.”
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NBA News: Magic Johnson makes something clear to Anthony Edwards after controversial comments
Magic replies to Anthony Edwards
During his interview with Jimmy Kimmel, he got the chance to make things clear to Timberwolves Anthony Edwards after he stated that “Michael Jordan was the only one that really had skill” from the old NBA era.
“You might want to talk trash when you’ve won something. You know, if this came from some of the guys who just won on the Celtic team, OK, you might want to look at it. But you haven’t won anything,” replied the 5x NBA champion.