On Day 2 of the 2024 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers used their second round pick (No.55) on Bronny James the son of Lakers superstar LeBron James.
Bronny’s selection comes after months of TV, radio, barbershop and social media NBA analysts dissecting his play and talent level.
Most were in agreement that he wasn’t NBA-ready.
His one year at USC where he would didn’t start and averaged just 4.8 points per game didn’t stop Bronny from entering his name into the draft, and being the son of the league’s all-time leading scorer and one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen definitely helped his cause.
Critics Come At Bron For Pulling Strings To Play With His Son
One of Bronny’s biggest critics leading up to the draft was Fox Sports analyst Rachel Nichols, who on numerous occasions said that while she thought he could play in the league, he’d never be a star.
To her credit, Nichols did say she believed his upside was as a defensive specialist like former NBA DPOY Marcus Smart or Davion Mitchell who was just traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Toronto Raptors. That sounded about right.
Nichols Doesn’t Think Bronny James Will Ever Be A Star
“Will he ever be a star? I don’t think so. It does not seem likely, just his size and some of the other things about the way he plays, I don’t think he’s a future star player.”
Sounds like a pretty fair assessment by Nichols, but for some reason that didn’t sit well with the four-time NBA champion and MVP.
James Continues To Hit Unfollow Button
In wake of Nichols comments, James reportedly unfollowed her on X, as first reported by @theNBAalert. For James unfollowing folks who have a differing opinion of what they project for Bronny has become a consistent occurrence.
As of late, James reportedly has gone on an unfollowing spree that included NBA players Ben Simmons, Blake Griffin and former player turned ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins.
While we don’t know why Simmons and Griffin were unfollowed, Perkins getting the ax is pretty self-explanatory. Perkins, James’ former AAU teammate and friend, hasn’t held back when speaking about Bronny as an NBA prospect.
But what got him unfollowed was a rant about Bron trying to steal the spotlight from former teammate Kyrie Irving as his team played in the NBA Finals. During an early June episode of NBA Today, the former Celtics championship-winning big man said this:
“Here we go again. LeBron James weaseling his way into somebody else’s moment, let somebody else enjoy it. This is not about you! Your team is at home. This is about the Mavs and the Celtics and yet you’re so mad and disappointed that you’re not Kyrie Irving’s running mate anymore.”
Sounds like Perkins is tired of James’ antics once his team is ousted from the playoffs. Following the 2022-2023 season’s 4-0 sweep in the WCF, James mentioned retirement in his postgame presser, basically stealing the Denver Nuggets’ moment.
On many occasions Perk called out his colleagues for all the Bronny discussions. Perk didn’t feel that a player who was one of the last four picked, warranted all of that coverage.
LeBron isn’t apologizing for how he conducts his business and is drawing lines in the sand.
That doesn’t mean Nichols was wrong.
