It’s not easy being the son of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen grace the hardwoods.
That’s what Bronny James, the older son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, has known for quite some time.
Ever since the 19-year-old USC freshman hooper began to follow in his dad’s footsteps, the unreal expectations have followed.
Those unrealistic expectations have become so outlandish that ESPN even had Bronny, who’s struggled in his freshman season at USC, as a one-and-done player and possible first-round draft pick in the 2024 NBA draft.
With just four regular season games left for the 11-16 Trojans, who’ll need to win the Pac-12 conference tournament to make the NCAA Tournament, Bronny’s draft stock at this point is really nonexistent.
ESPN Drops Bronny From Mock Draft, Dad Comes To His Defense
Following ESPN’s latest unveiling of their mock draft, LeBron the four-time MVP and four-time NBA champion took to social media to stand up for his son. In a bit of a rant, James had this to say concerning his son’s professional prospects.
“Can y’all please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball. The work and results will ultimately do the talking no matter what he decides to do. If y’all don’t know he doesn’t care what a mock draft says, he just WORKS! Earned Not Given!”
“And to all the other kids out there striving to be great just keep your head down, blinders on and keep grinding. These Mock Drafts doesn’t matter one bit! I promise you! Only the WORK MATTERS! Let’s talk REAL BASKETBALL PEOPLE!”
From the looks of Bronny he’s always seemed unbothered by the windfall of attention he receives being the son of LeBron James. Despite being the No. 25 ranked player in the 2023 recruiting class and a McDonald’s All-American, he never seemed to let the pressure of following his legendary dad bother him.
The kid just seems to enjoy being in college and after the scare with his heart going into cardiac arrest last year, enjoying life should be his No.1 priority.
Bronny Just Happy To Be Hooping
Bronny and the James family are happy he’s still here and able to do what he loves.
That didn’t look like the case over the summer when Bronny suffered an unexpected heart problem during a team workout. His return to the court was gradual, finally making his USC debut on December 10th.
Bronny’s Numbers As USC Freshman
In 19 games the dynamic two-way athlete is averaging a paltry 5.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in just over 20 minutes per game.
Known as a good shooter coming out of high school, he’s struggled, shooting just 37.5 percent from the field and 27.5 percent from three. His reputation as a knockdown shooter who’s capable of running a team while locking down the other team’s top perimeter player is what Bronny hung his hat on prior to the cardiac arrest scare.
Now, he’s just trying to find his way as a college freshman — who no matter how this basketball thing plays out — still has the world at his feet.
There’s validity to what LeBron is saying, but he as much as anyone, has placed some unfair expectations on his son and proclaimed that Bronny was better than current NBA players.
With the heart setback, no one should have ever expected Bronny to be one and done anyway. His dad is coming to the realization that his plan to play with his son will take longer than they both hoped.
Because of Lebron’s about face concerning Bronny’s projected NBA arrival, some have called him a hypocrite .
