Last Sunday, LeBron James and Bronny James made history by becoming the first father-son team to play together on the NBA court. But many people still don’t think the Los Angeles Lakers made the right decision in taking Bronny with the No. 55 pick.
Concerns are growing about Bronny’s performance, with an NBA expert recently criticizing him as a lost project for the Lakers this season.
Bronny James struggled in his preseason games. He made only one out of seven shots and lost the ball four times in just 13 minutes against the Suns.
Because of this, people are starting to question if the Lakers made the right choice by picking him. One Eastern Conference scout said bluntly, “You’re set up for failure. It’s like, what’s the expectation here?”
Another Eastern Conference executive said to ESPN, “The expectations for Bronny by the fan base and by LeBron and Rich Paul are not commensurate with the reality of his game. If they had any real idea of how far away Bronny is, they just would not have done this.”
Nearly two dozen NBA executives, coaches, and scouts agree that Bronny isn’t ready for the league and that the Lakers’ environment may not be conducive to his success.
However, the support Bronny is receiving from the Lakers’ management is the one thing that could boost the confidence of the University of Southern California product.
Coach JJ Redick has hope for Bronny James.
Bronny James had a tough start in his first preseason game for the Lakers. He scored only two points, got one rebound, one assist, and three blocks against the Timberwolves. In his second preseason game, he didn’t score any points.
Even though he struggled, coach JJ Redick praised him for his good defense. He said, “We’re really happy with his progress.“ He was really impressed with Bronny James’ defense, especially given his height.
Redick added, “The kid, you know, he can do some things defensively at his size that are really unique and can I think turn him into a really disruptive defender and that kind of manifested …I liked what I say from Bronny, truth of the fact, he’s so easy to coach.”