When the Los Angeles Lakers picked Bronny James 55th in the 2024 NBA Draft, it sparked backlash. Many called it nepotism, claiming the Lakers chose him more for his connection to LeBron James than his skills. Then, Bronny had difficulty meeting expectations, leading to more debates about fairness in sports.
Even though Bronny had a tough season at USC and didn’t make a big impact, some people think the Lakers chose him because of his family connections. Sports commentator Bill Maher shared his thoughts on the issue during a talk with Stephen A. Smith.
He said, “I see this sort of world of nepo babies and trust fund kinds when you’re out … Bronny James is the one who f****d it up. Because the point of it for people who didn’t see it is that sports’s the last place where you can trust that it’s not nepo babies … everything is nepo babies except sports.”
Then Smith said LeBron James had done so much for this league but had committed a crime. He explained, “Here’s what the crime was, Bill. You have that moment on opening night. At that moment, Bronny James, you know you belong in the G League—go to the G League. ‘Now that I got this moment, it’s time for me to go and earn my stripes.”
Charles Barkley criticizes Lakers’ plan on Bronny James
The Lakers decided to have James play for their G League team, the South Bay Lakers, but only for home games. When South Bay travels, James moves back to the NBA roster. Charles Barkley strongly criticized the plan, calling it unfair to James, his teammates, and the coaching staff. He really slammed the idea.
Charles Barkley thinks that Bronny James is NOT ready to play in the NBA – do you agree with him? 🤔
— Basketball Sphere (@BSphere_) November 28, 2024
🗣️ This thing where he's only going to play home games… It's stupid, it's not fair to him or to the team!#LakeShow • @Lakers pic.twitter.com/pteYYqW8Nb
Barkley said, “This thing where he’s only gonna play homes games. It’s stupid, it’s not fair to him. It’s not fair to the team. Can you imagine the coach of that team?.. They have just handled this thing very bad. It’s a bad look for the Lakers. I really like everything LeBron has done. But it’s a bad look for him [too], in my opinion.”
”
