Lakers’ Bronny James Brings Controversy to Vegas: ‘A Lot About Nothing’

LAS VEGAS — The Lakers have lost their collective mind.

This is nepotism gone wild.

The kid just isn’t good.

He’s not nearly worthy of being drafted or the contract he received.

Choose your favorite Bronny James narrative from among these, or add another if you see fit. It’s an open-bar situation for those looking to drink in shots at the Lakers or, perhaps more to the point, the 19-year-old’s father and, now, teammate. Some dude named LeBron. Perhaps you’ve heard of him.

But in the face of all this out-sized attention on a second-round draft pick, one veteran NBA executive staked out an interesting position as Bronny and the Lakers prepared to start play the Las Vegas Summer League Friday. (He shot 3-for-14 and 0-for-8 from the 3-point line, scoring eight points with three turnovers in the Lakers’ loss to Houston.)

“I don’t think it’s a stretch at all for him to be a 55th pick,” the source told Heavy Sports. “You could say it is after the year he had as a freshman, but what he accomplished leading up to his freshman year and he played really well in the (NBA Draft) Combine — and he had one really good day at the Combine — all that part? That makes him more than a valid pick.

“I would take Bronny over I-don’t-know-how-many players in that second round. I think all the controversy stuff is a lot to do about nothing.”

Bronny James’ College Season Was a Bust

There’s no question the focus on the 6-foot-2 guard who came off the bench for Southern Cal and averaged 4.8 points on 36.6 % shooting and 2.1 assists in 19.3 minutes is quite remarkable — clearly driven by the family tie. (Last year the excitement/curiosity here was all about No. 1 overall selection Victor Wembanyama; this year it’s on a guy taken 54 picks later.)

But the factors behind the aforementioned on-court numbers are more important than the numbers alone in this instance.

Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest during a USC team practice nearly a year ago in July, and the time needed for diagnosis (doctors said it was from a congenital heart defect and would not be a problem in the future), recovery and getting back into proper basketball condition put a large asterisk beside his 2023-24.

“You can’t really take much of anything from his season at SC,” the exec told Heavy. “It was a dysfunctional team, and then he came in late with the protocols he had to go through.

“I mean, I don’t think that one year he had is an indication of who he was or what he is or certainly not what he can be. The Lakers probably saw him working out and hanging around the team. They saw something good in him, so why not take him? A lot of people saw good things in him, but I think they were scared off.

“I do know there were teams that talked about taking him earlier, but there’s a whole lot of attention that comes with having LeBron’s son on your team, and, if you’re not the Lakers, do you really want to deal with that for a second round pick?” the source said. “Is it going to be worth it? And that’s not even taking into account the stuff about him not being willing to go to any team but (the Lakers).”

Lakers Are the Right Spot

Former Golden State general manager Bob Myers reported on ESPN that Bronny’s agent, Rich Paul, was telling clubs his client would play in Australia if he was chosen by a team other than the Lakers. Myers’ ESPN colleague Adrian Wojnarowski refuted that claim.

Another league personnel exec sought to put the situation into perspective.

“Bronny’s the kind of guy you’d be interested to see develop. The fact we don’t have a lot to go on is a bit of an issue, but that never seems to bother teams when they’re taking young kids who hardly ever played in Europe. The draft is a risk just about anywhere you’re picking, and that’s even more in the second round.

“But we know Bronny is probably ahead of a lot of young guys in the way he understands the game, but it’s all going to be in the development. It could turn out that a bunch of teams that passed on him in the second round will have missed out, but the truth is he’s probably in the best place for him. The Lakers will protect him and give him room. But he’s going to be under a microscope, and that’s tough.

“You see all the people lining up to see him play here in an early game.”