The LA Lakers forfeited their final NBA preseason game to the Golden State Warriors in a blowout loss on Friday. The Warriors trounced the Lakers 132-74, marking an embarrassing 48-point loss for the Purple and Gold ahead of the regular season.

Second-year guard Jalen Hood-Schifino is one of several LA players who faced criticism for poor shooting in their preseason finale. Some fans quipped that he should be more criticized than Bronny James, who had his best preseason performance on Friday.

Hood-Schifino struggled versus Golden State, shooting just 3-for-10 from the field with six points and six turnovers. The guard was the No. 17 pick in the 2023 NBA draft, and he was selected ahead of players like Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Brandin Podziemski, who were drafted with the next two picks. He appeared in 21 games for Los Angeles in his rookie season.

As Lakers fans on X saw a clip of Bronny James making an alley-oop during his standout preseason performance, they criticized Hood-Schifino.

“Better than [Jalen Hood-Schifino],” one fan commented.

“People need to direct their [Bronny James] slander to [Jalen Hood-Schifino],” another fan added. “That guy was pick 17 and he is a**.”

Fans continued to compare Bronny James’ preseason play to Hood-Schifino in agreeing tweets.

“For all the hate Bronny gets as a 55th pick, [Jalen Hood-Schifino] who was the 17th pick and had a year of NBA development still looks worse,” a fan commented.

“[Bronny James] has barely been on the team for a few months and scored more points than [Jalen Hood-Schifino] ever did in the time he’s been here,” another fan added.

Fans hailed Bronny James for his best performance of the preseason, scoring 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting.

“Finally he just needs to play more to get experience,” a fan said.

“He is getting better and better,” another fan added.

Bronny James shines in Lakers preseason finale

After struggling in his first four preseason games, Bronny James seemingly put it all together in the Lakers’ final preseason game, serving as one of the few bright spots for Los Angeles.

In 35 minutes, Bronny James notched 17 points, four rebounds, three steals, one assist and one block. James shot 7-for-17 from the field but struggled from 3-point range, shooting 1-for-5 from beyond the arc. The No. 55 pick and the son of LeBron James finally looked comfortable after drawing immense criticism through his first four preseason performances due to lackluster play.

Entering the matchup versus Golden State, Bronny James recorded just eight total points, shooting 4-for-20 from the field and 0-for-7 from 3-point range in 61 minutes of action across the Lakers’ first four preseason games, along with five turnovers and a minus-23 rating.

James flashed offensive potential and immense athleticism to go along with his highly touted defensive ability against Golden State.