As Bronny James inches closer to his Lakers regular-season debut, debates continue to rage on whether the young baller is on the path to success in the NBA. According to some league scouts who spoke with ESPN, the kid is on a path that leads only to disappointment.
“The expectations for Bronny by the fan base and by LeBron and Rich Paul are not commensurate with the reality of his game,” one Eastern Conference executive said. “If they had any real idea of how far away Bronny is, they just would not have done this.”
“You’re set up for failure,” one Eastern Conference scout who has evaluated Bronny for years said. “It’s like, what’s the expectation here?”
As a once-in-a-generation type of athlete, LeBron James was one of the few players to find success in the NBA straight out of High School. As early as 18 years old, he was dominating games and making plays that spark disbelief to this day. 21 years later, and LeBron is still one of the best in the world with a chance to win it all.
If Bronny even had a slimmer of that in his own DNA, it would have made him one of the top prospects on the planet. So far, however, Bronny has not shown that type of talent since emerging on the NBA radar.
Unlike his dad, Bronny is only 6’2″ and he doesn’t have the athleticism to make up for it. At USC, he averaged just 4.8 points per game in a bench role and missed the first chunk of the season after recovering from a cardiac arrest.
His performance for the Lakers so far has been pretty modest as well, with his highest-scoring game being 13 points against the Cavaliers in his final match of the Summer League. In his latest pre-season game, Bronny went scoreless in 13 minutes of action and was a -16 on the floor.
Bronny still has plenty of time to develop his game, but it appears that he’s just not ready right now. Instead of trying to force it or rush the development process, Bronny would be better off to take Magic Johnson’s advice and sign with the G-League as soon as he can.
With the South Bay Lakers, James Jr. can get the kind of attention and care that he needs for his game to reach its maximum potential. On the Lakers, under constant pressure to live up to fan expectations, it’ll be a lot harder to avoid setbacks and distractions that will take away from his growth as a player.
But after inking a four-year deal this July, there’s no going back for Bronny and the Lakers. They are tied together for the foreseeable future and head coach JJ Redick will have that whole time to help Bronny find his place in the league.
For better or worse, we will find soon enough how Bronny’s game holds up to the NBA scene but it’s going to take some time for him to get where he wants to be. And for a Lakers team trying desperately to win one last title for 39-year-old LeBron James, time is certainly not something they have to waste.
