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Former Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas emphasized the influence of\u00a0LA Lakers\u00a0rookie\u00a0Bronny James\u00a0<\/strong>despite his on-court struggles. In a recent clip posted on X (formerly Twitter) from his show “Gil’s Arena,” Arenas pointed out how James’ social media fame has seemingly overshadowed his identity as a basketball player.<\/p>\n The basketball world closely followed the two-day 2024 NBA Draft, which was the first time the league extended the draft across two days. A key reason for the widespread interest was the anticipation of seeing which team would draft\u00a0LeBron James’ son. On the second day, the Lakers selected James with the 55th pick, pairing him up with his father in LA.<\/p>\n While Bronny might be the most scrutinized rookie right now, he hasn’t played well on the court. However, Arenas said Bronny should be considered as an influencer playing basketball rather than solely as a professional athlete.<\/p>\n “Everyone\u2019s judging his basketball game but nobody\u2019s judging [Bronny] as an influencer,” Arenas said. “Sometimes, you got to look at it a little different. He’s an influencer that’s playing basketball. You’re talking about a kid who, he has more followers on social media than Patrick Mahomes. He literally has more than a three-time NFL champion.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Arenas underscored Bronny’s impact by claiming most people watched Day 2 of the draft in anticipation of his selection.<\/p>\n “His influence is really, really huge. He’s gonna get chanted everywhere. This is not about his performance on basketball. Whoever they were going to pick at 55, I’m pretty sure could’ve picked at 56, 57, 58, 59. And if I ask you who those people are, you don’t know. Because most of the worled stopped watching after 55. The reason it was a second round draft night was because of 55.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n