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There isn’t a single member of the 2024 NBA Draft class who’s garnered more attention than Bronny James thanks in no small part to his parentage, and Rich Paul (LeBron’s longtime friend and agent) has addressed the critics who don’t think the coverage he’s garnered is justified.
You’re obviously going to have to deal with a fair amount of pressure when you decide to follow in the footsteps of one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and Bronny James had to know he was going to be thrust under the microscope when he decided to take his talents to USC after making a name for himself as a high schooler.
His ascension to the next level was marred by the scary cardiac incident that delayed the beginning of his freshman season, and he didn’t exactly take the college basketball world by storm over the course of an inaugural campaign where he averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists for the Trojans while largely coming off of the bench in the 25 games he appeared in.
You’d be hard-pressed to find many players who decided to declare for the NBA Draft after posting that line during their first year in college, but you also won’t find any other guys who are the eldest son of LeBron James.
While he appeared to boost his stock during a stellar showing at the NBA Combine, there are still plenty of questions concerning the potential upside of the 19-year-old Bronny, who has found himself thrust under the media’s microscope ahead of next month’s draft.
There’s only so much Bronny can do to control the narrative surrounding him, and during a recent interview with Bleacher Report, he drew the praise of Rich Paul for his ability to handle the pressure during a conversation where the head of Klutch Sports provided some solid insight into the attention surrounding him.
Here’s what he had to say:
“Bronny has done an amazing job of handling all of this…Is he a finished product? No, nowhere near. Most guys that come in our league aren’t at 18 and 19. If his name was different, would he get a different treatment? Yes, probably so…
Bronny’s going to always be in the eye of the storm because of that. Oftentimes, it’s not about you. It’s about them. And so there’s a lot of people that don’t like the positions they’re in themselves.
Negativity is something that oozes through the veins of people. But as far as the sports people having an opinion, they have every right to have an opinion, and they have every right to critique Bronny’s game. Under no circumstance should he get a pass because of who his father is.”
It seems like an NBA team will take a chance on Bronny in the draft due to his relationship with LeBron, but at the end of the day, it’ll be on him to prove he belongs in the league in the long run.