Days ago, an unnamed member of the Los Angeles Lakers’ summer league team commented on having Bronny James as a teammate. While he made it clear it was nothing personal against James, he blasted what he saw as the preferential treatment the rookie got and how it supposedly hurt the rest of the team.
Because James’ father is LeBron James, he is going to continue to get plenty of criticism from people who claim nepotism is the only reason he was drafted by the Lakers or is on any NBA roster to begin with.
A former NBA star went on Fox Sports 1’s “Undisputed” to push back on that negative report. Interestingly, that star was a former rival of the Lakers — Boston Celtics Hall of Famer Paul Pierce (h/t Sports Illustrated).
“These are seat fillers talking. Bronny was drafted, of course they’re going to develop him.”@PaulPierce34 takes issue with Lakers source calling out Bronny in Summer League pic.twitter.com/OGGq8xWRrV
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) July 26, 2024
“Bronny got drafted, [Dalton] Knecht got drafted, the rest of y’all: fall in line,” Pierce stated. “They’re developing the draft picks. Y’all just here for…what they call the seat fillers when you go to the awards. … These are seat-fillers talking.”
“[The younger James] was drafted, of course they’re going to cater more to him, do more for him. … And next time you [say something], put your name on it. These are cats that are going to be training camp invitees, these are cats that’s going to be overseas somewhere, these are cats that’s going to be trying out for the G-League, and they’re over here talking anonymous.”
The 19-year-old struggled mightily with his shooting for much of summer league, but he finally found his outside shot in his last two games.
The Lakers used the No. 55 pick in last month’s draft to take him, and if he develops into a useful player, it would give them a serviceable two-way rotation player on an inexpensive rookie deal.
They signed the younger James to a four-year, $7.9 million contract a few weeks ago. That would be a big bargain if he develops into the type of player plenty think he can become, nepotism or no nepotism.