The Los Angeles Lakers made history in June when they drafted Bronny James with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. By drafting the former USC Trojan, Bronny and his father, LeBron James, became the first father-son duo to play in the NBA at the same time, let along the same team.
The drafting of Bronny though has been a heavily scrutinized and criticized move. Not only was Bronny drafted, but he was signed to a four-year, $7.9 million contract. Many late second-round picks are limited to signing two-way contracts, not four-year deals. Anton Watson, who was picked one spot ahead of Bronny, signed a two-way deal for one year in comparison.
Many felt that Bronny has benefitted from his father’s name as he was drafted despite struggling in the lone season of college basketball he played.
While there is plenty of doubt from the outside, the Lakers have been supportive of their new teammate. Lakers guard Austin Reaves is excited to play alongside Bronny, and see his career progress.
“I also can’t wait to see Bronny grow,” Reaves said, via SB Nation’s Nicole Ganglani. “Obviously, he gets a bad rap because of who his dad is. Everybody’s going to hold him to the standards of his dad when the kid just wants to play and have fun and create his own path so I can’t wait to get around him and see him grow and ultimately make a career for himself in his own way.”
Before he was drafted, Bronny appeared in 25 games last season for USC. He started just six of those games and averaged just 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Even with those numbers, the Lakers still made him a second-round pick.
The scrutiny continued as Bronny made his debut in the NBA summer league, where he got off to another rough start. In his first four games, he missed every three-point shot he attempted and averaged just 4.3 points per game. Bronny did rebound during his final two games of the summer league, scoring double-digit points in each of those contests while making three three-point shots.