Bronny James reportedly drew interest from teams picking ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024 NBA draft, according to Heavy’s Steve Bulpett.
“I do know there were teams that talked about taking him earlier, but there’s a whole lot of attention that comes with having LeBron’s son on your team, and, if you’re not the Lakers, do you really want to deal with that for a second round pick?” an NBA executive said, according to Bulpett. “Is it going to be worth it? And that’s not even taking into account the stuff about him not being willing to go to any team but (the Lakers).”
James ultimately fell to the Lakers with the 55th pick, but it didn’t come without a bit of controversy. During the second round of the draft, ESPN’s Bob Myers reported that James’ agent, Rich Paul, called teams and told them not to pick James, warning that he would go play in Australia if he was selected by a team that wasn’t the Lakers.
Whether the threat of James leaving for Australia played into teams passing on him is unclear, but it’s not out of the question that it could have influenced the proceedings.
James will now hope to shift the attention away from the draft and onto his play on the court. The son of the NBA legend has had a shaky start to his first NBA Summer League with the Lakers but still has a handful of games to turn things around.
After totaling just seven points through his first two games, James managed to put up eight points on Friday against the Houston Rockets, also adding five rebounds and a pair of steals. He will be back in action in Las Vegas on Monday when the Lakers face the Boston Celtics.