I know that today is the day the NBA Conference Finals start. It would probably be more conducive for me to write about those games. Or, more specifically, how I am all in on the Timberwolves, Ant, KAT, hell even Rudy Gobert. I also need to write about how I need the Mavericks to do terribly. I also have a Jayson Tatum narrative to protect. But, right now, I want to talk about something that has occupied a lot of my time the last week and a half – Bronny.
This is kind of the topic coming out of the combine for me, and Bleacher Report and ESPN and any mainstream sports media outlet. To steal from Sarah Palin, I am now a part of the lamestream media. To be fully fair to me, I made a joke last week about Bronny becoming an executive at LeBron’s studio. But it was because I was watching the combine’s highlights, and every single highlight had something to do with Bronny. Kofie, one of my favorite basketball content creators did a whole video on this:
But my question focuses way less on the media attention. I don’t even really care where he gets drafted this year. My real question is what Bronny (and to a lesser extent LeBron) thinks is going to happen. There’s an overall consensus this year that the 2024 draft class is one of the worst. I actually disagree with that, because I think everyone is focused on the class lacking any top heaviness. Last year, it was pretty clear to everyone that Wemby was going first. In 2022, it was a Paolo and Chet waiting game. But this year, we’re stuck in the void where there’s no clear number one. Ryen Russilo even said that league executives are saying the number one pick this year is like a number six pick in past years.
Realistically it’s another Frenchman in Alex Sarr even if Bronny is tied for bets at first overall.
But, this class, while it doesn’t have a top star, has a lot of good future role players. Reed Sheppard, Kyle Filpowski, and Donovan Clingan are all guys who could realistically be long-serving role players. Hell, even Zach Edey could be a good option off the bench when the post needs some height. But, realistically, that doesn’t leave Bronny anywhere. Because the truth is, not only is he not ready, he’s never been an NBA-caliber player.
The nepotism angle has basically been shot to death at this point. Was Bronny really somewhere in the 20s in the Class of 2023 rankings? Probably not. In his last year of high school, he averaged 14.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.8 steals. What really helps Bronny is his dad’s coaching; he has a high basketball IQ and it shows. he positions himself incredibly well and plays defense better than most. That’s probably what got him some D1 offers.
This past year at USC was a fluke year for Bronny. He suffered cardiac arrest in the summer. I had actually just gotten out of day 1 of the Bar exam when I turned on ESPN and thought he had died. Not only was he a freshman, he was a freshman coming back from a life-threatening event. I’ve watched his high school highlights enough to realize he had lost some of his edge this year. To be fair he was coming off the bench on a very bad USC team. In retrospect, it seems like everything was against him this year. His stats also were underwhelming. But, again, everything was stacked against him.
And it doesn’t help that it seems Sierra Canyon and USC were lying about his height. The NBA combine checked him in at 6’1.5 in socks, making him shorter than average for an NBA guard. All he has is his IQ and defense. He’s not the scorer or floor general his dad is. He doesn’t have the height of his brother. There’s just nothing that makes him stand out on the court. And the only thing that made his combine not a complete failure was the scrimmage. But even then, he’s just not an NBA player.
The open secret in all of this is LeBron’s choice. It’s incredibly well-documented that he wants to play with Bronny. No matter how good and gifted he is, at some point time is going to catch up to LeBron. He can be in as good of shape as he wants, but time doesn’t discriminate. Bryce is a little too far off, and he probably has the best chance right now out of the brothers at a long NBA run. LeBron has an option this year, and it’s generally accepted that he’s going where Bronny goes. And that’s inflating Bronny’s draft stock.
My issue, and the reason I write this, is that I don’t see a sustained end game for Bronny in the NBA. As I’ve already said, he’s not an NBA-caliber-level player. Sure, he could grow into it, but that’s so much easier said than done, especially in the NBA. This entire situation feels like a complete disservice to Bronny’s future. He is a lamb being led for slaughter after LeBron inevitably retires, leaving him to fend for himself. And there’s no world where an NBA GM leaves Bronny on the team just to appease a LeBron who is no longer a player.
I genuinely want Bronny to succeed. For all the flak LeBron (LeMickyMouse, LeBron Zedong, etc.) has gotten, everything points that he’s an excellent dad. Bronny and Bryce are current and future D1 athletes with shots at the NBA. On and off the court they handle themselves incredibly well, especially Bronny with an unnatural amount of media attention on his every movement.
So the main question to me is – where does he go? Bronny retained his eligibility, so maybe he will go back to college. But he won’t. I imagine he also has dreams of playing with his dad. But if he goes to the NBA there is just no good ending I see. If he doesn’t flounder with his dad, he may get a few more seasons of goodwill. A team here or there picks him up and the G-League is there. But does he want to go overseas? This is his best chance for the NBA, and I just don’t see a happy ending. And that’s why I think his dad is doing him a disservice. He’s setting him up for failure.
And when that happens the media will descend like vultures, spending hours wondering what happened. Wall-to-wall coverage will happen. And I will hate to sit here and say I told you so. Because, really, there is no end game for Bronny in the NBA.
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