Brian Windhorst, a basketball analyst for ESPN, leveled the Los Angeles Lakers for their “special treatment” of guard Bronny James, the son of LeBron James.
As our readers are well aware, James was busted down to the NBA’s G League where the team hopes he will continue to develop his game.
But there was a twist for LeBron’s kid.
The Lakers will have him splitting time between G League games when their affiliate, South Bay, is playing at home, and some regular NBA roster games.
The special setup for the nepo baby Bronny has Windhorst finally drawing a line in the sand.
Bronny James Getting Special Treatment
Windhorst seemingly is okay with the special treatment that led the Lakers to this point.
The wasted second-round draft pick. The 4-year, $7.9 million guaranteed contract all so they could re-sign an aging LeBron – though he still plays at a high level – and give him a Make-a-Wish moment.
Bronny James was never NBA material. So they did it as a favor.
All good. But the G League stuff. It’s a little over the top.
“Honestly, I know he was getting somewhat special treatment and nepotism. That’s fine. I don’t care. It’s normal,” said Windhorst.
Weird, I don’t recall EJ Johnson getting an NBA contract just to make Magic happy. It’s not normal.
“Now, I think it’s actually detrimental to him. I don’t like that. I don’t know whose idea it was. Obviously, the Lakers are fine with it. They’re doing it,” he continued.
“On this particular instance, I think that’s gone too far, and I don’t think that benefits Bronny. I don’t think it benefits the South Bay Lakers. And I don’t think it benefits LeBron at that point.”
"I'm gonna apply the brakes on my 'everything's fine' on the Bronny front…"👀
— Chris Gorman (@GormanChristoph) November 13, 2024
– Brian Windhorst[@WindhorstESPN]
Had enough of the Hollywood #LakeShow ??#NBA pic.twitter.com/BKVYk8Def5
RELATED: Bronny James Is Getting Busted Down To The G League – But There’s A Nepo Baby Twist
Not Doing Him Any Favors
Windhorst’s assessment is in tune with our reporting that said dropping Bronny to the G League is reasonable but would be more reasonable if “they’d send him there full-time.”
Sending him to the G League for further development of his skills is the only chance he has of improving his game. But what good does it do for him not to have to travel with the team, and experience the grind they have to?
James’ lone game in the G so far yielded 6 points on 22% shooting along with 5 turnovers. He followed that effort by returning to the Lakers for a game against the Toronto Raptors where he played two minutes.
His lone contribution to the stat line was committing a personal foul.
TNT Sports’ Inside The NBA analyst Kenny Smith believes that anybody critical of Bronny James playing in the NBA “doesn’t know basketball.”
Windhorst, meanwhile, went viral during last season’s NBA Finals when he went off on Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić.
More about:NBA News
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