On June 26, the NBA draft occurred at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Every year around that time, sports fanatics, especially basketball ones, are really excited to see a bunch of players getting drafted to their favorite teams in hopes of them making the roster and improving the overall team success in the short or long term.
Each draft is divided in two rounds, the first 30, who are the ones that are supposed to make a direct impact on the team they will be picked to play for and that will in most cases get a guaranteed contract. Then there are the last 30, for who making a roster and getting a guaranteed contract right away should be a little more complicated even though each year there are some exceptions, with players who will surprise their coaching staff during training camp and preseason and join the main roster right away.
Surprisingly or not, this yearthe player that made the most noise and received the most attention was not the first draft pick, nor a lottery pick and did not even get drafted in the first round. That player is named Bronny James and is the son of LeBron James, who is one of the best if not the best player to have ever touched a basketball.
After only spending one season at the University of Southern California where Bronny did not make that much noise at all averaging less than 5 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game, LeBron’s son got drafted 55th by the Los Angeles Lakers, which is the team that his father plays for. Along with being drafted, Bronny James signed a four-year guaranteed contract worth $8 million. The player who got drafted at that position last year averaged four times what Bronny did for scoring but signed a non-guaranteed contract only worth $500,000.
That whole Bronny trend thing made a lot of noise in the media and in a basketball world with a lot of people feeling like he did not deserve to be drafted and to receive a guaranteed contract, saying that he was definitely not ready for the NBA. They also felt like that decision made by the Lakers was disrespectful to the sport of basketball and other players received nothing or way less with way better statistics and impact on the game. The main reason would be the influence that his dad has in the NBA that people feel like allows him to have his son play with him even though he does not have the skills for yet.
I personally agree with people that share that opinion. As a basketball player myself, it is easy to tell that Bronny is a really good basketball player with high upside and potential, but I would have to disagree with saying that he would be ready to play in the NBA right now. I believe if his dad was not who he is, then Bronny would have not received what he did. Although, I understand that as LeBron James’ son, you might deserve to be treated differently, and I believe that he will be successful in the NBA by being around professionals and training with them every day.
