Relax With The Nepotism Talk!

The Los Angeles Lakers drafted Bronny James with the 55th Pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Now, Lebron James will be playing alongside his son in the 2024 NBA season which is so cool to think about. Bronny was not even born when Lebron got drafted in 2003 and now they are going to be teammates. I don't think people are truly appreciating how big of a moment this is. This is the first father-and-son duo ever in the NBA and people have been bashing Bronny and have been screaming about nepotism.

First of all, it is fair to say that Bronny had a better chance of getting in the NBA because his dad is Lebron James but that doesn't mean he didn't work hard for this moment. Before the draft, an article written for ESPN by Jamal Collier talked about how Bronny's performance in the combine catapulted his projection from outside of the top 100 to a potential second-round pick, and guess what, that is exactly when he got picked yesterday.

It's important to note that Bronny has made it to the league through his merit as well and not solely because his dad is Lebron James. Secondly, nepotism has been prominent in the NBA. Current Nuggets coach Michael Malone's dad Brendon Malone was a legendary coaching figure who certainly improved Michael's chances of being a coach but Michael's success with the Nuggets has everything to do with himself and as a result, he is regarded as one of the best coaches in the NBA today. Luke Walton, son of the late great Bill Walton, has been in the league for a long time. The Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, took over the team after her father Jerry Buss passed away. It happens everywhere in sports.

For example, the Patriots had Steve Belichick on the Patriots' staff for a while and one prominent reason is probably because he is related to legendary coach Bill Belichick. That doesn't mean Steve is only coaching because Bill is a good coach. It just means that Steve has more security and opportunity in the league because of his dad but he created those opportunities on his own merit.

My overall point is that let's pump the breaks on criticizing Bronny in the name of nepotism because he is not the first player or coach to benefit from that. Let's also wait and see how performs on the floor before we just assume he's not league-ready. Whatever happened yesterday was a cool moment and let's just appreciate it because we may never see it again.

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