Lakers Facing Backlash for Controversial Bronny James Decision

The Los Angeles Lakers selected USC guard Bronny Jame with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA draft. With LeBron James entering his seventh season in Los Angeles, the Lakers now have the first father-son duo in NBA history.

LeBron and Bronny shared the court together for the first time in a preseason game against the Phoenix Suns. Bronny played 13 minutes in this game, but did not score. The rookie guard grabbed two rebounds and took just one shot.

This father-son moment in the preseason has many fans wondering when the Lakers will have Bronny and LeBron share the court in a regular season game.

ESPN's Shams Charania revealed on Thursday that the Lakers are planning to play LeBron and Bronny together in their season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"We're going to be seeing history very, very soon," Charania said.

The Lakers have been facing backlash for this decision, with many fans calling them "unserious" for doing this on opening night.

"Extremely unserious for them to do this in general.. especially against the TWolves," @BradeauxNBA wrote on X.

The word "unserious" was a theme in the replies of this post, as many fans believe the Lakers are too focused on the father-son duo.

"This might be the most unserious team I’ve ever seen," another fan wrote.

The Lakers were eliminated in the first round of last year's playoffs, and many fans believe they care more about Bronny and LeBron than winning games.

"Keeping up with the Jameses lmao Lakers are more of a reality show than an NBA team this season," one fan wrote.

Bronny and LeBron being teammates is a great story that many fans care about, but that has not stopped the Lakers from getting called out for this decision.

"So they care more about engagement than winning?" a fan asked.

An interesting comparison one fan made was the criticism Colorado Football gets for "playing for clicks" instead of wins.

"People get mad at Colorado for 'playing for clicks' but the Lakers are pretty much doing the same thing," the fan wrote. "Funny thing is both teams are really not that good. Lakers are a 10 seed at best and Colorado is a bowl team maybe but def not a playoff team."

Based on this report from Charania, it sounds like Bronny will not start in the G League. The rookie guard is expected to spend some time with the South Bay Lakers, but will reportedly be on the NBA team for a season opener appearance with his father.

The Lakers and Timberwolves will play each other on October 22 in Los Angeles.

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