The Los Angeles Lakers continue to draw flak for drafting Bronny James with the next to the last pick of the 2024 NBA Draft. Critics say that the only reason why Bronny was chosen was because of his father. Those detractors even became noisy when LeBron Jr. struggled during the Summer League.
However, his dad's ex-teammate, Iman Shumpert , thinks that the Lakers' pick of the former USC Trojan was a smart move because LeBron Jr. is an unselfish player who plays well within a system. Shump believes that Bronny's rookie season will be similar to that of Lonzo Ball , who also began his career with the Purple and Gold.
"People don't give Lonzo Ball enough credit," said Shumpert. "Even though he's had his ups and downs, he plays a team game. He's able to get other players involved. He's able to make people better, and I think Bronny does an excellent job of that. He does an excellent job of being able to stay in a rhythm without getting people out of rhythm. He doesn't take a lot of dribbles."
Zo was the second overall pick, Bronny was second-to-the-last in his draft
Lonzo struggled during his rookie season with the Lakers because of similarly high expectations. As a rookie, Ball shot just 36.0% from the field and 30.5% from three-point range. However, Zo made up for his shooting struggles with an impressive 5.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.7 steals per game average in 34.2 minutes of playing time per outing.
While Bronny isn't expected to play as much as Zo did, Shump makes a good parallel between two rookies who were thrust into the Los Angeles limelight with unfair expectations. The only difference is that Zo was the No.2 overall pick, and James Jr. was the second-to-last pick.
"They need a lot of touches in order to get going," added Shump. "And he doesn't. He plays a pretty efficient game and the more he gets in those decision-making positions that he has to make down the stretch — when it really means something — we're going to see a really quick learning curve."
Related: "I'm trying to knock the hell out of Rodman" - Michael Jordan on how he beat Dennis Rodman in his own game during the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals
Bronny struggled with his shot again in his preseason debut
James Jr. made his NBA debut last Friday when the Lakers faced the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Acrisure Aena in California for the team's first preseason game. True enough, the 6'2'' guard struggled with his shot, making just one out of six FG attempts in 16 minutes of action. However, his defense impressed head coach JJ Redick.
"He can do some things defensively at his size that are really unique, and I think can turn into a really disruptive defender," Redick said . "That manifested itself. On the offensive end, he's still figuring out who he is. That's our job as a player development program just to build him in.
The Lakers ended up trading Lonzo after two seasons, but he finally found his shot and turned out to be a great player in Chicago before he got injured. Meanwhile, the jury is still out on Bronny, and only time will tell if Shump is correct in his assessment of LeBron's son.
Related: "He's either two years away or two years away from being two years away" - Bill Simmons on why Bronny James will not play a lot as a rookie
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