Gilbert Arenas defends Bronny by exposing Jaylen Brown's 2016 Summer League shooting woes: "The first three games, just like Bronny James"

2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown was recently caught by cameras criticizing Bronny James . Brown has since posted a clarificatory tweet about his stand on LeBron's son playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. But while JB's social media post seemed to heal all wounds, former Washington Wizards All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas isn't letting JB's comments pass by.

During a recent episode of Gil's Arena podcast, Agent Zero compared Bronny's poor shooting performance to Brown's paltry field goal percentage during the 2016 Summer League.

"Jaylen Brown…Do you know what they said about him in Summer League?" began Arenas. "He was the third pick in the NBA Draft. The first three games, just like Bronny. Bronny was 6 for 26? Jaylen Brown was 5 for 26 from the field in his first three games in the Summer League. He's fine. No one bashed him, and he was the third pick in the Draft."

JB shot just 38.2% from the floor during the 2016 SL

Brown was the Celtics' No.3 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft behind Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram. Before he played his first game in a green jersey, the Celtics' official Twitter account called him 'Smooth as butter.' He was, however, far from that during the Summer League.

While it's unclear if he really was just 5-26 in his first three Summer League games, Brown shot a measly 32.8% from the field and 21.1% from three-point distance during the entire 2016 Summer League. Despite that, Brown went on to shoot 45.4% from two-point range and 34.1% from three-ball during the regular season.

Meanwhile, Bronny went 6-26 from the floor, including 0-12 from three-point range in his first three SL games. LeBron's eldest son scored two points on 1-5 shooting, including 0-3 from downtown against the Boston Celtics in the game where JB criticized him.

Related: "There will be an asterisk next to his name" - Walt Frazier believes Kevin Durant's Warriors tenure had a significant impact on his legacy

But nobody criticized Brown back then

If we go back to the 2016 Summer League, nobody really gave a damn what Brown's shooting percentages were during his five-game stint. But now, here comes LeBron James' son, who was the next to the last pick of the recent 2024 NBA Draft, and everybody is up in arms because he can't shoot.

For starters, shooting has never been Bronny's strong suit, at least as far as his collegiate career was concerned. At USC, he shot just 36.6% from the field and 26.1% from three-point land and was more known for his defense. Experts say the only way for him to have a future in the NBA is if he develops into a 3-and-D player. But that means he has to consistently knock down his threes, which he hasn't yet.

Curiously, LeBron Jr. played his best game of his Summer League career after Brown's comment. He scored 12 points on 5-11 shooting, including 2-5 from three-point area in an 87-86 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Although his bad games still outnumber the good ones, Wednesday's performance proved the kid can play, and maybe become a pro, contrary to what Jaylen said.

Related: “I’ve gone from trying to evaluate Bronny as ‘how good he can be’ to ‘can he play?’” – Skip Bayless is starting to doubt if Bronny James belongs at this level