Bill Simmons Makes Jarring Admission About Lakers Rookie Bronny James

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James just can’t catch a break.

Every one of his NBA Summer League performances is examined under a microscope, and most media pundits believe that the 19-year-old guard adds nothing to the Lakers’ pursuit of an NBA championship.

Count The Ringer’s Bill Simmons in that group. During a recent episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” the sports media personality ripped into James for serving as nothing more than a hindrance for a team that hasn’t finished above seventh place in the Western Conference in the last four seasons.

“This Bronny James thing is going to be a weird wrinkle in the season, I don't think it's going to be a positive,” Simmons said . “It's cool that [LeBron is] going to be able to play with his son, but it's going to be a major distraction this whole season. It just is, and the odds of this team really looking rocky in December and being a panic-trade candidate, I would think they're one of my No. 1's.”

Simmons also pointed to the Lakers’ failure to improve on last year’s 47-35 roster coupled with LeBron James being another year older and breaking in a first-time head coach with zero coaching experience in J.J. Redick as things working against the team.

Bronny averaged 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.0 steals per game over the summer but really struggled with shooting the 3-ball and finding any semblance of consistency or rhythm.

He was benched for the final two Summer League games, with the Lakers seemingly seeing all they needed from the polarizing rookie, who will likely start the season in the G League while he fine-tunes his game.

Related: College Coach Makes Harsh Statement About Bronny James’ Skill Level