On Monday ESPN released a new 2024 NBA mock draft that made waves because it no longer contained Bronny James. Up to this point the eldest son of LeBron James had been included in pretty much every iteration of 2024 mock drafts, with various projections putting him as high as the lottery and as low as deep in the second round. However, with Bronny's heart condition interrupting the start of his freshman year at USC and his below-average play and stats since he got back on the court, the Worldwide Leader is now predicting that he'll stay at school another year to work on his game.
This should not come as terribly shocking to anyone who has been paying attention. The consensus on Bronny for the last year has been that he has NBA-level athleticism but his other skills need seasoning before they are ready for the professional level. However, any percevied slight at the James clan is going to be used for engagement fodder and the infamous basketball aggregation accounts we all know and hate blasted to the world that ESPN doesn't think Bronny would get drafted in 2024. Which is technically a true angle of the situation but twisted in such a way to maximize outrage.
These are classic tactics. And it worked to perfection because LeBron himself responded, requesting the media let his son enjoy playing college basketball without any additional noise. He has since deleted the tweet.
This sentiment has put LeBron in the crosshairs and it was a matter of much discussion on Tuesday's edition of First Take. It was pointed out by Shannon Sharpe that LeBron himself is not really helping matters on this front because less than a year ago he tweeted out that he thinks Bronny is better than multiple current NBA players. Which led Sharpe to compare LeBron to LaVar Ball, who said his son Lonzo was better than Stephen Curry in the lead-up to his draft, effectively communicating his point that LeBron can't ask for the attention to go away when he has played no small role in dragging it in Bronny's direction.
This is the most salient point of the discourse and, frankly, the only needed one. There are many speaking out today who believe this to be a referendum on LeBron's parenting style or whatever and we can relax about that. Nobody On Here is qualified to pass judgement on him as a father.
And it is truly Dad energy to believe his son is better than professional basketball players, tell everyone, and then complain when the attention turns a different direction. LeBron can't help himself. He's human. It doesn't make him immune from criticism, though. And it is indeed an interesting strategy to give more attention to the negative narrative in an attempt to stem the tide when the vast majority of his 52 million Twitter followers were not aware ESPN had another mock draft out at all, much less had Bronny staying at school for another year. On the other hand, can you blame him when all the replies to the base tweet were bashing a 19-year-old kid? His 19-year-old kid?
LeBron has played out his entire life under the spotlight and we're now getting to the stage where the same thing is happening with his parenting. All we the people can do is hold on for the ride.
