Lakers' Bronny James: People Think 'I'm A F--king Robot' Amid Criticism of Rookie Year
As the son of arguably the greatest NBA player in history, Bronny James has been subjected to intense criticism and scrutiny in ways that few rookies have ever experienced.
Speaking to The Athletic's Joe Vardon, James admitted some of the criticism has gotten to him because people act like "I'm a f--king robot" about everything that's been happening:
"My first thought about everything is I always try to just let it go through one ear and out the other, put my head down and come to work and be positive every day," Bronny said. "But sometimes it just, it fuels me a little bit. I see everything that people are saying, and people think, like, I’m a f--king robot, like I don’t have any feelings or emotions.
"But I just take that and use it as fuel for me to go out, wake up every day and get to the gym early, get my extra work in, watch my extra film every day, get better every day. That’s what Rob wants me to do as a young guy, coming in, playing in the G League and learning from far on the bench watching the Lakers play."
It's widely assumed the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Bronny because his father is LeBron James.
The situation with Bronny's coverage in the media reached its apex in the Lakers' victory over the New York Knicks on March 6. During a third quarter timeout, LeBron approached ESPN's Stephen A. Smith to tell him something that was captured on camera.
The situation appeared to stem from comments Smith made on an episode of First Take in January when he said he was "pleading with LeBron James as a father" to stop forcing the Lakers to use Bronny in the NBA when he's not ready.
Bronny's camp has pushed back on the narrative that anyone forced the Lakers to draft him.
Agent Rich Paul told ESPN's Baxter Holmes that Bronny said he didn't care which team selected him when he originally declared for the draft, and "nobody pressured" Bronny to go pro when he could have remained in college for at least one more year.
There has also been discussion about how the Lakers are using him. Bronny has mostly been limited to playing home games with the South Bay Lakers in the G League.
Bronny has also been shuttling between the NBA and G League, though he isn't being used much on the main club. The 20-year-old has played a total of 98 minutes in 21 games for Los Angeles.
Things have been hit-and-miss for Bronny in the G League, but there are some encouraging signs. He is averaging 20.6 points on 36.1 percent three-point shooting with 5.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists in nine starts.
As long as Bronny can continue to get consistent playing time, he's got enough talent to become a contributing player in the NBA at some point.
