Bronny James’ being drafted to the NBA as the No. 55 pick of last year’s draft, has created a never-ending wave of criticism towards the youngster, suggesting he’s not worthy of the opportunity and has been favoured by nepotism at his father’s expense.
Despite a slow start to his NBA career, the 20-year-old has showed a lot of improvement in recent weeks. In a recent interview with The Athletic, the rookie opened up about enduring his first regular season, and how he’s dealt with critics.
One of the most delicate topics surfaced after reporter Joe Varden mentioned the face-to-face confrontation between LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith, who has been outspoken about Bronny’s poor beginning in the league.
“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,” the rookie said. “But sometimes it just, it fuels me a little bit.”
James Jr. then added: “I see everything that people are saying, and people think, like, I’m a f—— 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.”
Bronny’s improvement was evident recently when he competed in 16 minutes against the Nuggets, during a game that both LeBron and Luka Doncic were out. Even though he only dropped in 1-of-5 shots, he hit a clutch three-pointer and an impactful steal during the match.
In recent weeks, Lakers’ coach JJ Redick has praised his playmaking, and GM Rob Pelinka his work ethic. “I definitely think I’ve improved, not only as a player, but just having a different mindset as a player to go out and play my game and play the game that I know how to play,” Bronny expressed.
When he hasn’t been playing in the NBA, he’s been sent to participate in the G-League. With the South Bay Lakers, the rookie has been averaging 17.4 points a game, despite shooting just 31% from beyond the arc.
