Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game left fans largely disappointed after the new format turned out to be a huge bust, with everyone from Stephen A. Smith to the casual basketball viewer ripping the uninspiring four-team tournament.
To make matters worse, one of the league’s biggest superstars in LeBron James decided to sit out of the game last-minute due to ankle and foot discomfort, announcing his intention to skip the All-Star festivities just hours before tipoff.
In light of the drama surrounding James, former NBA veteran Chandler Parsons sent a harsh message to the Los Angeles Lakers star and took a not-so-subtle shot at James’s son, Bronny.
“Here’s the problem I have—we’re talking about this in particular with LeBron James not wanting to play against Rising Stars," Parsons said on FanDuel’s Run It Back show. "All these other NBA players have to play against his son because LeBron has kinda put him in that situation, who’s a rising star. So, what’s the difference now? He doesn’t want to play against the young guys.”
"The problem I have with LeBron James not wanting to play against the Rising Stars is all these other NBA players have to play against his son...
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 17, 2025
Would he have played if Bronny James was a Rising Star?"@ChandlerParsons doesn't mince words on Lebron's Sunday night sit out 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/vTwOL2eji6
The show’s co-host, Michelle Beadle, echoed Parsons’s sentiment and added that James dropping out of the game with virtually no notice robbed another deserving player of a spot on the All-Star roster.
“Chandler is saying that the league and the players in the league have basically been forced to indulge LeBron’s family dream and to have Bronny be there,” Beadle said. “Which is fine, we’ve accepted it, it is what it is. But he couldn’t be bothered to give anybody a heads-up notice more than 30 minutes before the game starts.”
James was slated to play alongside fellow marquee stars Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on Team Shaq before his sudden drop-out, which snapped the 40-year-old’s streak of 20 straight career All-Star Game appearances.
James’s eldest son, Bronny, was drafted by the Lakers with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA draft and has since received his fair share of criticism for essentially leapfrogging his way into the league due to nepotism.
Parsons ended his brutally honest rant with a simple question: “Would [LeBron] have played if they put Bronny James in the game?”
Definitely some food for thought there.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ex-NBA Veteran Takes Shot at Bronny James After LeBron James Sat Out of All-Star Game.
