LeBron James rips Bronny NBA mock draft talk: ‘Let the kid be a kid’
LeBron James sounded off on Monday afternoon about the endless mock drafts over where his son, Bronny James, a freshman at USC, may end up being selected in a future NBA Draft.
The post that set the elder James off was on X from basketball news aggregator “NBACentral” about a report that Bronny had been removed from ESPN’s 2024 NBA mock draft and that he was now projected to be picked in 2025.
“Can yall please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball,” the Lakers star posted. “The work and results will ultimately do the talking no matter what he decides to do. If y’all don’t know he doesn’t care what a mock draft says, he just WORKS! Earned Not Given!”
Bronny James has fallen out of the 2024 NBA mock drafts, prompting dad LeBron to go off on the system.Getty Images
James didn’t stop there, continuing to blast the mock drafts and their importance.
“And to all the other kids out there striving to be great just keep your head down, blinders on and keep grinding,” he continued. “These Mock Drafts doesn’t matter one bit! I promise you! Only the WORK MATTERS!! Let’s talk REAL BASKETBALL PEOPLE!”
Interestingly enough, there appeared to be more to the story with the draft projections than the aggregation implied by the post on X.
LeBron James leads hid family through massive student filled crowd as they watched Bronny James’ first college basketball game.Brian Prahl / SplashNews.com
ESPN NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony responded on social media to On3, which also implied that Bronny had been removed from the 2024 mock draft, to correct the record of what had been put out there.
“I know that accuracy isn’t a big thing for you guys, but he hasn’t been on the 2024 mock draft since his heart issue in July,” Givony posted.
On3 corrected its story and social media post, but NBACentral’s post remains on X.
Bronny is projected to be picked at No. 39 in 2025, according to The World Wide Leader in Sports.
Bronny has drawn plenty of attention as the eldest child of LeBron James and a highly touted prospect coming out of high school
He is in his first season at USC and made headlines across the world after suffering cardiac arrest over the summer while he was working at the Galen Center on July 24.
Since suiting up following the health scare, Bronny has been averaging 5.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
Bronny James #6 of the West team talks to Lebron James at the 2023 McDonald’s High School Boys All-American Game.Getty Images
James has stated in the past his desire to play with his son in the NBA before he walked away from the game, which has brought added intrigue to Bronny’s time playing college ball and the prognostications over when he’d be selected in the NBA Draft.
