Comparing Bronny’s Chasedown Block to LeBron James’ Iconic Open Floor Rejection

Bronny James made his highly anticipated debut for the Lakers in the preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 19-year-old hit the ground running and showed hints of his father’s game in some of the plays he made while he was on the floor. Within the first few minutes of his time on the court, Bronny executed a brilliant chase-down block.

The Lakers rookie gave everyone watching a flashback of his father’s iconic move. LeBron James is known for his chase-down blocks and has executed them to perfection on many occasions.

LBJ’s most memorable chase-down block was the one against Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. The visuals of the block alongside Mike Breen’s commentary of ‘Blocked by James‘ still reverberate in the memories of fans.

Now let’s see what similarities, if any, there are between the two plays.

At the beginning of the second quarter, 26-year-old Wolves guard, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, charged to the basket for a euro step layup. Meanwhile, Bronny came chasing down from the key and leaped to block the layup. He was successful in rejecting the lay-up attempt.

However, Wolves’ Luka Garza immediately picked up the ball after it bounced off the glass and earned the points for his team.

If we take a look at the technique used by Bronny, the 19-year-old had the same idea as his old man, but lacked the execution. Bronny’s footwork was poor as he was taking small steps and didn’t leap high enough to put an end to the play.

He also didn’t time his jump well, which made the attempt ineffective. However, it was a good enough attempt, considering it’s his first block in the major league.

Comparing his skills, footwork, and technique to LeBron would be unfair. If we take LeBron’s 2016 Finals block for example, there were so many layers that make it one of the most clutch defensive plays ever. With the series tied at 3-3 and the game tied at 89, Andre Iguodala took a bounce pass from Stephen Curry and went for a layup.

That would have put his team in the lead with less than two minutes to go in the game. But LeBron had other plans as he chased down Iguodala, smacked the ball against the backboard, and won it back for his team. Although it wasn’t the final play of the game, LeBron’s block guaranteed the win for the Cavaliers.