Despite being the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Bronny James has easily garnered the most media attention of any player in his draft class. His status as the son of LeBron James is a major contributor to the coverage he receives. However, his name receives far more airtime on television than minutes achieved in his career thus far.
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Bronny suffered an injury that put him out indefinitely. Over the past few days, rumors have begun to circulate that the Lakers rookie is faking it.
Claim: Bronny James is faking an injury to avoid playing in the G-League
On November 7, the Lakers announced they would be assigning Bronny to join their G-League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. The decision didn’t surprise people as Lakers coach, JJ Redick, revealed ahead of the season the team’s intention of using the G-League for Bronny’s development. However, the reception of the public took a turn when news broke that Bronny wouldn’t play G-League away games.
Following Bronny’s second G-League game against the Stockton Kings on November 17, the team placed him on the injury report. The cause of his injury has not been made public knowledge yet. But the 20-year-old guard is suffering from a left heel contusion, according to the official report.
Furthermore, there isn’t a return timeline for Bronny at the moment, which has raised questions. Social media pages have begun spreading rumors that Bronny is faking the injury. The main reason for these claims is that he wants to avoid playing in the G-League and embarrassing his father. Another claim that has surfaced is that the youngster wanted to avoid growing media scrutiny.
Verdict:
The claims that Bronny is faking injury are empty. There is not proof to support the fact that either he or the Lakers are faking his heel contusion. It is a genuine injury that is keeping the rookie off the court.
Social media pages and fans are jumping to conclusions and sharing false claims. Fans on Twitter and YouTube in particular are mainly responsible for this rumor popping up.
Origin of the claims:
These claims have mainly originated on YouTube and Twitter. In a video uploaded on November 24, A YouTube channel titled ‘Kinubi Hoop Pro’ claimed that, “Bronny is faking an injury to spare his dad from embarrassment.” Instead of using evidence related to the rookie’s situation, they used past examples of other players faking injuries.
They didn’t reach too many fans, and so the damage of the claim was minimal, with slightly more than 1500 views. However, popular basketball YouTuber ‘Awful Coaching’ added to the claim, and elevated the severity of the situation.
On November 26, ‘Awful Coaching’ posted a video titled ‘Bronny James is faking an injury to avoid playing basketball.’ In this video, he highlights Bronny’s healthy play in his most recent G-League game. He focused on the fact that the Lakers rookie looked completely fit while playing.
Regardless of his stance, there isn’t any medical proof that supports this claim. Players experience a boost of adrenaline during games, which can mask the feeling of pain even if they are injured.
Bronny has nothing to gain from being absent from the basketball court. He needs all the time he can get to further develop his game. No evidence or logic is supporting the claim that the Lakers rookie is faking his injury.
