Gilbert Arenas has been one of Bronny James’ staunchest supporters all throughout his highly criticized rookie campaign. Despite an intense media campaign focused on whether Bronny deserved his roster spot or not, Arenas has steadily maintained that Bronny is as talented as the other rookies, and has openly criticized NBA media for how they treat the 20-year-old.
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After dropping a career-high 17-3-5 last night, Bronny has managed to silence some of the criticisms about him. Arenas, however, believes that the silence from the media doesn’t come from a place of respect for the rookie’s talent. He thinks the media’s silence is a sign of hypocrisy from them, and that they constantly shift the goalposts when talking about him.
On Gil’s Arena, he called out the media’s biased coverage of James Jr. and claimed that the media would always find a way to twist the narrative around him.
His best example? When people originally said Bronny wasn’t even good enough for the G-League. He’s shut his haters up, and over 9 games for the South Bay Lakers, has averaged 20-5-5.
Gil called the media out for it, and said, “They’re proving it with his G-League play. There was a narrative, that he’s not even good enough for the G-League, and then he started dominating, and they’re quiet.”
“There was a narrative that he’s not even good enough for the G League, then he started dominating, and now they’re quiet.”
Gil calls out the media’s hypocrisy when it comes to Bronny coverage. pic.twitter.com/e9Om8SKZWL
— Gil’s Arena (@GilsArenaShow) March 21, 2025
Last night’s outing against the Bucks was just another example. The shorthanded Lakers hosted Milwaukee on the second night of a back-to-back, and James got his most significant NBA action yet. In 30 minutes, the USC alum put up 17 points on 70% shooting from the field.
Of course, he has found a way to ignore the hate as best he can. In an interview with The Athletic’s Joe Vardon, Bronny James revealed that the hate does actually affect him.
He revealed that, like every elite athlete, he’s found a way to turn that vitriolic hate into motivation. Motivation to do better, and keep improving. “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,” he said.
