A massive storyline that has plagued NBA headlines this year has been the criticism of young Bronny James, the son of LeBron James. The 20-year-old guard was selected 55th overall in the 2024 NBA draft but has been covered by major sports media as if he was the first overall. WNBA’s Lexie Brown doesn’t understand it and pointed to coverage of Shedeur and Deion Sanders being entirely different as a reason for the media’s hypocrisy.
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Bronny’s entrance into the league was always met with one word: nepotism. His arrival to the Lakers, his first minutes played, they were all under the shadow that he was LeBron’s son, a fact many pointed to when they tarnished the young man’s reputation.
Bronny has done well in the G-League, averaging 20.6 points and 5.3 assists. Unfortunately, those stats tend to be forgotten about due to who his father is.
This was a point that Brown touched on during a recent appearance on the Gil’s Arena podcast. The Seattle Storm star was curious why Shedeur and Deion were talked about in such a positive manner and only focused on the negative with Bron and Bronny. “The conversation is entirely different,” Storm stated. “And I don’t understand why.”
“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
A prime example of this hypocrisy is Stephen A. Smith. The famed analyst hasn’t been shy of pointing to LeBron’s nepotism as the main reason his son is as involved with the Lakers as he has been. But SAS’s own words tell a different story considering he said the complete opposite about the Sanders family.
“Why are we having this conversation about his character?” asked SAS regarding Shedeur on First Take. “I’ll tell you why, because you’ve got people hating on his daddy and they want any excuse they can come up with. Since you couldn’t touch him, now you’re trying to touch his son. This is low.”
The difference in energy when it comes to his takes on the Sanders family compared to the James clan is stark. It goes to show how negative the coverage revolving around the latter is.
But what did Smith say about Bronny?
This was drastically different than what SAS famously said on First Take regarding LeBron and Bronny.
“I am pleading with LeBron James as a father, stop this,” Smith said. “Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.” The infamous statement came back to bite SAS, as LeBron publicly confronted him about it after the Lakers beat the Knicks in LA.
In all fairness to Shedeur, Bronny and him are incomparable aside from the fact that they play two entirely different sports. Shedeur is a top 5 prospect, a ranking that will most likely be confirmed in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Meanwhile, Bronny was never elevated to that same pedestal. He’s a baller with potential, whose draft selection reflects that. But because he’s LeBron’s son he gets a target painted on his back by the media. Many sane voices, including Arenas, have publicly defended Bronny and commended his skill for where he’s at in his career.
Unfortunately, casual basketball fans only listen to voices like SAS or Skip Bayless, who will use Bronny as additional ammunition in their war against LeBron. The media hazing will continue, but hopefully, in time, the narrative will shift to a more fair and positive perspective.
