Bronny James was the 55th pick in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Even though his selection was received well by the public as it will lead to him and LeBron James being teammates, now people want to see Bronny play the game. On a recent episode of UNDISPUTED, Skip Bayless, who stated that he had high hopes for the youngster, said that he is disappointed in the way Bronny has performed so far in the Summer League.
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The FS1 host said that he understands the pressure that Bronny has on his shoulders to live up to his father’s name in the sport, but he has yet to see Bronny execute the basics of the game as well. Citing the small sample size of the three games that he has played in the Summer League, Bayless said that the 19-year-old is not playing as well as he should. He also outlined the lack of dedication he has noticed in Bronny’s game.
Bayless said, “He’s not playing as hard as I thought he was going to play. I don’t see all out from him every play. I don’t see anything on offense at all. He doesn’t initiate much at all.” While the confidence to shoot more shots is admirable, Bayless believes that he needs to work a lot on his defense.
.@RealSkipBayless believes Bronny James is not playing as hard on defense in Summer League: pic.twitter.com/y9OrforzoP
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) July 15, 2024
He recalled a quote from LeBron from his ESPN interview where he said that Bronny doesn’t care about the outside noise and simply goes back home to play video games. Bayless said that it’s a good thing to have the ability to shut down the noise, especially when you are 0 for 12 from three in the first three games, but his poor defense is something that he needs to worry about. Bayless’ co-host, Paul Pierce, also has an assessment report for the 19-year-old.
Paul Pierce believes Bronny James needs to work on his aggression
The Boston Celtics legend said that Bronny lacks confidence in his offense. This could be a result of him being in a slump in terms of his scoring, which is where Bayless’ advice to just keep shooting until he gets his rhythm will be helpful. Regardless, Bronny needs to do a lot of work on his confidence and his scoring if he wishes to get playing time with the Lakers when the next season rolls out.
Pierce said, “He needs to have more confidence in his offense. I don’t think he was aggressive enough. I don’t think he looked to take his shots…He can be that 3-and-D guy. But he has to show me a little more aggressiveness… This NBA is a make-or-miss league… If you can’t make shots, it’s gonna be tough for you to play, especially at the guard slot.” The ideal scenario for Bronny will be to soak in the words of advice he is getting from veterans and try to implement them into his game.
