The Los Angeles Lakers drafting Bronny James has been a hot topic of discussion for the past few months. The mainstream media has covered almost every aspect of the 19-year-old teaming up with his four-time NBA Champion father, LeBron James. However, Udonis Haslem recently highlighted a unique perspective on all of this.
Advertisement
On The Pat Bev Podcast, he discussed a race-related reason behind Bronny’s selection to the Los Angeles Lakers. The 44-year-old reminded people how other ethnicities historically have benefited from similar situations. But Black people haven’t been always able to capitalize on this custom.
Therefore, Haslem showed his acceptance of the move, saying,
“I don’t knock what LeBron [James] did, because as a Black man, I have been watching other nationalities and other coaches do it forever… I watch White people and I watch different nationalities give a f***ing job to their best friend’s nephew who ain’t qualified worth a f**k… So I have no problem with Bron sliding Bronny [James] in there. Now it’s on Bronny.”
Haslem then showed faith in the Lakers’ decision to draft Bronny as a second-round pick. The 3x champion believes that the franchise saw potential in the teenager and likely even put a development plan in place before selecting him. He added,
“One thing I will say about them motherf***ers is, they don’t throw s**t at the wall to see it sticks. They smart as f**k, they calculated, and they great businessmen. So, they got a plan for sure.”
His words pointed to the prevalence of nepotism culture across industries, especially in the NBA. It has often led to the preference for less deserving candidates in the past.
However, Haslem confidently believes that Bronny will be an exception. He placed his trust in the teenager’s attributes to point him out as an outlier in this trend. Interestingly, the show’s host, Patrick Beverley, shared a similar belief.
What did Beverley say about Bronny?
A few weeks back, the former Lakers guard showed an immense belief in Bronny’s ability to tackle challenges. He pointed out how the Lakers youngster has been facing obstacles since childhood. The 36-year-old praised this journey, stating,
“That man been in the spotlight since he was a kid… When you in the spotlight at that stage, you gotta take everybody’s punch from the time you start basketball to the time you finish… The complications with his heart in the beginning to go out there to compete in college, to have all that and still get drafted, that’s really impressive.”
Bronny is no stranger to the pressure pic.twitter.com/P2FJy4UU19
— Pat Bev Pod (@PatBevPod) July 20, 2024
Basketball veterans undoubtedly deem Bronny ready for the NBA. The ball is now in his court to go onto the floor and live up to these expectations. Can he do it emphatically? That’s what the fans are itching to see.
