While many basketball fans are disgusted at the obvious nepotism benefitting Bronny James in Los Angeles, former Detroit Piston John Salley is all for it.
In fact, he thinks the haters are just upset that they didn’t know to do it themselves!
“I love that Bronny got drafted to the Lakers,” Salley told TMZ Sports, adding that critics of LeBron and his son are probably just “mad they didn’t think of it or do it” themselves.
“Listen. If my dad had the power, if my dad was the leading scorer, if my dad was able to take a pay cut so I could get a check,” he added. “It’s like no other business.”
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Great Move To Draft Bronny James?
The four-time NBA champion also suggested that if Bronny James never plays a minute, the Lakers drafting him was worth it because it’s a memory LeBron and he can cherish forever.
“We don’t know” if he’ll get significant playing time, Salley said. “It don’t make a difference if he plays. He’s on the team. He’s one of the 12.”
Many have criticized the Los Angeles Lakers for picking James in the NBA draft when nobody else was going to. They gave him a 4-year, $7.9 million guaranteed contract after averaging just 4.8 points per game in college to boot.
All of it was a blatant attempt to keep LeBron from going elsewhere.
“Even if he doesn’t pan out, he would have the experience of playing with his dad,” Salley added.
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Just A Bad Take
It’s difficult to ascertain which part of Salley’s take on the Bronny James situation is worse. The ‘haters are just mad’ part, or the ‘at least they get some father-son time’ part.
Yea, fans probably didn’t “do it” themselves because there aren’t a whole lot who happen to be the son of an all-time NBA player.
Marcus and Jeff Jordan didn’t get drafted by the Chicago Bulls just to make Michael happy, and Marcus Jordan averaged nearly triple what Bronny did in college when he played for UCF.
So, there’s only so many people who could have tried doing this.
As for the latter part, I’m not sure when the Los Angeles Lakers started doing ‘take your kids to work day’ but it shouldn’t result in a lost draft pick, a wasted roster spot, and nearly $8 million in guaranteed money. Those are resources better utilized for an actual NBA-capable player.
Good for the James family. They get to bond.
Maybe it would have been better if LeBron went and played with Bronny at USC instead. Surely he has some eligibility available having never played college ball.
Instead, they’re dragging a once-storied franchise down into irrelevance.
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