NBA superstar LeBron James has been very open about his desire to play professionally with his son Lebron “Bronny” James, Jr. As Bronny advanced through high school and college, that dream became more of a reality. However, that meant fans and trolls put a laser focus on the young player’s game, nitpicking every shot and pass, while also calling him a “nepo baby” who’s only made it this far because of his name.
On Sunday, all that talk came to head when LeBron and Bronny finally played together during the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason match up against the Phoenix Suns. Though the Lakers lost 118-114, the family moment was social media’s focus from the game.
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One person marked the milestone by encouraging the senior James to call it a career, writing on X, “Alright. They’ve now played together. Time to retire.”
One basketball fan is already done with this story, posting, “God. Can we mute this LeBron and son stuff for a whole season? Going to be a loooong year of it.”
Another user definitely has thoughts on the younger James’ game and how he got his job, writing on X, “Lebron is my goat but him forcing the lakers to draft bronny is such a joke. He isn’t an nba talent and it shows every game.”
Someone else wondered if people were still pretending to be mad about Bronny being drafted, posting, “y’all still fake outraged that bronny james is in the nba? Lol.”
In the comments to ESPN’s YouTube video of the moment, someone got very shady about the game’s outcome, replying, “They just experienced their first blowout together, and that’s unique!”
Meanwhile, Bronny can’t shake criticisms that LeBron’s been opening doors for him, writing, “It’s not hate to say that Bronny would not be in the league if it weren’t for LeBron. He wouldn’t even have been to a D1 college.”
Nepotism in sports isn’t new. The idea that LeBron may have helped out his son isn’t Earth-shattering. However, at the end of the day, Bronny will have to prove himself on the court. If he’s not contributing, or possibly making the team worse, there’s only so much his father can do on his behalf.
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