LeBron James doesn’t want credit for the Los Angeles Lakers hiring JJ Redick or drafting Bronny James, but he’s going to get blame.
The Lakers surprised no one by using their No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft on Bronny James. The decision continues the Lakers efforts of appeasing LeBron by drafting his son and hiring his podcast co-host as their head coach, even though the four-time NBA champion hasn’t committed to playing next season with the team yet. Friday morning, FS1 Craig Carton host ripped the Lakers for letting LeBron run the organization.
“The Lakers are a clown organization that’ve been taken over by LeBron James.”
— @craigcartonlive on Bronny James being drafted pic.twitter.com/PLw6PZYvsG
— The Carton Show (@TheCartonShow) June 28, 2024
“To see that once great storied franchise become the clown show that they’ve become is really beneath the history of the franchise,” Carton said of the Lakers. “To allow LeBron James to hold the entire franchise hostage.”
It wouldn’t be so bad if the Lakers were just honest about the fact that LeBron played a role in his son getting drafted and Redick getting hired. But their attempts at tricking everyone into believing LeBron James is hands-off have backfired.
“I view this in two different ways,” Carton continued. “One, I view it as a dad, and one I view it as an NBA fan. From an NBA fan perspective, the Lakers are a joke. They’re a clown organization that have been taken over by LeBron James. From a dad perspective, I don’t hate LeBron James for wanting to get his son into the league, I’d do the same thing for my son. I do feel bad for Bronny James from this standpoint, everybody knows he’s not an NBA player right now. He knows, he’s not an NBA player right now.”
And Carton has done the same for his son by getting him an opportunity to host a radio show on WFAN. But the nepotism displayed by LeBron and the Lakers isn’t really the issue. The issue is whether this is what’s best for Bronny’s career, or is it just a way of ensuring LeBron gets to live out his dream of playing with his son in the NBA?
Bronny James is coming off one season in college basketball where he played 25 games and averaged 4.8 points. More importantly, he’s less than one year removed suffering cardiac arrest because of a congenital heart defect. From afar, it doesn’t seem like throwing him into the NBA and the spotlight alongside his father is the best next step.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com