Not that long ago, Los Angeles Lakers’ rookie guard Bronny James was a player that most basketball fans were rooting for to find success.
He was the talk of college basketball and was one of the most successful NIL athletes in the nation.
On3 had given him a shocking NIL valuation of $5.9 million and was a very popular player with the USC Trojans.
He was at that point in time the No. 1 player on the NIL Top 100.
That being said, James was a late second-round pick. Very few late second-round picks are able to come in and immediately make an impact.
The way that the media has covered James has been very unfair.
David Aldridge, a prominent NBA reporter, recently spoke out with a bold take about James.
He thinks that LeBron James’ son could have profited from playing one more year of college basketball.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people, a lot of scouts, a lot of NBA college scouts.
I think – this is David’s opinion, that doesn’t mean it’s right – that I would have liked to see Bronny go back to college this year and a place, a school where he could have been the guy.
There would have been 50 schools, 50 (Division I) schools where he could have been the guy this year and put up big numbers and learned what it was like to be the focal point of a team, a college team, a Division 1 college team.
And then you could come into the NBA on your own terms.”