The Bronny folly

CEBU, Philippines — For the pedigree that he carries, Bronny James gets more than ample media attention than that of more seasoned players. My personal take is that this young man was forced into the league because his dad wanted the novelty of having the first-ever father-son duo in the NBA play on the same team.

Perhaps several other players are more deserving of being the 55th overall pick and get a guaranteed contract valued at $7.9 million for four years.   But LeBron James holds so much influence on the LA Lakers that management simply gave in to his wishes. 

Usually, second round picks don’t get fully guaranteed deals but two-way contracts (pays less than $600k, half of the rookie minimum) which allows them to split their time between the NBA and the G-League or go overseas while the teams that drafted them retain their rights.  Bronny’s is different as his agent Rich Paul was specific that his client would not be signing a two-way contract, more likely following the dictates of LBJ.

Father and son checked into the game together in the second quarter during their season opener at the Crypto.com Arena against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the crowd welcomed them with loud cheers. 

In the six games that he played with the Lakers, Bronny submitted stats of 0.7 points, 0.2 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 0.2 steals in 2.7 minutes of play.  He’s now assigned to LAL’s G-League affiliate South Bay Lakers and played a modest game in their season opener against Salt Lake City.  He will only play in South Bay home games and thus manage his time alternating the G-League and the NBA.

Lacking in collegiate experience, this is a positive development for him as it is with the hope that Bronny will gain confidence and maturity in the minors because for the moment, he is not expected to make an impact and be a valuable contributor to the Lakers or any other team for that matter.

This Bronny folly deprived more worthy players to be on the Laker’s regular season lineup, and I am still searching for a logical justification why management did this.  Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra can never be dictated in Miami.

In 1995, the PBA had the first-ever father and son duo play for the same team when Robert Jaworski drafted his son Dodot in the second round of the PBA Draft.  They did not have the chance to play together in a game though.  It would be safe to say that Asia’s first pro basketball league had started the novelty of a father and son playing on the same team.

Playing three seasons in the PBA, the junior Jaworski had career averages of 2.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in 11 minutes of play.