Bronny James has not had much love from scouts, and as he struggles in the NBA Summer League, those doubts seem realistic.
However, one person close to James and his father, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, isn’t throwing in the towel just yet.
In fact, Chris Brickley thinks Bronny fits right in with the big boys.
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Bronny James Jr. #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots a foul shot against the Sacramento Kings during the second half of the 2024 California Classic summer league game at Chase Center on July 06, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Brickley, a famed basketball trainer/influencer who runs the BlackOps Basketball program, hosted the father-son duo at his gym in the Summit apartment building in Manhattan before the draft. It was hardly their first interraction — in fact, LeBron has been training with Brickley for several years.
And from what Brickley sees, he’s confident James will be just fine.
“I think he’s an NBA player. I think he’s athletic enough. I think he can shoot it well enough,” Brickley said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
“I’ve seen him work out twice. He shot it as well as a majority of NBA players shoot it. He handles it the same way, as far as ballhandling, NBA players do. His IQ’s very good. I think he’ll have a long NBA career. I truly, truly believe that.”
Brickley says he “understand[s]” the narrative about his father being heavily involved in his draft selection, but there is a bigger picture to look at.
Bronny James Jr. #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the Sacramento Kings during the first half of the 2024 California Classic summer league game at Chase Center on July 06, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
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“At the end of the day, he’s an NBA player, and that’s all that matters. We’ve never seen a father and a son be on the same team, so there’s definitely gonna be criticism, but that’s life,” he says.
Brickley also said the 19-year-old’s cardiac arrest last summer had a “huge” stunt on his growth.
“Imagine going through that, and then having to play a season, being LeBron’s son. It’s almost like you should wipe that out, that freshman year, those numbers, those stats,” Brickley says (James averaged less than five points per game, starting six of 21 games).
Bronny himself believed that to be the case, telling media after he was drafted he felt he didn’t have an “opportunity” to truly showcase what he could do.
But if there’s one thing Bronny is a true professional at, it’s dealing with that negative talk.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James Jr. (9) reacts after being called for a foul against the Sacramento Kings during the second quarter at Chase Center. (Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports)
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“I think it’s crazy — any time I turn on my social media, there’s someone talking negatively about him, so all the props to Bronny about that,” said Brickley.
James is averaging 5.0 points in the summer league thus far.
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