The Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to keep Bronny James in the NBA when the team’s G-League affiliate is on the road is not sitting well with Inside the NBA’s Charles Barkley.
“It looks bad for the Lakers,” the 61-year-old NBA legend told “The Bettor Angle” podcast about LA’s handling of LeBron James’ eldest son. “The kid isn’t ready to play in the NBA yet. He should be in the G-League so he can play basketball.”
Bronny’s move to the pros, taken in the second round of June’s NBA Draft, was met with much skepticism after his truncated college career at USC and unimpressive performances at pre-draft combines. And given his inexperience, the 6-foot-1 combo guard seemed like a good candidate to spend much of his rookie year with the G League’s South Bay Lakers in El Segundo.
But in a strange move, the Lakers have opted to keep Bronny in the NBA when South Bay hits the road, depriving the raw prospect of much-needed playing time.
“And also this thing where he’s only going to play home games,” Barkley said of Bronny. ‘It’s stupid, it’s not fair to him. It’s not fair to the team. Can you imagine the coach of that team? You’re coming off a road trip and you have a player you haven’t seen in a week or two. And then you probably feel like you have to play it.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to keep Bronny James in the NBA when the team’s G-League affiliate is on the road isn’t sitting well with Inside the NBA’s Charles Barkley
LeBron James pats Bronny on the head after an Oct. 22 match at Crypto.com Arena
“I don’t think they’re doing Bronny any favors. They just handled this case very poorly. Things are looking bad for the Lakers. I really love everything LeBron has done. But things look bad for him [too]in my opinion.’
Bronny is averaging 5 points and 3 assists in 28.5 minutes over two G League games. At the NBA level, he is averaging 0.7 points per game in 2.3 minutes of action in six appearances.
Barkley isn’t the only one criticizing the Lakers for this move. ESPN’s Ryan Clark, a former NFL player, also found it distasteful.
“What did Bronny earn?” Clark asked on X. “He should want to prove himself to his teammates, his organization. More importantly, prove to himself that he belongs!”
Clark’s criticism stands in contrast to some of his ESPN colleagues, who have dismissed Bronny’s move to the Lakers as simple nepotism and not something that should be banned.
“People talk about nepotism,” then-ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said after Bronny was picked by the Lakers. “The NBA is full of nepotism. The ownership level, front offices, coaching. Suddenly I don’t want to hear about it anymore because Bronny James’ dad plays for the Lakers. It’s prevalent in this league.”
Another ESPN analyst, Jay Williams, made a similar point.
“Don’t we need more examples of black nepotism?” Williams asked. “Especially if that person has the attitude and behavior of someone worthy of being put in that position.”
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) warms up before a game
ESPN may change its tune on Bronny next season, when Barkley’s TNT-produced Inside the NBA will air on the Worldwide Leader.
Fans were happy to hear that the once-doomed show will continue next season on ESPN, when the Warner Bros. cable network. Discovery will lose domestic media rights to the competition.
The news had many wondering if Stephen A. Smith would add a new role with Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson, but ESPN president Burke Magnus dismissed that idea in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
The bottom line is that Inside the NBA will remain TNT’s show and is unlikely to feature ESPN talent even if the program airs on the cable giant.
Whether this means Barkley is allowed to express his sometimes controversial opinions remains a mystery. Barkley, a longtime critic of ESPN, joked with his on-air partner Kenny Smith that the pair should “go back to kissing butts” if they switch networks.
Barkley famously kissed the back of a donkey after losing an on-air bet to Smith years earlier.