My First Look At Pro Bronny

Too much has been made of Bronny James and his start to his NBA career. The issue for me is that its completely warranted, but probably not for the reasons you think. It has less to do with who his father is but with what his father has done. As a father I understand exactly what LeBron was doing when he was promoting his son. It worked perfectly for Lavar Ball and it worked perfectly for LeBron James. What they both did was guarantee opportunities for their kids on the highest level. That is more than any agent has ever done for a player. Yes agents get players in some doors but they can't guarantee a player's opportunity. These fathers did just that. So the marketing machine created by these two men worked just as it was supposed to.

With the marketing comes the scrutiny and naysayers as well as the supporters and well wishers. Many people believe Bronny has a lot of pressure to live up to his father's shoes. I can tell you this, if LeBron is as good a parent as we all think he is, there is no pressure on Bronny. If you can get any child of a star athlete to be honest, there isn't pressure on the child. Its everyone on the outside looking in that believe there is pressure. At most, its only the drive of the child that comes across as any pressure. Sometimes even close friends and family think there is more pressure than it actually is.

So my first opinion on this is using the 55th pick is not a bad move by the Lakers. If the reports are true, I dislike his agent putting out the word not to draft him. From a business standpoint, I get it, it was the perfect chess move. As a purist of the game, it rubs me the wrong way. I was always taught that if you are that good then it doesn't matter where you go.

I did watch his pre-draft combine. Of course it was a media controlled showing, so I understood that going in. He did well in the shooting portion from the three point line. Outside of that, I didn't see anything that stood out. I would have liked to see him show his IQ more. I'm willing to bet a dollar to a donut that he has one of the higher IQ's in this draft. I just didn't see it on display. I also saw that he seemed to want to fit in with the other players on the floor instead of playing at his level and letting them raise their game. What I don't know is if he has it in him to play his game and be different or just conform to what is going on with everyone else.

So far in the summer league games, he hasn't been impressive. He did have a pretty good fourth game. Outside of that he has been a steady player. I don't know his natural pace of play yet although it seems the team plays at a slightly slower pace than he does. I think I have a pretty good read on his progressions but again I think its changing from what his natural instincts are. I like his court vision and his composure. The two critiques that I have are him not being as anticipatory as I would like and he doesn't have balance on his shot. Similar to LeBron, he shoots off of his back leg. That is going to present a problem when you get tired late in the game and when the speed of the game changes like a stoppage for a free throw.

I do look forward to seeing how he grows into the game. I know he sees the game completely differently than the average fan so it will be hard for people to appreciate his ability if he doesn't score 25 points a game. My prediction is Bronny will be a solid player. Probably a 6th Man for most of his career unless he becomes a little more aggressive about making his teammates better. Either way, Bronny is in a great position to make his mark in the league.