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LeBron James rushed to his “nephew” Zaire Wade‘s defense when Internet trolls mocked the 19-year-old after he was drafted by a G-league basketball team.

Zaire, eldest son of former NBA star Dwyane Wade, signed a player contract with the G-league’s Salt Lake City Stars, an affiliate of the Utah Jazz two weeks ago.

As soon as the news broke, critics descended on social media and blogs to diss the teenager who has struggled to fill his father’s shoes.

LeBron, whose Lakers are 1-2, defended the youngster in social media posts over the weekend. LeBron is sick and tired of broke people bullying Zaire.

“Proud of you nephew!!! Keep going and F the haters!! They ain’t [shit] anyway,” he wrote.

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Instagram

LeBron also left a comment under an Instagram post about Bill Belichick‘s son being a coach for the New England Patriots.

LeBron wrote:

“FACTS!!!. I’m so sick of people and their opinions on shit that ain’t got nothing to do with them!!”

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Instagram
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Instagram

Zaire attended Brewster Academy in New Hampshire after playing basketball for high school powerhouse Sierra Canyon in California, alongside LeBron’s son, Bronny James.

Zaire decided to skip college to realize his dream to follow in his dad’s footsteps into the NBA.

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However, critics argued that Zaire is not his dad. They claim he is just not good enough — even for the G-league — and that he should go to college, like his father did, to gain more experience.

Eureweb.com writes:

“Not for nothing? Not for NOTHING at all, but Zaire could stand to play collegiate basketball for two more years. He isn’t particularly great at anything. Is he a good basketball player? I mean, yeah. He can shoot, sometimes. He can get to the basket, sometimes. He can score with a hand in his face, sometimes. Has shown the ability to play above the rim, sometimes.”

Question: Do you think people are being too hard on Zaire?