An anonymous NBA Summer League player says Bronny James caused “tension” among Lakers G League players.
The player said Bronny received special treatment because he’s LeBron James’ son.
The Lakers selected Bronny with the No. 55 pick in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft. The 19-year-old guard started for the Lakers G League team, despite not starting in high school or at USC.
The G League player told The Sun that Bronny’s presence caused “tension” among teammates because he received special treatment.
He said the spotlight on Bronny took away opportunities for other players.
“I ended up being very frustrated because I was never put in the best situation, or even put in some plays or game plans because they wanted Bronny to show his skills and shine,” the anonymous player said.
He continued: “If you talk to any other player that was part of the roster of the California Classic and the Summer League, most of them would tell you the same thing. The tensions were visible, and pretty much we were all thinking about the end of the Summer League to get out of here and focus on our next step in our careers.”
The player told The Sun that the attention Bronny received was “very frustrating” for other players.
“And with dealing with Bronny’s attention and treatment, plenty of the other young guys that are trying to make the roster for next season couldn’t show their best side and show their A game. Almost everything centered around Bronny… He was treated as someone apart, not like all of us, and that is very annoying as we didn’t feel any chemistry in this group of players.”
The player concluded: Bronny is not ready for all this, and he isn’t ready for the NBA in my opinion.”
Bronny’s Summer League play was underwhelming. He averaged 8.8 points over the 4 games he played.