Lakers fans exploded in the Lakers sub on Reddit.com after Bronny James’s debut in the summer league’s California Classic on Saturday.
Bronny, 19, scored just 4 points in the Lakers’ 108-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
One of the Kings’ rookie players is Bronny’s former USC teammate Boogie Ellis. Boogie, 23, went undrafted despite leading USC with 17.7 points per game.
“Everybody’s trying to feed their family, so I definitely have a chip on my shoulder,” Boogie said about going undrafted.
“I believe I’m a great basketball player and I’m better than a lot the guys who were picked…”
Lakers fans expressed outrage over the team wasting a 55th draft pick on Bronny, who missed all of his free throws in his debut game.
The criticism grew so loud that his father, LeBron James, heard it all the way in Las Vegas, where he is training with Team USA.
“I don’t know if people really understand Bronny,” James told ESPN on Sunday. “He doesn’t care. I actually care a little bit. When I came in [as a rookie], I wanted people to like me, and some of the things that people were saying about me kind of bothered me early on in my career. … He doesn’t give a f—.”
LeBron continued: “He does not care about nobody. He doesn’t even listen to that stuff. He’s like the coolest. He’s like the complete opposite of his dad. His dad will say something [to address the critics]. Bro does not care. … Everything that’s being said about him, he really does not care.”
Bronny, 19, didn’t play in the Lakers’ 98-62 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. He sat on the bench with “trace swelling” in his knee.
Bronny is expected to play on Wednesday in the final California Classic game against Miami.
