Plenty of people were upset when the Los Angeles Lakers took Bronny James, the son of LeBron James, with the No. 55 pick in last year's NBA draft. Many felt the elder James had steered the younger James into the NBA and onto the Lakers despite a weak 2023-24 season at the University of Southern California.
But that skepticism and anger have slowly subsided over the last few months. The younger James played well in the G League, even though he didn't stay there consistently, and he averaged 21.9 points, 5.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.