The NBA’s worst-kept secret became a reality on June 27. That was the second day (second round) of the 2024 NBA Draft. With the 55th overall pick, the Los Angeles Lakers selected Bronny James out of USC. Bronny, of course, is the son of NBA great LeBron James. Once Bronny steps on the court with his father in a game, it will be the first time that a father-son combo has ever played together.
In the months since, there has been much debate about the Lakers selecting him. There are some that believe it’s an awesome moment in sports. Others are crying out nepotism and pointing out his rather pedestrian numbers from his one season with the Trojans.
A former NBA player spoke on Bronny with Swish Cultures on YouTube, comparing him to a player that played in the 2000s.
Kwame Brown Calls Bronny ‘Poor-Man’s’ Version Of Former Guard
Juan Dixon Was A Former Teammate Of Kwame’s
Kwame Brown is known as one of the all-time busts in NBA history. While Brown played 12 seasons in the league, he came nowhere close to the expectations that come with being the first overall pick, as he was in 2001. He has established himself as a YouTube personality though with his page Kwame Brown Bust Life, which has 438K subscribers as of this writing.
Speaking on another YouTube channel, Swish Cultures, the 42-year-old Brown had this to say about Bronny.
“But I see a guy who’s athletic that needs to learn how to cut and slash more until he gets more comfortable with shooting. If he doesn’t learn how to play the point guard, I don’t think he’s as strong as David Wesley. At his size — six-foot-one, six-foot-two — he’s the only guy that I’ve seen who could play that spot at the two. If he doesn’t learn how to bring the ball up, he’s going to be a poor man’s Juan Dixon. I think he’ll bounce around. His daddy has enough power with Klutch Sports to keep him in the league, but after that, if he doesn’t learn how to play point, he’s gonna fizzle out.”
Brown was teammates of Dixon from 2002-03 to 2004-05 with the Washington Wizards. Dixon played seven seasons in the NBA after a stellar four-year career at Maryland. Dixon was a slight combo guard (listed at six-foot-three, 164 lbs.) who wasn’t a huge assist guy. His career-best season came in 2005-06 with the Portland Trail Blazers when he averaged a career-best 12.3 points. For his career, Dixon posted averages of 8.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.
One And Done For Bronny At USC
Bronny’s one season at USC did not see much production. In 19.3 minutes per outing, he finished with averages of just 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. He didn’t score much, and he wasn’t efficient when he did attempt to score. His shooting splits on the season were .366/.267/.676.
Bronny played in six Summer League games with the Lakers in July. His best game came in his final one where he tallied 12 points on 5-11 shooting. His Summer League as a whole wasn’t very good though. He averaged 5.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists while shooting just 28.6% from the field and 10% from beyond the arc.
