{"id":78228,"date":"2024-05-21T04:57:47","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T08:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=78228"},"modified":"2024-05-21T04:58:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T08:58:08","slug":"2024-nba-draft-bronny-james-reveals-reason-for-going-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/21\/2024-nba-draft-bronny-james-reveals-reason-for-going-pro\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 NBA Draft: Bronny James Reveals Reason for Going Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Despite an unsuccessful freshman campaign, USC wing Bronny James declared for the 2024 NBA Draft anyways. At the time, he left the door open for a return to college, as well as a potential transfer. However, in an interview with Big Ten basketball analyst Robbie Hummel on SiriusXM NBA Radio, James confirms that he\u2019ll be staying in draft.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI always want to end up where I\u2019m happy most,\u201d James says.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">&#8220;It&#8217;s tough. A lot of criticism gets thrown my way&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udd0aBronny James explains what it&#8217;s like being the son of an all-time great<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RobbieHummel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@RobbieHummel<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BronnyJamesJr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@BronnyJamesJr<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DOsUpLSaIa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/DOsUpLSaIa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SiriusXMNBA\/status\/1792654026246685063?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom has always told me, \u2018(Go) where my heart wants me to be.\u2019 And I just found happiness in what I\u2019m doing right now and I feel like (the NBA\u2019s) where I want myself to be at.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Bronny James Reveals Reason for Going Pro<\/h2>\n<p>James\u2019 decision to play basketball wasn\u2019t predetermined. The gravity of his father\u2019s greatness undoubtedly pulled him towards that ridged orange moon, but his parents didn\u2019t force him to play. Early in his life, James even had an interest in soccer, the world\u2019s most popular sport.<\/p>\n<p>However, once he realized basketball was his \u201ccup of tea,\u201d there was no way he\u2019d be able to escape the LeBron comparisons. This is a part of his journey that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/20\/bronny-james-lays-bear-realities-being-lebrons-son\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">he admits has been tough<\/a>, as he hears a constant stream of criticism. Never mind that James\u2019 first two years of high school, and thus his development, were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Forget that James suffered sudden cardiac arrest just ahead of the 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n<p>No, James has one bar to meet; one reminiscent of a highly popular rap bar. He has to \u2018do right and kill everything.\u2019 Anything less than that and the wolves are at his front door.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for James, he\u2019s not a player that\u2019ll try to put a team on his back. That\u2019s the type of prospect that people want him to be. Yet, James wants to be the guy who impacts a game with his defense, passing, and basketball IQ. His focus isn\u2019t and has never been on scoring.<\/p>\n<p>Frankly, that\u2019s the type of mindset one should expect from one of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a>\u2019s sons. For them to play \u2018the right way,\u2019 an idiom that LeBron himself made popular.<\/p>\n<h3>It\u2019s All About Him<\/h3>\n<p>Bronny may not always have been happy about the path he chose. There are sure to have been some dark days with so many people doubting him or wanting him to fail. There will be even more ahead thanks to social media\u2019s troll culture. However, the fact that he feels like he made the correct choice by declaring for the draft means that he truly believes in his potential.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody has said it yet, but that\u2019s really all that matters.<\/p>\n<p>Not what the media, scouts, or executives think, as each of those parties has missed the mark before. The fact that players like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brunsja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Brunson<\/a> were second-round picks is evidence of that.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Fun fact: The two leading scorers this postseason were second round picks. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BiZfDA2Fri\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/BiZfDA2Fri<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/statmuse\/status\/1791513762043957732?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Though they provide him with a tremendous support system, even what his family and friends think of his potential is irrelevant. Bronny\u2019s self-confidence, self-assurance, and determination are going to be the three biggest determinants of his success.<\/p>\n<p>When times get rough or he needs training, he\u2019ll undoubtedly lean on them. However, they can\u2019t play for him. They can\u2019t train for him. They can\u2019t believe in him for him. He\u2019ll have to do all that for himself.<\/p>\n<p>That said, while every player might have a ceiling, those that put in the work usually exceed expectations. Now that he\u2019s in the place where he feels like he belongs, it\u2019s Bronny\u2019s turn to do the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite an unsuccessful freshman campaign, USC wing Bronny James declared for the 2024 NBA Draft anyways. At the time, he left the door open for a return to college, as well as a potential transfer. However, in an interview with Big Ten basketball analyst Robbie Hummel on SiriusXM NBA Radio, James confirms that he\u2019ll be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":78229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[556,1608,26,62,3],"tags":[4572,38,98],"class_list":["post-78228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba-draft","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-bronny-james","tag-lebron-james","tag-nba-draft"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}