Here's a tough take on the idea that LeBron James will play for the team that picks his son in the 2024 Rookie Draft. While everyone is celebrating how LeBron James is fighting for his son's entry to the NBA, I have to call it what it is<\/span>. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\r
A<\/span> tragedy. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
It's a tragedy for the NBA, it's a tragedy for LeBron James, it's a tragedy for Bronny James<\/span> and it's<\/span> a tragedy for<\/span> the team that actually drafts Bronny James<\/span> and sign LeBron to his final NBA contract<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
Here are the reasons: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
The NBA Draft is designed to create parity by bringing the best incoming talent to the teams that supposedly need it the most. Recently, teams have been gaming the system by tanking and that led to a stricter lottery<\/span> rules<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
A play-in team (Atlanta Hawks) has taken the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Th<\/span>is<\/span> merits an entirely different discussion altogether. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
While other teams get cunning just to get prime talent, in a league like the PBA, one team did the opposite and drafted the worst talent. Let me tell you this: when teams start drafting players for any other reason aside from talent, that team is ruined. Eventually if that trend catches on, that league will also be ruined. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
Drafting for any other reason aside from talent means it's a gimmick, and compromises the credibility of the entire league. Look at Kia Sorento in the PBA in 2014. They drafted Manny Pacquiao in the first round. That team has been a joke since then, and so is the PBA. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
Side note: Juami Tiongson was drafted after Pac<\/span>q<\/span>uiao. He was taken by Blackwater. It's ironic that he is now the star of the Kia-Terrafirma franchise.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
Back to LeBron.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
LeBron Raymone James has been a model for the league in terms of being a husband and a father. Are there any scandals involving LeBron? Any babymama or Kardashian controversy that hounded many stars in the league? <\/span>Any<\/span> domestic violence or harassment cases, or drugs and alcohol-related cases? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
It's almost like a dream for any team's public relations team. There is no \"damage control\" for LeBron on this aspect. That being said, the reign of the King is far from perfect.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
James knows how popular<\/span>, powerful<\/span> and influential he is, and many times he has leveraged on this to the point of abuse. It's an open secret that he has had coaches fired and has manipulated the front office of his teams to do his bidding. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
And now he wants to blackmail teams into drafting his son. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
So much for the GOAT debate. All Michael Jordan fans will say is that His Airness would never stoop so low. Neither of his sons went into basketball. Many think that it's a disappointment, but for me, that means Jordan did not meddle or force his decisions on his children. Sure, they'll make bad decisions like marrying your sidekick's ex-wife, but that's a<\/span> personal choice<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
I'm n<\/span>ot saying LeBron forced his children to play basketball, that was a natural inclination. However, the way he's micromanaging <\/span>Bronny's<\/span> career is rather shameful. Now, he is hinging the final step of his career on which team will play his game. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
Unlike the Philippines, the American crowd does not love \"nepo\" babies (from the word nepotism). On the contrary, many people subject them to stricter standards. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
Some nepo babies are not even on the radar. Many did not know that Kobe Bryant was the son of an NBA player. Kobe did not get any favors because of that, and he worked hard for everything he achieved. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
Does Bronny want to have that burden? Is Bronny even an NBA player? Every year it gets more difficult to enter the league as the talent level keeps rising, and the market expands. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
If t<\/span>eams draft Bronny <\/span>ahead of<\/span> someone like Zach Edey<\/span>,<\/span> t<\/span>hat's absurd. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
If a team drafts Bronny just to get the last <\/span>two <\/span>or <\/span>three<\/span> years of LeBron and that fails, everyone will blame Bronny. They will blame him because he was not good enough on his own, and Daddy Bron had to clear a path for him. In truth, he may not even want all this attention, but he had no choice.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
That's tough. That's unfair. That's a tragedy. <\/span><\/span><\/p>","article_custom_fields":"{\"\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_keywords\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_description\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_title\":[\"\"],\"sponsored_flag\":[\"\"],\"offer_flag\":[\"off\"],\"featured_article_flag\":[\"\"],\"drupal_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":null,\\\"properties\\\":{\\\"PUBLISHED\\\":0,\\\"PROMOTED\\\":0,\\\"STICKY\\\":0},\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"wp_custom_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"article_tags\":[\"\"],\"show_image\":[\"off\"],\"Disable_Ad\":[\"off\"],\"disable_player\":[\"off\"],\"column\":[\"\"],\"kicker\":[\"\"],\"edel\":[\"\"],\"delu\":[\"\"],\"delt\":[\"Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.\"],\"premium\":[\"off\"],\"Redirect_URL\":[\"\"],\"Registration_required\":[\"off\"],\"background_image\":[\"off\"],\"page_number\":\"0\",\"initial_publication\":\"\",\"date_created\":\"2024-05-17 19:36:30\",\"date_modified\":\"2024-05-17 19:40:24\",\"last_modified_user\":\"Sherwin Arnaiz\",\"section_color\":\"#08F304\",\"target_page\":\"0\",\"cxense_metatags\":null}","cms_type":"live","author_id":1000,"section_id":3,"seo_meta_keywords":"The,Bronny,James,drama,is,a,tragedy","seo_meta_description":"","seo_meta_title":"The Bronny James drama is a tragedy","publish_time":"2024-05-17 19:36:00","related_articles_ids":"","article_tags":"","sub_section_id":0,"visit_count":60,"sponsored_flag":0,"offer_flag":0,"featured_article_flag":0,"media_gallery_flag":0,"video_gallery_flag":0,"highlight_flag":0,"top_story_flag":0,"is_updated":0,"is_old_article":0,"old_article_id":0,"article_byline":"Michael Angelo B. Asis","ts":"2024-05-20 04:05:29","last_edited":"2024-05-17 19:40:24","alt_publish_time":"2024-05-17 19:38:48","image_path":"{\\\"image_path\\\":\\\"manilatimes\\\\\/uploads\\\\\/images\\\\\/2024\\\\\/05\\\\\/17\\\\\/346524.jpg\\\",\\\"cms_type\\\":\\\"live\\\",\\\"small_image\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"is_updated\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"image_cropping\\\":\\\"{\\\\\\\"original_image\\\\\\\":{\\\\\\\"image_original_width\\\\\\\":1920,\\\\\\\"image_original_height\\\\\\\":1008,\\\\\\\"icd_image_type\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"original_image\\\\\\\"},\\\\\\\"main_image\\\\\\\":{\\\\\\\"image_main_width\\\\\\\":1200,\\\\\\\"image_main_height\\\\\\\":630,\\\\\\\"icd_image_type\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"main_image\\\\\\\"}}\\\",\\\"is_copied\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"media_type\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"image_caption\\\":\\\"Michael Angelo B. Asis\\\",\\\"image_alt_text\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"image_count\\\":1}","author_name":"Michael Angelo B. Asis","section_name":"Sports","sub_section_name":"","slide_show":0,"breaking_news":0,"visit_count_update_date":"2024-05-20 04:05:29","old_cms_article_id":null,"permalink":"2024\/05\/17\/sports\/the-bronny-james-drama-is-a-tragedy\/1947188","show_image_in_thumb":0,"api_status":2,"a_custom_data":"{\"exclude_from_gallery\":null,\"lead_image_id\":null}","publication_id":2,"max_publish_time":"2024-05-17 19:38:48","page_number":"","homepage_article_flag":0,"article_shortlink":null,"cropped_image":0};
Here's a tough take on the idea that LeBron James will play for the team that picks his son in the 2024 Rookie Draft. While everyone is celebrating how LeBron James is fighting for his son's entry to the NBA, I have to call it what it is.
