OOF… that’s gonna leave a mark, Bronny James. The USC Trojans guard actually played somewhat well with seven points, four boards and five assists on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to beat Arizona State on the road.
Adding injury to the insult of an 82-67 defeat, Bronny decided to pull the classic college kid move of trying to make a cool-looking, graceful exit.
I understand the intention of what Bronny was trying to do here. I’m sure if I were in his shoes and had ups like that at his age, I’d be all about showing off my vert every chance I could get. It just went so incredibly sideways in this instance that you can’t help but laugh (as long as Bronny is OK, important caveat).
While it’s hard to give much credence to LeBron’s assertion that his son could play for the Los Angeles Lakers right now, it’s clear that Bronny is getting back on track following that scary cardiac arrest that delayed the start of his collegiate career. Not here to dwell on a young man’s mishaps in college.
The vast majority of us were complete morons at the same age, never mind having an absurdly bright spotlight on oneself as the child of the greatest basketball player of all-time.
So in the spirit of all that, let’s celebrate how Bronny is coming along in his development with some highlights from his outing against the Sun Devils.
It’s clear that Bronny is a solid individual defender, savvy distributor and brings good functional strength to the point guard position. He’ll only continue to fill out his frame. The question is if he can develop a more consistent jump shot.
If he’s able to do that, and perhaps stay at USC for one more season to keep building his game, Bronny could very well hack it in the NBA someday.
With the way LeBron is cruising in his 21st season as a pro, it’s feasible for Bronny to be a Trojan through his sophomore campaign so he’s more NBA-ready when he declares for the draft. Time will tell, but it’s one of the most low-key exciting subplots in all of sports.
