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Coaches say LeBron wants his son to be treated like an ordinary recruit and they say the James family has been nothing but fantastic to deal with – “as low maintenance as a megastar can be,’’ one says. Savannah James, Bronny’s mother, takes point on most of the recruiting, though LeBron and longtime business partner, Maverick Carter, are involved and have fielded calls. Coaches believe LeBron longs for Bronny to be coached, and coached properly, and that LeBron understands where his son falls in terms of talent.
The disconnect lies in the nine words LeBron shared with The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd in February: “My last year will be played with my son.’’
“That just complicated everything,’’ a coach says. It created both a timetable and a goal. LeBron is 37, and his contract with the Lakers runs through 2023-24 (with a one-year player option) — or exactly when Bronny finishes his first year of college and becomes draft-eligible. No one thinks Bronny is a one-and-done player, nor does his current recruiting ranking project him as one. Only one college freshman selected in last year’s NBA Draft ranked below 23rd as a high school prospect — Baylor’s Jeremy Sochan, who played high school ball in Europe because of COVID.
Most coaches and scouts who spoke to The Athletic say Bronny might not be NBA-ready after two or even three years. He might develop into an NBA player, but the consensus is that it will take time. They say he needs reps against other high-caliber players to succeed, to fail, to adjust, to grow. That was how Jalen Brunson (Villanova), Corey Kispert (Gonzaga), Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Ochai Agbaji (Kansas) and many others got to the NBA, but they question whether that pathway would sit well with Bronny and his family.
“Whether he scores four points or 40, it’s going to be talked about the next morning on First Take," says one coach. “Not if your team won, but how Bronny played."
“If you play him 30 minutes and then you don’t win, what are you doing? But if you play him eight minutes and you do win, are people going to think you’re an ass— for not playing LeBron’s kid?”
College coaches often wax eloquent about their roles as paternal figures, about development, mentoring. But they are concerned primarily about winning. About keeping their jobs. And their assessment of the Bronny dilemma is cast in that light. If they thought he gave them the best chance to win, they would embrace him and all the hoopla that comes with him.
Their hesitation, if not downright reluctance, says it all.
“You have to have that conversation: Do we want this?" one coach says. “Do we want this attention? This pressure? Yeah, you’re going to sell a lot of tickets, but it’s a lot to manage.” --------
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