The second day of the 2024 NBA Draft featured a variety of selections across the league that could make an impact next season, but much of the speculation surrounded what would occur with USC guard Bronny James. Klutch Sports founder Rich Paul, who works as the agent for both Bronny James and his father, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, reportedly called teams and told them not to draft Bronny James, saying that he would play in Australia. The Lakers ended up selecting James 55th overall in the Draft, forming the first father-son duo in NBA history. Fred Toucher reacted to the draft pick and believes that Bronny James cannot play basketball.
During Friday morning’s edition of Toucher & Hardy on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Toucher played audio of Malika Andrews reacting to the pick while hosting coverage on ESPN. Toucher then spoke about how Bronny James seemed to be listed taller than he actually is on the NBA website and emphasized within the segment that he would probably not take the court alongside his father.
Co-host Rob “Hardy” Poole reflected on how the selection was presented on television from the ESPN Seaport Studios in New York City, specifically discussing how Andrews stated that seeing Bronny James selected less than a year after a congenital heart defect was something over which people should not lose sight.
“The idea that they’re trying to play off this narrative with something that is – it’s not a bad story – the fact [is] it’s LeBron James’ kid [and] he can play a little bit,” Poole said. “Horrific what happened with his heart issue and the congenital heart thing, but alright, he fixed it; he returned to the court. That’s a good enough story. To try and play it off by saying, ‘Just a year after this congenital heart [defect] and he’s drafted in the NBA,’ you see, now you’re ruining it by sprinkling it with B.S. because the only reason why he got drafted, we know, was to make his father happy.”
Although he did not mention Andrews by name, he wondered why the description she narrated on the air was delivered. In fact, he questioned the reasoning behind demonstrating deception towards what he believes to be the genuine reason Bronny James was drafted. Toucher articulated that the NBA Draft is not a random series of events; rather, there are special interests involved as well.
Poole also criticized the take from Adrian Wojnarowski not to get too concerned about nepotism in the NBA and how it happens at all levels of the game. Within his discourse, he outlined the dichotomy between giving a family member a title without any responsibilities as opposed to using one of two draft picks to select the son of a player.
“These guys really so badly don’t want to piss off Klutch Sports. ESPN, they don’t,” Toucher said. “Even Stephen A. Smith, who had been very, very critical of Bronny James after the Draft, changed his tune.”
Toucher proceeded to play audio of Smith stating that the Lakers selecting Bronny James could give LeBron James more inspiration and serve as a means of rejuvenation as he enters his age 40 season in the league. Smith wondered if it could get any better that his son was a member of the team and that LeBron James himself was still a superstar in the game.
“LeBron James – how is he setting the stage for Bronny James doing anything?,” Toucher replied. “Unless LeBron makes them play him, Bronny James is never playing in the NBA at any point when LeBron James is still in it.”
