LAS VEGAS — LeBron James says Bronny James — who is his oldest son and became his Los Angeles Lakers teammate last month after the franchise selected him No. 55 overall — is uniquely prepared to handle that investigation. Which has already started coming to them. way.
“I don’t know if people really understand Bronny,” James told ESPN during a wide-ranging interview after USA Basketball practice on Sunday in preparation for the Paris Olympics. “She doesn’t care. I actually care a little. When I came in (as a newbie), I wanted people to like me and some of the things people were saying about me hurt my career. Troubled me in the beginning….he doesn’t give a f—.
“He doesn’t care about anyone. He doesn’t even listen to those things. He is the best. He is the complete opposite of his father. His father will say something (to address the critics). Brother doesn’t care. ” ..He doesn’t really care what’s being said about him.”
LeBron, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, who has amassed a net worth of $1 billion during his 21-year playing career, said Bronny hasn’t let that success affect who he is as a person.
LeBron continued, “Just imagine if you were a kid, you were born into a situation where your dad was super famous, super rich and you as a kid still had that desire to be able to achieve things for yourself. ” “I personally don’t know if I would have been able to do it if the roles were reversed. …
“When I was coming up, I had no choice. I literally had no choice. … I had to make it for myself. My mom, my family, my hometown, my city. Bronny had all the love in the world. There are options. If Bronny wants to just stop or never play basketball or just be a gamer or be a chef or do nothing at all, he could do that… People don’t understand how hard it is And for him to have the commitment he has coming off of heart surgery less than a year ago, for him to be able to be in the NBA, kid, he’s special.
“But he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care.”
Criticism of LeBron is also nothing new, with insults in recent months aimed at his alleged influence on the Lakers’ drafting of Bronny and his former “Mind the Game” podcast co-host, JJ Redick, as their next coach. Have to appoint.
“I’m not involved in the coaching hire, but I’m excited about JJ,” LeBron said. “I’m excited to work with Coach (Nate) McMillan. I haven’t worked with him since the Olympics (2008). Working with Coach (Scott) Brooks for the first time, I’m looking forward to it.” So I’m excited about that. That’s been the case this whole summer as far as the Lakers.”
LeBron signed a two-year extension with the Lakers over the weekend, including a player option for a second season.
He signed below the max for the first time since 2010, leaving nearly $3 million on the table to help L.A. avoid the second apron and the salary cap restrictions it brings. Why did he agree to less money when he just came off being named to the All-NBA Third Team and making it to the All-Star Game for the 20th consecutive season in 2023-24?
“Because we’re in a relationship and anybody knows relationships, (knows) it’s all about commitment,” LeBron told ESPN. “It’s also about working to help both parties. So, we’ve been in a working relationship for seven years… so that’s what it’s all about.”
LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, told ESPN that his client was willing to take even less money to open the $12.9 midlevel exception to sign an “impact player” for the Lakers. Sources told ESPN that players who fit that bill include Klay Thompson, James Harden, Jonas Valanciunas and DeMar DeRozan.
LA was unable to land any of them.
“It takes two to tango,” LeBron told ESPN about the Lakers’ failed attempts. “I think our front office, our coaching staff, they tried to do things they wanted to do or tried to bring people in and it didn’t happen. And that’s OK. It’s part of the business. I’ve been in this business long enough to know that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
“So we don’t sit here and lie about it or cry about it. We move on and Clay is a great player. Obviously DeMar is a great player. Valanciunas was one of those guys who ultimately went to Washington. Gone, he was someone who was in conversation with us, but we move forward to see how we get better.
“I’m looking forward to this fall when I get back there.”
The roster he will join looks mostly the same as the one that lost to the Denver Nuggets in five games in the first round of the playoffs. Yet LeBron said he still believes he can win another title before his tenure in LA ends.
“Of course,” LeBron told ESPN when asked about the possibility of the Lakers competing again while he is still with the franchise. “Because we’ve done it before. We’ve done it before and we still have two guys that are committed every day with me and Eddie. We’re committed to excellence and committed to winning. And we’re committed to winning.” Whatever the situation, whatever the year, we feel like it, we can put ourselves in a position to be successful and we are not very far from that.
“We’re a year removed from the Western Conference finals. Obviously, this year it hasn’t been as good as last year. It hasn’t gone the way we wanted, but we’re not that far away.
“And there are a lot of teams in the league … but we don’t look like we’re that far in the West.”
The question is how far away retirement is for James, who will turn 40 in December. If he plays out the contract he just signed, he will have served 23 seasons in the league – breaking Vince Carter’s all-time record of 22 seasons.
“I mean, this could be (the last contract I sign),” LeBron told ESPN. “I would never sit here and say, ‘Oh, probably not.’ Yes, it could easily happen. But we’ll see what happens.”
Discover more from news2source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
