LeBron James Lashes Out Over Bronny's Mock Draft Projections

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LeBron James is usually one to tout his son Bronny’s basketball ability, but he’s had an about-face following some changes in his NBA future.

Bronny’s only in his first year at USC, averaging just 5.5 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds, so ESPN updated its 2024 NBA mock draft projections to reflect his performance. He’s been completely removed from the 2024 projections and moved to 2025, with hopes he’ll have more time to develop his game and get stronger.

So James took to X to downplay ESPN’s statistics and wants to let his son just take in the college experience and do something he never did- play collegiate ball.

“Can y’all please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball. The work and results will ultimately do the talking no matter what he decides to do,” he wrote on X. “If y’all don’t know he doesn’t care what a mock draft says, he just WORKS! Earned Not Given!”

He followed it up by offering some advice to anyone else trying to achieve something, to just trust the process.

“And to all the other kids out there striving to be great just keep your head down, blinders on and keep grinding,” he wrote. “These Mock Drafts don’t matter one bit! I promise you! Only the WORK MATTERS!! Let’s talk REAL BASKETBALL PEOPLE!”

King James’ comments were obviously made in an emotional moment, and he’s since deleted his comments.

But last year, he hyped up Bronny, tweeting, “Man, Bronny definitely better than some of these cats I’ve been watching on league pass today. Shit lightweight hilarious.”

And at the beginning of the year, James was bragging about Bronny’s game, telling teammates, “he could play for us right now. Easy. EASY.”

Bronny may be off to a slow start, but he’s had a traumatic year since collapsing on the court last summer during a USC practice after suffering cardiac arrest. A congenital heart defect was found to be the culprit, and he’d return to the court more than four months later.

See how social media is reacting to LeBron changing his tune on Bronny’s athleticism below.

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