Bronny James draft prospects are worsening as he is finding it difficult to establish a name for himself at USC. He is unable to buck up and aim for better running in collegiate basketball, because of which ESPN deemed him not considerable for the 2024 NBA drafts. ESPN experts, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo aren’t probably impressed by his debut in December, despite Bronny being in the top 20 in his class. He is now being considered a potential prospect for the 2025 NBA draft season, with a predicted second-round pick at No. 39 overall. This is undoubtedly an unfortunate occurrence for the James family, causing ripples to spread all across the basketball community.
While some do strongly believe the rankings are correct, others find it hard to digest. One of them being the Fox One analyst Ric Bucher, who is now questioning ESPN mock draft experts.
Ric Buschner rips ESPN analysts questioning Bronny James’ abilities
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Ric Buscher is one of the first ones to come up and globally criticize the latest blow ESPN rankings have brought towards a young Bronny James. Buscher criticizes ESPN analysts by defending Bronny, pointing out that he very recently went through a severe heart issue, keeping him off the court for 5 months. His cardiac arrest took a massive hit at his playing career, and thereby his stats.
He also questioned the fact why the analysts deem that Bronny has “never been the best player in the team”. Per Buscher’s analysis, this is what he feels: “I believe some of that had to be driven by not that LeBron necessarily was putting the fear of god in Jonathan, Givony or any other mock draft people, but the expectation was the Lakers were gonna do LeBron’s bidding and as a result, Bronny might get drafted higher than he otherwise would. “
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He follows his praise for Bronny by saying this later, “Bronny is a great kid. He is a great teammate. He plays the right way, and he is smart. He has the ability to be a solid NBA role player, given the opportunity. But it’s not gonna be easy”.
Considering everything Buschner said about Bronny is correct, we still cannot ignore the fact that the young player has gone from becoming an undrafted prospect to a prospect who is no longer considered for the 2024 NBA drafts. Bronny is averaging 5.5 points currently, with 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists, each game so far. This also does not fare well for the young budding basketball star. In fact, people argue that his selection criterion is heavily influenced by his father, LeBron James, since he’s the one who has clearly stated multiple times he wants to play alongside his son, in a professional capacity.
Many NBA teams have come up in contemplation of selecting him in the draft season, all in lieu of attracting King James on their roster for the 2024-25 season. Teams such as the Heat, Cavaliers, and Raptors have vocally shown interest in this. Even the Lakers have considered the idea of drafting Bronny to keep his father on their side.
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Who drafts and when will he be drafted is up for debate, but one thing’s for sure, the struggles a young player has to endure highlight the competitive edge the NBA world has reached. When children come from famous parents, such as in this case, it becomes an excruciating task altogether.
Read More: LeBron James Goes Off on NBA Media After Disheartening Projection on Son Bronny in Deleted X Post