“Bronny James IS NOT A Basketball Player!!” was the title of a YouTube video published by Gil’s Arena, a popular podcast run by the former Warrior, Gilbert Arenas. If we think we know more about Bronny, Arenas will always be a step ahead, as he trained the 20-year-old during his high-school stint. Despite being a close associate of the James family, he dropped a controversial title. While there would’ve been a reason behind it, an NBA insider recently backed his ‘basketball side,’ amid James Jr’s G-League debut.

Ever since Bronny made his debut, he’s been subject to intense scrutiny. They all had an unfair expectation of a 55th pick. At that time, Arenas was the first one to call out the critics, diverting the attention towards the top-5 picks. Following that, he made a controversial remark, saying, “He’s an influencer that’s playing basketball. You’re talking about a kid, he has more followers on social media than Patrick Mahomes!” Well, James Jr. has 8.1 million followers on Instagram, while the 6x Pro-Bowler boasts only 6.7 million!

This opinion, however, didn’t really sit well with fans, as it seemed to have created an impression Gilbert Arenas didn’t acknowledge Bronny as a pro hooper. However, a week later, the NBA Insider, Shams Charania, dropped a positive perspective.

Ahead of the Lakers‘ five-game road series, Charania posted updates regarding Bronny’s future in the side and his version of the ‘influencer’ remark. While we address the hooper’s future later in the piece, let’s take a closer look at the latter aspect.

Featuring on NBA on ESPN, Charania said, “I’ve done some digging on his marketing. This is someone that if he wanted to let’s say he doesn’t want to play basketball he could make more money off his off-court deals in marketing just be an influencer.”

 However, there’s an addition to it too, “but he wants to be an NBA player.” Will this game plan survive in the long run, though?

How would Bronny James survive in the cut-throat league?

Well, that’s where the G-League aspect comes into the picture. With only a few days left for it to commence, the franchise has to decide on whether to send their two-way players to their G-League affiliate teams. In the case of the Lakers, Bronny James, who is a two-way player, practically will have to find his place in the affiliate team because the 20-year-old barely has any role in JJ Redick’s rotation.

However, Bronny James didn’t take it as a discouraging move. The hooper took it with open hands, as per Shams Charania. He added, “I am told he would begin his shuttle from the NBA to the G-League. He would be assigned to the South Bay that week of November 7… For him and Rich Paul, the big aspect of Bronny James throughout the pre-draft process was his development and he was not afraid. They welcomed going to the G-League.“

Moreover, looking at Bronny James’ past, the youngster’s heart condition had put him out of college experience as he barely got game time and an opportunity to improve as a player. G-League is, in fact, the only option for LeBron’s eldest to punch in more minutes against his name and develop into a daunting presence to every opposition. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.