What’s the best way to silence a hostile crowd? You probably got to dunk on ’em. The same goes for the critics as the Lakers nation prays for Bronny James to do just that. Amid all the hair storm of criticism and negativity thrown Bronny’s way, LeBron James has remained tight-lipped and there are reasons behind it. Earlier today, he disclosed one of the reasons that could calm the anxiety among the franchise’s devoted fans.

Taking to social media, King James posted a video on his IG story. While the 39-year-old features in the video alongside his wife, they were not the protagonists in this reel of life. It was about Bronny James, in his Sierra Canyon uniform in a high school gym. The video showed how Bronny soaked in the hostility of the crowd and scored two massive dunks to silence the haters. The new Lakers’ guard showed his vertical leap in the footage originally shared by SportsCenter NEXT with the caption, “Bronny and this student section WENT AT IT”. Daddy Bron added his own caption as well that read, “BRONNY RESPONDS TO HOSTILE CROWD”.

But silencing your opponents is one thing? What if your own are against you? That’s one unsalvageable situation and murmurs around the hoop alley suggest, Bronny just might have to face that too.

More minutes for Bronny James reportedly leads to more tensions

When basketball becomes an art form, it’s hard to prevent a team from reaching dizzying levels of success. We can talk about the Spurs’ championship-winning teams, the Raptors from 2019 or even the Nuggets of 2023. It takes a team at their peak form to win the big one. The Lakers are some way off the championship pack with their recent inertness in the market. On top of that, rumors about locker room unrest surrounding Bronny James don’t help their case.

During the Summer League, Bronny was the star attraction this year. After the harsh scrutiny of his draft, the franchise was hoping to allow the 19-year-old to showcase the talent they saw in him. But that didn’t go according to plan. After falling flat in most of the summer league outings, there were rumors about tensions in the locker room. The Lakers provided Bronny more playing time, sacrificing the other young talents in the squad – this was the news leaked from the locker room.

“That kind of tension didn’t help the group of players to build chemistry… And you could feel that there was no unity [between] this group of guys,” an anonymous locker room insider told The US Sun. That was in line with what Udonis Haslem feared. “Being in the locker room with your dad, that’s a sticky situation because everything that somebody says, they gonna side eye and look at Bron. So, he wants to establish his own opportunity, his own legacy,” LeBron’s former Heat teammate said.

So, for Bronny, the upcoming challenge will be from both fronts. Winning over the away fans is never an option, so James Jr. might have to do that first in his own locker room.