The essence of sports has always been the phenomenon of duality. Each side has their own versions of stories and narratives. Even in basketball, the polarization stems from a player, more than a team. And there has been none more polarizing in the history of the NBA than LeBron James. But two is better than one and now we have two James in the game dividing borders like never before. Bronny James, being the other name from the household of the 4-time NBA Champion, scrutinies were bound to happen.

Before the 2024 NBA Draft, there was scrutiny. After the draft, there was scrutiny and even after two weeks, there still is scrutiny. But Bronny recently found an unlikely source of backup, to be specific, a fan rather. His new fan is the same person who never let up an opportunity in the last 8 years to tarnish the name of LeBron. Yes, you guessed it right, it’s Skip Bayless. Since the inception of the show, “Undisputed” on Fox, Skip Bayless has relentlessly in the postmortem of anything remotely involved with LeBron James. But nature’s inevitable rule is polarization and to neutralize Skip, there was Shannon Sharpe till last year.

Now with the introduction of Bronny James, the veteran analyst has more on his plate to digest. But he unexpectedly picked the side of Bronny, instead of giving him the same treatment as his legendary father. Talking about Bronny James on the latest episode of “The Skip Bayless Show” the host revealed himself to be a “fan” of the 19-year-old. “I am a Bronny fan. In fact, I think Bronny is built even tougher than his father is because Bronny’s been through a lot in his life in the harshest spotlight any kid could ever be thrust into as LeBron James Jr,” Bayless said. “I love how Bronny’s handled this. I get a good feeling every time I watch him not only play basketball but just handle himself, carry himself. Kid’s got a backbone, kid’s got guts, got principle and character, his parents did a good job raising him.”

After the uncharacteristic praise of LeBron, Skip continued, “I think Bronny will be pretty good. I think he’ll become a clutch three-point shooter. I’ve always gotten the feeling that Bronny had a bigger clutch gene than his father does. McDonald’s game, he was in the spotlight and they went to him late two or three times and he just nailed threes.” Last year in March, Bronny James participated in the McDonald’s All-American game.

Despite the 109-106 loss, the guard impressed with his shooting prowess. He dipped not one, not two, not three, but five 3-pts to score 15 points on that night. Under a former point guard, JJ Redick, Bronny’s performance can only get more refined and better. But that sense of optimism is beyond comprehension for some of his critics. Some of his critics have already labeled his Lakers’ selection as nepotism, and there are more similar adjectives circulating the NBA circuit.

Bronny James’ Lakers draft was termed the worst decision in pro sports

During a recent episode of “The Odd Couple” on Fox Sports Radio, the subject of discussion again veered off toward Bronny James. Speaking of his draft selection by the Lakers, Rob Parker made himself very clear, and he was taking no prisoners. “I get it. It’s his father trying to do what’s right or help his kid in any way he can. I don’t have any kids, never played professional sports. I get all that, but I must admit. I think this is the worst decision that’s ever happened in professional sports,” Parker said.

“And I’m dead serious when I say that. The worst by a team, a player? All around, everybody involved in this because it changes what the essence of the game has always been, which is about competition.” Addressing his co-host, Chris Broussard, the veteran columnist continued, “This is what we’ve always talked about and the reason why you have an NFL where you have, essentially 99% of the owners are white, and yet the league is 70% black.” Highlighting the importance of meritocracy, Parker even went beyond the issue of Bronny James and targeted NBA front offices. “I was the one that threw it around. Yeah, plenty. And I’ve thrown out nepotism. Chris, it’s wrong, we’ve seen it, especially in the front office,” Parker concluded, a clear dig at the Lakers hierarchy passed on by the late Jerry Buss.

No matter the shouts of the naysayers, Bronny has a guaranteed 4-year contract with the Lakers, which means he is not going to the G-League and will see plenty of minutes alongside his father. Now it’s up to him to prove his doubters wrong, but he can rest assured to see one of his biggest potential critics off his back right off the bat.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what brand maker, Leonard Armato, had to say about the deadly duo, Shaq and Kobe, check out this video