Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics legend Kevin Garnett is familiar with Kobe Bryant’s game. He spent the majority of his career in the NBA on the same timeline as that of the Los Angeles Lakers icon. So, it’s so intriguing to hear Garnett bring up the name of the Black Mamba when he recently spoke about the potential of Bronny James amid all the attention the oldest son of LeBron James is getting ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft.
“[Kobe Bryant] had great bones and great makeup to build off of,” Garnett said during a recent episode of the Ticket & The Truth podcast (h/t Andrew Peters of Bleacher Report). “Bronny shows some of that same make. I’m not calling him young Kobe or none of that, but I’m saying that’s potential.”
Kevin Garnett believes in the potential of Bronny James
Garnett just seems to have a better feel of what’s to come for Bronny James in the NBA than many others who think that the former USC Trojans guard wouldn’t have been this talked about if it wasn’t for his last name.
“Bronny looks really good. He looks really good,” Garnett said. “He looks poised, he looks like he wasn’t rattled by everything that was going around, he looks like he’s used to the moment, he had a good session where he shot the ball well,” Garnett added.
At the same time, Garnett believes that Bronny sharing the same genes with his Lakers superstar dad alone makes the younger James enticing enough for a team to consider using a pick to take him in the 2024 NBA Draft.
“If I am a team bro, I would actually take a chance on that,” Garnett shared. “Because greatness runs through bro’s veins. You got to know at some point, he’s going to have a growth spurt and it’s going to click.”
Will the Lakers draft Bronny James?
If the Lakers want a guarantee that LeBron James would not opt out of his player option deal for the 2024-24 NBA season that’s worth over $51 million, they can just go ahead and pick Bronny James. It is important to note that the Lakers will be taking their turn in the latter part of the first round; they will be picking 17th overall. Also, the deadline for James’ decision on his aforementioned player option will be on June 29 — three days after the 2024 NBA Draft.
All that being said, there is no assurance that the Lakers will take Bronny. There is also that chance that another team takes Bronny before the Lakers get their chance, especially if there is a franchise picking before Los Angeles that wants to lure the four-time league Most Valuable Player to sign with them by taking Bronny’s name off the draft board.
At this point, it seems that it would shock many if Bronny gets picked in the first round, whether it’s the Lakers or not. But if it’s the Lakers, there is an apparently clear motive, considering the LeBron James factor.
Bronny played a total of 25 games for the Trojans in the 2023-24 college basketball season, mostly serving the team as part of USC’s second unit. In his freshman season, Bronny averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while connecting on 36.6 percent of his attempts from the field and 26.7 percent of his tries from behind the arc.
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