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Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James is making the most of the offseason, gracing the cover of the latest issue of Men's Health magazine. As the cover model, the younger James gives an interview about playing with his superstar father LeBron James, his cardiac arrest at USC, and improving himself as a basketball player.
You can check out the Men's Health cover here.
The new Lakers
While it sounds strange for the 55th overall pick Bronny James to get so much media attention, even a Men's Health cover, it comes with the territory of being LeBron James' son and playing for the Lakers.
People making claims of nepotism must remember that as a second-round pick, Bronny James won't see any meaningful regular season minutes, and the Lakers would likely send him down to the G League to get some reps and learn to play at NBA speed.
Meanwhile, Magic Johnson advised Bronny to stay in the G League for a while, too. Bronny isn't a superstar out of high school like his father was, but then very few athletes are like LeBron in the first place.
However, despite being undersized, he already has the defensive tools as a point guard, per new coach JJ Redick. He will need to sharpen those tools while developing an offensive arsenal, particularly outside shooting, if he wants to stay in the NBA.
At this point, he could become similar to Derek Fisher, a valuable part of championship teams who had impressive basketball IQ, who could defend at a high level and make big-time shots.
After all, LeBron won't play forever, and the novelty of teaming father-and-son together has already faded. The younger James will have to earn his spot on the Lakers, or another team, by the dint of his own effort.
Ready to go
Meanwhile, besides Bronny James, the other Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht looks more NBA-ready as the season comes closer. Against the Milwaukee Bucks, Knecht played a team-high 34 minutes and also took a team-high 16 shots, finishing with 13 points.
The Lakers' No. 17 pick will be part of the team's rotation going forward, hence JJ Redick and LeBron's insistence that Knecht shoot as much as possible in the preseason.
“LeBron was telling me just keep shooting it, he didn't care what I shoot,” Knecht said, via Ron Gutterman of Lakers Nation. “Same with JJ, they said they don't really care what I shoot and just keep putting them up, keep letting them fly.”
While Knecht only shot 5/16 against the Bucks, the fact that the coaching staff and team captain trusted him to take that many shots speaks to the confidence the team has in the rookie.
