Listen to Doug Gottlieb of Fox Sports Radio’s The Doug Gottlieb Show give an honest evaluation of Bronny James’ first game in the NBA Summer League, as Gottlieb says Bronny is simply a ‘good kid’ who means well, but who is simply ‘just another guy’ on the court when surrounded and opposed by legitimate talent.
Bronny scored just 4 points in 21 minutes, on 2 of 9 shooting in a 14-point loss to the Kings over the weekend in his professional debut, and finished with a -15 plus/minus while he was on the floor. He also was embarrassingly crossed-up on defense by a Kings guard Adonis Arms, and lost his balance before Arms connected on a deep jump shot just inside the three-point line.
Check out the segment below as 'Coach Gottlieb' details how James lacks any dynamic skills on the offensive or defensive side of the ball, and simply looks like a one-trick pony who hides in the corner on offense and shies away from the ball.
Doug Gottlieb: “Let me give you a radical centrist’s perspective on Bronny James’ first game... It’s called ‘J-A-G', or a ‘JAG’. JAG is ‘just a guy.’ That’s what Bronny James looked like. You can point to the stats and say he was ‘BAD’ because he wasn’t great, but it wasn’t because of the stats, it’s because he’s just 'kind of a guy'. LeBron has said ‘hey, I don’t care about the stats, it’s about the development’ -- so what are you ‘developing’? What role will Bronny James have if he really wants to make it in the NBA?
LeBron James on Bronny Not Caring About ‘Criticism’: ‘I don’t know if people really understand Bronny. He doesn’t care. I actually cared a little bit when I came in. I wanted people to like me, and some of the things people would say about me would bother me early on in my career. Bronny doesn't give a sh*t. He doesn’t even listen to that stuff. He’s the complete opposite of his dad. When I was coming up I had to make it out. I had to make it out for me, my mom, my family... He has all the choices in the world.”
Gottlieb: “I completely understand. I agree with the premise of it can be hard to make it, even when you have all these things at your disposal because there’s no reason for you to have to work hard. If Bronny never plays basketball again, he’s fine financially. Not just working for his dad but on his own. It’s a little harder than people think. On the other hand, if you look at it another way – he doesn’t play like he’s trying to prove himself. He doesn't play with the hunger, with the anger, with the competitiveness that translates. You want to tell me that you’re a ‘point guard’, how about guarding the point guard? How about picking him up 94 feet? How about making life a living hell on that guy?
If you’re going to be 6’1 ½ and play in the NBA as a backup guard off the bench, when that ball goes in the basket and you switch from offense to defense, you better be up and guarding 94 feet, pressuring, and just being a nuisance. Jose Alvarado is the perfect example. You always have your head on swivel trying to figure out what he’s doing because you think Jose Alvarado is going to take this basketball from you, and Bronny just doesn’t have that.
LeBron can say he’s a ‘great kid’, I don’t care. I’m not evaluating based on the type of human being he is. I’m evaluating him on the type of player he is, and he wants very little to do with any sort of the backup point guard duties, which includes pushing the ball in transition, moving the basketball, and guarding 94 feet, and really pressuring and being a nuisance. Bronny has been watching real NBA guys do it his whole life and he’s been going through the same exact process, but he needs to play a ton and he has not played enough.
The analysis from Coach Gottlieb is I don’t see any sort of desire to be at either end of the floor a point guard or lead guard. He just kind of wants to stand over in the corner, if the ball is thrown up to him, try and go get a bucket. I don’t care about the stats, but I watched the game and there was nothing dynamic about him defensively. Offensively a couple times he got straight-line drives, but other than that it’s like he gets the ball with the idea in mind of 'how quickly can I shoot?’"
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