Russ & Yella Beezy Speak Positivity Into Bronny James’ NBA Role Amid Summer League Criticism
Russ is calling out the critics who have harshly judged the former USC hooper during his NBA Summer League debut.
In a comment he shared on an Instagram post with highlights from his recent summer league outing, Russ reacted to Bronny scoring 12 pts on 5-11 shooting from the field and 2-5 from 3-pt range, including the game-tying bucket, in the Lakers first team win in the competition out in Las Vegas.
It’s worth noting Bronny and the Lakers were also playing without first-round pick Dalton Knect, who was the number 17 pick in the NBA Draft, and had been largely touted as the better draftee of the two selections the Lakers organization made.
“Go figure,” Russ wrote. “The most scrutinized under a microscope 55th pick ever needed a couple games to get settled lol.”
Russ’ assessment of Bronny’s games follows a torrent of negative remarks from sports analysts and professional athletes who have criticized his skillset and deduced he is not ready to play in the NBA based on his performance this summer so far.
Fox Sports 1 network host Emmanuel Acho mentioned that Bronny “struggled to assert himself,” early on in his NBA Summer League debut and the Boston Celtic’s star Jaylen Brown was caught on camera allegedly remarking that he didn’t believe Bronny was ready to be a “Pro.”
Interestingly enough, Bronny and Jaylen’s field goal attempts and percentage were almost identical in their respective summer debuts. Bronny actually bests Jaylen by a small margin, shooting 6-26 from the field while the NBA champion shot 5-26 through his first three NBA summer games in 2016.
Turns out Jaylen Brown had a worse start to Summer League than Bronny 🤔 pic.twitter.com/WmWdIOehbM
— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) July 18, 2024
Coincidentally, Russ isn’t the only rapper who thinks Bronny just needs some time to settle into his NBA journey, considering Dallas hitmaker Yella Beezy expressed similar sentiments during his appearance with Skip Bayless on UNDISPUTED prior to Bronny’s double-digit scoring outing in Las Vegas.
“See that’s exactly why I go back to this comparison thing, like, a lot of things they are going to criticize him on, he still has the room to grow into,” Beezy said when asked if Bronny could play the role of a point guard like his father LeBron James. “Even if you think he can’t at this time, I’m pretty sure in the season, like, I can see a breakout season for him. It may not be this year or next year but, I could see him having like a good season. He’s still young.”
Check out the post below for Yella Beezy’s prediction for Bronny’s upcoming NBA debut.