LeBron James Reacts To Bronny Being Removed From Mock Draft

Los Angeles Lakers player LeBron James has come out in defense of his oldest basketball-playing son, Bronny when ESPN dropped him from their 2024 mock draft.

Future NBA Hall of Famer, LeBron has made it known over the past several years that he wants his oldest son, Bronny to not only make the NBA, but he wants to play on the same team with him. Although Bronny is only a freshman at the University of Southern California (USC), there has been speculation that the younger James would declare for the NBA Draft after his first year in college. But, due to Bronny not making a splash on the basketball court for the school, ESPN has removed his name from their annual draft list.

Report: ESPN has removed Bronny James from its 2024 mock draft, now projects him to be selected in 2025 https://t.co/Ipb5C6SWQm
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 26, 2024

Although he was removed from this year’s list, ESPN added him to the following year’s Mock Draft.

But, LeBron took to social media to chastise individuals speaking about it because of the removal and stated that Bronny isn’t fazed by the snub. He adds that his son “just WORKS! Earned Not Given!”

He did eventually delete the message but USA Today captured the post.

“Can yall please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball,” James wrote Monday afternoon. “The work and results will ultimately do the talking no matter what he decides to do. If y’all don’t know he doesn’t care what a mock draft says, he just WORKS! Earned Not Given!”

He also gave some advice to other prospects hoping to make it to the professional level.

“And to all the other kids out there striving to be great just keep your head down, blinders on and keep grinding. These Mock Drafts doesn’t matter one bit! I promise you! Only the WORK MATTERS!! Let’s talk REAL BASKETBALL PEOPLE! ✌🏾👑”

Although Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest last July while on the USC campus, he started the year recovering and eventually joined the team. In 19 games, he is averaging 5.5 points on 37.1% shooting, grabbing 2.8 rebounds and dishing out 2.5 assists while averaging 20.2 minutes a game.

LeBron James Reacts To Bronny Being Removed From ESPN’s 2024 NBA Mock Draft