Bronny James has been the subject of a huge portion of the NBA world’s recent discussions. He has arguably more pressure on him than any other late-second round draft pick. While most players drafted this late spend significant time developing their game in the G-League, the basketball community seemingly expects Bronny to make an immediate impact at the NBA level.
With that said, one might expect NBA hall-of-famer and analyst Charles Barkley to criticize and slander Bronny’s poor preseason play. Instead, he had words of encouragement.
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“We’re all rooting for him because we have so much respect for LeBron. It’s not gonna be easy because he has a target on his back because of his last name,” Barkley said in a recent episode of the Throwbacks podcast.
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“There’s gonna be a certain amount of petty jealousness of people who are like, ‘You don’t deserve to be in the NBA; you’re not as good as some of these other players. You only got in because of your dad,'” Barkley added.
Through his first three preseason games, Bronny has two points, three rebounds, one assist and three blocks. He is a combined 1-11 from the field and 0-4 from three-point range.
Barkley is known for being brutally honest when talking about the league’s current players, which makes his encouraging statements to Bronny all the more meaningful.
James Parker is an NBA writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
