Bronny James Just Got Some Extra Motivation After Getting Disrespected by ESPN
Over the last couple of years, LeBron James Jr., better known as Bronny James, has continued to garner more national attention. James has continued to show improvements in his game that is gathering more focus toward his promising future as he further builds his reputation as one of the top players in his 2023 graduation class. That has fueled the hype and praise around him, which has seen him fall a bit shorter on ESPN’s latest rankings for his class than anticipated.
Bronny James’ freshman year
Much has been made about Bronny James transferring over to Sierra Canyon High School alongside Zaire Wade, who is Dwyane Wade’s son. His first year saw him play a smaller role on the team, which came to be expected given that he’s a team that features other Division 1 talent alongside McDonald’s All-American’s BJ Boston and Ziare Williams.
James played in more of a sixth-man role as he averaged 4.1 points in 15 minutes per contest while being the only player on the roster to play in all 34 games. He had his moments throughout the season that showed much reason for promise. He displayed his improving athleticism throwing down a few impressive dunks and a natural shooting stroke.
With his first year of high school basketball in the books, ESPN has recently put forth their rankings for each draft class.
Bronny James Ranked No. 24 in the 2023 class by ESPN
Bronny James may not have had a noteworthy freshman campaign, but he has caught the attention of many across the nation.
It has also landed him recognition among the top players in the United States in his class. ESPN recently published their latest rankings list that saw James land at the 24th spot as it was noted that he has much room for growth, which includes being more aggressive with his scoring as he physically grows and matures as his father did.
A main difference at the same stage is in their approach. LeBron would look to take over games with an aggressive style, both within his age group and while facing older players. When LeBron was in high school, he was the star of the team. As a freshman at the varsity level this past season, Bronny was surrounded by older, top-level talent and deferred more — which was smart. This will naturally change as he gets older. When Bronny plays his age group, he is more aggressive, scores with variety and you can feel his presence as one of the best players on the court.
It’s a tough task to be compared to his father, but James has continued to show reason to believe he will stay on an encouraging trajectory. He’s just growing into his body at 15 years old that should see him gain more height well beyond 6-foot-2 while his game further develops.
Bronny James has chance to prove himself
It may not be fair with the comparisons to LeBron James, Bronny James has stayed on a progressive route showing much reason to believe he has a bright future ahead of him.
James may not have played a significant role in his freshman year; he still has three more years of high school basketball to round out his game further while he grows into his body. He’s extremely far from being finished product, but he has the opportunity to stay on that promising path in front of him.
Bronny James will always have chatter around him involving his father, but he has a chance to carve out his legacy the further he moves along in his basketball career.
