Rachel Nichols believes Bronny James’ critics are analyzing the Lakers’ second-round pick unjustly.
When discussing the 19-year-old rookie on Wednesday’s installment of FS1’s “Undisputed,” Nichols detailed why the criticism surrounding LeBron James’ son has been “totally unfair,” pointing to his status as the 55th overall pick in this year’s NBA draft.
“I think people are looking at him as if he’s a top-10 pick. He is not a top-10 pick, he’s a No. 55 pick,” Nichols said. “The expectations for a No. 55 pick should be that you are largely headed to the G-League and may get some games up in the NBA.”
The former ESPN personality then called attention to last year’s No. 55 pick, Isaiah Wong, “who played four total minutes in the NBA” for the Pacers.
“He didn’t average four minutes a game in the NBA, [he played] four total minutes and that came in one game,” Nichols said of Wong, who briefly appeared in Indiana’s loss to the Lakers in the In-Season Tournament final.
“To evaluate Bronny next to top-10 picks versus what other guys at No. 55 have done is totally unfair. And obviously it’s going to happen, we’re all watching him more because of who he is and the fact that he’s playing on the Lakers, don’t forget that, too, in addition to being LeBron’s son. But he is not playing at a level that’s so much below where other players who have been in his position and have played in the past.”
Nichols then pivoted to Alex Sarr, the No. 2 overall pick by the Wizards in this year’s draft, who failed to score in 30 minutes of playing time in an NBA Summer League game earlier this week, before stressing the notion echoed by Lakers coach JJ Redick that Bronny is a “developmental player.”
“Bronny James is a No. 55 pick. JJ Redick has come out and said he is a developmental player, we all knew this going in, so to sit there and criticize him for Summer League numbers that, as I have said several times, stats do not matter in summer league. We have seen guys have bad Summer Leagues and go on to have good NBA careers,” Nichols said.
“What Bronny needs to get used to in the Summer League is the speed of the game, he needs to get used to new coaches and teammates and new schemes and he has to get used to the attention he’s getting, because that is one of the other things I saw sitting courtside at that game on Monday night between the Celtics and the Lakers, every time he touched the ball, the crowd perked up. And when he finally scored in the fourth quarter, there was just this wave and we’ve seen some of his other games, that fans actually criticizing the coach from the stands saying,’ Give Bronny the ball, give Bronny the ball.’ No one wants that as a player.”
Nichols then expressed that Bronny has to “earn the damn ball, and he knows he hasn’t yet, which is fine again. This is who he is at this point.”
“… You get the impression that it’s been a lot, so I think, for him, the key is getting used to all of that and the stats, to me, will follow,” she said.
Nichols’ comments Wednesday came hours before Bronny’s impressive Summer League outing, in which he scored 12 points in the Lakers’ 87-86 win over the Hawks.
“Just tried to forget about all the shots I missed, forget all the games we lost,” Bronny told ESPN postgame. “Just come out and play my game and try to do my best every time I come out on the court.”
Prior to Wednesday’s game, Bronny — who played one season at USC before entering the NBA draft – left the door open to the G-Leauge.