Lakers teammate offers refreshing take on Bronny James brief NBA career
By Curt Bishop
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The Los Angeles Lakers grabbed Bronny James, the son of future Hall-of-Famer LeBron James in the second round of this year's NBA Draft. Expectations are high for Bronny as he prepares to begin his career as the son of an NBA legend. Obviously, there is going to be a lot of pressure on him because of his lineage.
However, his new Lakers teammate, Austin Reaves offered a refreshing take on the situation in an attempt to take some of the pressure off of James.
"He's always going to get a bad rap for multiple reasons as LeBron's son, so people are going to expect high level things for him," Reaves said. "You've just got to let the kid grow. Let him be his own self. When you set a gold standard, LeBron's standard, it's hard to live up to for anybody in any sport."
Austin Reaves offers refreshing take on Bronny James
Obviously, the pressure is going to be high for Bronny as the son of an NBA legend. But Reaves made a lot of great points in his interview and correctly pointed out that instead of putting extra pressure on him, people should just let him grow into the player he's meant to be.
As Reaves pointed out, living up to the standard of LeBron is hard to do for any athlete in any given sport, but as long as Bronny doesn't focus on trying to live up to his father's standard and instead remains focused on being the best version of himself possible, he should be able to grow into a solid player.
Reaves also offered to serve as a mentor for the young James as he develops into an NBA-level player. The sharpshooting point guard has been around the league for a few years and could possibly offer some advice to Bronny about being a young player in the NBA.
The task will not be easy. As Reaves alluded to, Bronny will be drawing comparisons to his father, which will only add to the pressure he may feel. But the Lakers point guard also gave a good take on the situation, and pointed out that people are going to have to let Bronny grow.
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