IF BRONNY GOES TO (KNICKS, WOLVES, SUNS, 76ERS), WATCH LEBRON FOLLOW
Otherwise, the NBA will have cut offseason favoritism deals with the Lakers, who shouldn't be afforded the luxury of keeping James in a league that can do battle by snaking his development-league son
The wink-wink deal shouldn’t exist in the NBA. Ask Anthony Edwards, who reminded us of the blood and butchery when he chirped at Jamal Murray in a deadlocked playoff series: “I just told his ass we love that. ‘Keep talking like that. That's what we like.’ He didn't say nothing back. But I'm pretty sure he heard me. They heard me. You live for that." The same dastardly stance must apply in the league draft on June 26-27.
Or does LeBron James make those rules, too?
Why would any team allow the Lakers to draft 55th in the second round and select Bronny James? Why would any team cut a deal that would ensure Bronny’s father stays in Los Angeles? That is one apparent option in the front office, which is begging LeBron to remain on his terms as long as he prefers. At present, James is allowing his 19-year-old son to choose his path, saying, “That’s a young man who will decide what he wants to do and I ain’t going to say … where to go. I just think the fact that we are even having the conversation is pretty cool in the sense of that. But we’ll see what happens.”
What should happen, in his mind, is that Bronny wears purple and gold and enters the G League developmental process with the South Bay Lakers. If not? It wouldn’t shock me given LeBron’s recent comments about a father-son hookup — “I need to be on the floor with my boy,” he said — if he takes a long look at the franchise that interrupts a man’s twilight-tapping reality near 40.
Might it interest him if the New York Knicks, playing in his “mecca” of arenas, take Bronny at No. 38 after making two picks in the first round? Has LeBron been watching Jalen Brunson, knowing he needs help in the postseason? Wouldn’t his heart thump as he finishes his career in a megacity tasting contention?
Might it interest him if the Timberwolves, with Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, take Bronny at No. 37? Would LeBron consider signing with a new monster that could bring him a championship while playing with Ant-Man?
Might it interest him if the Phoenix Suns, desperate and trying a new coach in Mike Budenholzer, actually reach to take Bronny at No. 22? Imagine LeBron with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Beats Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.
What about Philadelphia, choosing No. 41, where he finally could lift Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to the Finals? Or the Clippers, who wouldn’t require James to move and simply shift to a new Inglewood arena if Bronny is taken at No. 46? And who chooses a spot ahead of the Lakers — the Boston Celtics, who might become an all-time operation? He appeared Monday night at a game in his original home region of Cleveland, where the Cavaliers aren’t close to a title but do pick 20th in the first round.
In the end, as he watches the playoffs, LeBron’s massive ego takes precedence. He’ll burn if the Western Conference finals feature Kyrie Irving, who ran away from James in Cleveland because he didn’t want to “adjust my game to this guy.” He can’t stand kids almost half his age, like Edwards, playing for championships. Think his elderly quotient spills if the Denver Nuggets return as champions when he played for the last back-to-backer, the Miami Heat of 11 long years ago? When LeBron shows up every night in May, doesn’t he wonder about the engine of Jayson Tatum? And why the Lakers won’t be better next season, with Anthony Davis trying to stay healthy and the rest of the crew barely playoff-worthy?
A contender should aim to overwhelm the old man. Make a package to groom the kid — who works hard but might not make the NBA with few offensive skills — and have his dad along for the much bigger ride. This is one of the worst drafts in years. What would the Knicks have to lose? A worst-case scenario: Bronny comes to New York and LeBron decides to remain with the Lakers, at a $51.4 player option or a new deal. June 29 is the date for that decision, days after the draft.
LeBron will know where Bronny is going, now that the league has cleared him to be drafted after his cardiac arrest in July. If the team is the Lakers, the league will have cut offseason favoritism deals, which is dead wrong. If the team is the Knicks, Wolves, Suns or Sixers? Then we’ll start talking about a different future. He can play anywhere, taking less money, as basketball’s version of an ageless Tom Brady.
Why not play for a potential champion instead of another loser?
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.