Nepotism is a powerful force in our world. Just take a look at the sports media where there are almost too many family dynasties to count whether it’s been the Bucks, the Eagles, the Collinsworths, or many others over the years. And when it came to the 2024 NBA Draft and Bronny James being selected by the Los Angeles Lakers, nepotism was in the air once again.
After years of wondering whether or not LeBron James would indeed have a chance to play with his son in the NBA, it’s all coming together after the Lakers picked Bronny at Pick #55 in the second round on Thursday afternoon. It seemed as if everyone involved knew what was coming, which made Adrian Wojnarowski’s comments before the selection all the more interesting.
A few minutes before the Lakers were on the clock, Woj went out of his way to push back at critics of James during the ESPN telecast of the 2024 NBA Draft. Woj noted that he didn’t want to hear accusations about the Lakers acting out of nepotism and doing their star player a favor by saying it’s already prevalent throughout the NBA.
“I don’t want to hear the charges, people talking about nepotism. The NBA is full of nepotism. The ownership level, front offices, coaching. I don’t want to hear about it all of a sudden because Bronny James’ father plays for the Lakers. It is rampant in this league,” Wojnarowski said.
The NBA may be full of nepotism, the Nuggets boasted three coaches on their championship winning team who were sons of NBA coaches after all. And when it comes to nepotism, there’s always a debate about merit and whether folks truly earn opportunities or how much of a head start they have because of their family situation.
But in fairness to the current reality, the Los Angeles Lakers are the first team in NBA history to hire the podcast partner of their best player who had zero coaching experience and then draft his son in the same week.