Rich Paul, the long-time agent of LeBron James, now represents his son Bronny, and the agent did some speaking on behalf of the younger James as he continues to go through the pre-draft process.
The younger James declared for the 2024 NBA Draft, but Paul insists he will not sign a two-way contract with a pro team.
“Yes, that’s absolutely true,” he told Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes in a lengthy interview. “Teams know that. I’m not doing that.”
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, James has over 10 workout invites but is “only expected” to meet with a few teams, including the Lakers, who pick at No. 17 and No. 55, and the Suns, who have the No. 22 pick in the draft.
Paul also told Haynes that Bronny — who also suffered cardiac arrest prior to his freshman season — isn’t simply getting an opportunity because of his name.
Paul suggested that the four-star high school recruit, who averaged 4.8 points per game and logged under 20 minutes a night as USC’s sixth man, doesn’t need to “apologize” for his lineage.
“What do you think is going to happen with Jeff Bezos’ kids? He built Amazon. You think they’re not going to be positioned based upon what he’s built?” Paul said. “And none of them should be apologetic about that. The only thing you can go by is being thankful, treating people a certain way and enhancing something that you were positioned for. They shouldn’t apologize for that.
“And Bronny shouldn’t apologize for who his dad is.”
Paul also spoke on people rooting against James’ success.
“I’m not going sit here and punish a dad for being excited about his son because for many years, the Black father was portrayed as absent and he was portrayed as non-supportive,” he added. “There may have been some expectations through social media excitement that may have raised awareness to where people want to see you fail more than they want to see you succeed. Bronny catches a lot of strays from his father’s success. But that’s all part of it.”
Paul said Bronny isn’t getting “special treatment” in the process, despite criticism of his actual NBA potential given his limited college sample, saying that it’s “very naive logic” to think he’s getting special treatment because of LeBron.
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