Klutch Sports founder Rich Paul sheds light on Bronny James potentially shutting down doubters with recent performance on Lakers 

During the NBA All-Star Weekend, Bronny James was a topic of discussion at a live recording of the "Gil's Arena" podcast. In this episode, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul had a conversation with Gilbert Arenas, Kenyon Martin, and Nick Young about the second-generation athlete's development.

At one point, Young brought up Bronny's performance against the Utah Jazz right before the All-Star break, a performance that saw the Lakers guard put up some solid numbers. Despite the fact that those numbers came in a loss, Paul — who represents both Bronny and his father LeBron — pointed to the importance of Bronny's production in the Jazz game last Wednesday:

"There's no such thing as garbage time," Paul said. "When you are at the end of a bench on an NBA team, and you get those minutes, and you produce in those minutes, whether you're up 30 or down 30, all you want is the validation from your teammates in the locker room. You feel good about that." [Timestamp - 12:04]

Paul then acknowledged the prevalence of social media in this day and age of basketball. According to the famed agent, while players like Arenas and Young had to deal with criticism from pundits on TV outlets, athletes nowadays are on the receiving end of comments from online users on social media.

Amidst netizens' criticism of Bronny James since he entered the league last year, Paul maintained that the 20-year-old's performance against the Jazz on Feb. 12 was significant "from a confidence perspective." That night, Bronny scored nine points — the most of his NBA career thus far — and had the best plus/minus on the team.

Though Bronny has had his fair share of naysayers online, he can at least be assured that his agent (who happens to be a trusted partner of his father) has his back through thick and thin.

Bronny James survives injury scare in front of mom Savannah

Though Bronny James has not played too many minutes in his NBA career, he's had some impressive outings in the G League. Earlier this month, however, he got into a close call with the injury bug right in front of his mother Savannah James.

During a game between his team South Bay and the Valley Suns, James drove aggressively to the rim for a dunk. Moments later, however, he landed hard on his back:

To his mother's relief, Bronny James was able to avoid a major injury in this instance. Days later, he was putting up the best scoring performance of his young NBA career.