"Don't say he's better than NBA players": College hoops world goes off on LeBron James defending Bronny James ahead of 2024 NBA Draft

ESPN made the decision to move Bronny James from their 2024 NBA mock draft to their 2025 NBA mock draft, catching the attention of his father LeBron James. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar took to Twitter on Monday to criticize the noise surrounding the USC Trojans guard, stating:

"Can yall please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball. The work and results will ultimately do the talking no matter what he decides to do. If y’all don’t know he doesn’t care what a mock draft says, he just WORKS! Earned Not Given!"

He also advised younger athletes to avoid the noise, adding:

"And to all the other kids out there striving to be great just keep your head down, blinders on and keep grinding. These Mock Drafts doesn’t matter one bit! I promise you! Only the WORK MATTERS!! Let’s talk REAL BASKETBALL PEOPLE! ✌🏾👑"

Check out a screenshot of LeBron James' tweets below:

How did fans react to LeBron James defending Bronny James

As is often the case with anything related to LeBron James, he faced backlash from fans for his comments on Bronny James' draft positioning. @MuseBarnes called him out for claiming Bronny is better than current NBA players:

"MAYBE DONT SAY HE IS BETTER THAN NBA PLAYERS"

@EthicalHoopz claimed that mock drafts do matter:

"Really easy and cheap to say “these mock drafts don’t matter” when you were the consensus number 1 pick. In reality, it matters a lot. Getting media hype around you can make a difference in millions of dollars in career earnings"

@OG389 used his tweet as an opportunity to take a dig at Killian Hayes:

"He did say bronny was better than some players in the league, but killian hayes was cut so his statement is cooked now 😭😭"

@joeggreen believes that Bronny has only garnered attention due to his father:

"These are good words as a father, but let’s not pretend like Bronny was only ever projected to go as high as he was because of his name, if he wasn’t LeBron James Jr. and still had the same stat line/injury history, there’s no way he’d be drafted this year at all."

@TheRightGuy101 predicted that the father and son will team up on the Los Angeles Lakers:

"Spoiler alert: Bronny is going to end up on the Lakers"

@hothandsports1 suggested that his status as one of the greatest players of all-time has increased the criticism:

"Bro, his kid could have been anything he wanted and he wouldnt be hearing the criticism. Like Charlie Woods he’s trying to follow his dads footsteps whos one of the best all time. You have to understand that and accept the criticism."

@TylerWeber24 blamed LeBron for putting additional pressure on Bronny:

"Says the guy who named his son after him and said “I want to play with my son” ultimately putting the most pressure on him possible"

It was not all negativity, however, as @Br0nToLA23 claimed Bronny will show up in the pros:

"He’s right bronny will show up in the big league once he makes it"