LeBron James is Opportunistic and Unfortunately, High Off of His Own Power

In a wannabe world building move, LeBron James somewhat arranges for his son to be picked by the Lakers in the 2024 NBA Draft. It's as corny as it sounds.

LeBron James and Rich Paul are the two biggest power brokers in basketball since World Wide Wes was shouted out on that Drake song. Usually, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The owners, majority of them white, have controlled the player’s livelihood — where they play, uprooting their families — since the beginnings of the NBA. Ever since LeBron came into the league, and started Klutch Sports, he has been able to align himself with power. Is he gaming the owners? Maybe. But there isn’t real evidence that LeBron’s power plays make life harder on the rich white men. It seems to further his own agenda, further his own legacy as a rich Black professional, and future Jack and Jill operator. The burning of his jersey in Northeast Ohio when he took his talents to South Beach was the ramblings of white folks who could not believe this negro player had other ideas on where he should play, but that was also fifteen years ago at this point. Kanye West was still a God in our time; Rick Ross was just starting to make listeners feel like the recession was over. At this point, in the year of 2024, LeBron has become a hero for one person: himself. Narcissism has jumped like he does; a hunger for power has increased over time; an only child-like need for attention has hurt his reputation as a selfless leader. I’m sure most don’t necessarily blame LeBron for following his bedfellow Jay-Z and becoming a “business, man.” America will never be ready for a Black athlete to become a shredder of power. In his faux reparations play, LeBron and his friends have filled in the void that President Obama and his family left when they left the White House. He’s America’s black man in chief now; the Cliff Huxtable who shows up to the Kendrick Lamar concert. 

America would not be the country that it is if men like LeBron didn’t decide to build family legacies by arranging things to happen for his son. Complaining about nepotism usually scans as mawkish. Tony Soprano was someone who took over his father’s business; the actor Jeff Bridges does what he father did; Ken Griffey Jr did what Sr did. People tend to become what their parents are and were, especially if their parents built fame and a legacy from a central occupation. Furthermore, nepotism is only nepotism when it is wielded by a back scratching deal, as opposed to just a son following in his dad’s footsteps. So, if you’re a young cat, coming up in the game, and your talent stands alone, your talent is the draw. No need to worry about what your old man used to be about. When these little Twitter bozos talk about nepotism, it is worse than a group of chess club boys whispering about Regina George’s weight gain. 

Different sports, so bare with me, but: Barry Bonds, for example, was a five tool player: dashingly talented. He could run, field, play with power, and had a bionic knowledge of the strikezone. Junior, although not as good as Bonds, was the same. However, the Los Angeles Lakers’s new bench player, LeBron James Jr, is decidedly not talented like those other sons were. With the 55th pick in the 2024 draft, the Lakers picked their famous player’s son. So far what we know about Bronny is that he was a McDonald’s All American; so was Sebastian Telfair. He went to USC; so did OJ Mayo. He came out in the draft early, so did almost every other 21st century prospect. Watching Bronny at USC didn’t answer many questions for people, even the ones who are rooting for him, this critic included. As laconic, child-like and sweet as the kid seems — he was able to come back and play after going into cardiac arrest in July — his game doesn’t completely seem ready for the onslaught of the NBA All-Star guard. Can he guard? Perhaps. Is he quick? Sure. Can he jump? Maybe. Will the eventual alley-oop to his father when they are up twenty points in an early regular season game be fun? Probably. All good things if you are someone who is trying to milk as much money as you can from a family. Nike, to be certain, is shaking in their boots for the James family to all link up on the court together. Phil Knight hasn’t been this horny since MJ first stepped into Beavertown. But, and this is a novel point that the media and the NBA don’t want people to make, this move to have your son be the last player on the bench for you because you want to sell an image for Black elitism, is also shockingly corny. It is a win for the backroom deal instead of the grind; it is a win for power and not collective unity; it is a win for tickets and fame — not team culture. To get places in this country, you must buy into the sentimental marketing, and LeBron has figured that out. Phil Jackson was being a comfortable pale skinned man when he called LeBron’s friends a “posse”, and there was reason for King James to be irritated, but now? He’s allowed for his friends to become just another group of rich pricks swinging their self-proclaimed legacies for everyone to see, and no one to enjoy. Bouts of racism from the idiots aside, LeBron’s recognition of a 4:44-like middle aged excess has shown him to be more childish than operational. Everything is always about him; new coach J.J. Redick, as long as he is not using the “n” word, will have his work cut out for him. The James family will continue to be all over the globe — in billboards and what have you — until people start to figure out that Bronny might not have any game, and Sr is no longer the best player in the league. Then, what is their next plan? Wait for Bryce to become six foot seven?

This all seems overwrought and unrepentantly obnoxious. Michael Jordan would never participate in something so industrial and glossy. The LeBron fans are right about aspects of Jordan: a lot of boomer propaganda exists within the Jordan mythology; the guy is a whiskey drinking, cigar smoking, gambling addict who has trouble sleeping at night. What they don’t seem to grasp is how much more compelling and interesting Jordan is to this day, and how much more chic he is. Jordan is just Jordan — and he knows it. The need to publicly be a father isn’t something remotely going through his mind. Representation to him, only extends to how hard he played, or how far he jumped. He isn’t selling you any mythological nobleness. It’s just the game, the buckets, the hooping, the omega. Jordan is the bold anomaly; the defiant athlete in his lack of technocrat ambition. He’s a rich gangster with no regrets, only carrying the sadness of missing his father. LeBron is the one building you a “Wakanda” only to ravage the country with cops and titanium that he mostly controls. LeBron is missing the key characteristic that most want from their Black athlete, or at least used to want: the act of being so cool that you want to be like that person. This move for Bronny lacks aura. It’s a win for the establishment that he has now decided to belong to.