Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James went on a rant about college basketball on the “Mind the Game” podcast with co-host JJ Redick and explained why it gave him “anxiety” to watch his son Bronny James play at USC this season.
“The NBA is the best league in the world,” James said. “That’s why it’s hard to watch my son play college basketball. … It is hard watching a 40 minute college basketball game. It’s hard. I get more anxiety and I sweat more watching college basketball, especially my son now, than I’ve ever done in my life.”
Later in the episode, James explained why the college game is becoming increasingly harder to watch in his eyes.
“I’ve never understood why a coach will throw the ball into the post with his big with no business with the ball in the post,” James said. “The only time the ball should go into the post with the big is if he, automatically, as soon as he catches it, flattens the defense and he goes right back into a DHO uphill, roll – if he’s not a pocket passer you can’t throw it low, throw it to the rim – or it’s his job is to just shrink the defense cause his role is so dynamic. I watch college games and I see guys throw the ball in the post to guys and they’ll turn around and shoot a jump shot or a running left handed jump hook.”
The younger James played in 25 games during the 2023-24 season after missing the first eight games of his college career due to a scary health incident that saw him go into cardiac arrest during a summer workout. He averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per game.
With USC’s season officially over, James will have a decision to make about the 2024 NBA Draft. The 19-year-old could declare for this summer’s draft where his draft stock is expected to be unpredictable or return for the 2024-25 season to help lead USC into its transition as a Big Ten program.
“It’s up to him,” LeBron said on Bronny’s draft status during NBA All-Star Game Weekend last month. “It’s up to the kid. Obviously, we gonna go through the whole process. He’s still in season now, has the Pac-12 tournament coming up. … We gonna weigh our options, and we gonna let the kid make the decision.”
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