Rachel Nichols Jumps to Bronny James' Defense Amid 'Unfair Criticism'
Bronny James has already become one of the most criticized players to ever enter the league and sports presenter Rachel Nichols thinks the criticism is unfounded.
“I think people look at him as if he was chosen out of ten.” He is not a top 10 pick, he is number 55,” said Nichols It cannot be disputed. “The expectation for the No. 55 pick should be that he looks to the G-League and maybe get some games in the NBA.”
Nichols went on to talk about last year's 55th overall pick, Isaiah Wong, who was drafted by the Pacers.
“He didn't measure four minutes in an NBA game, [he played] four whole minutes and that came in one game,” Nichols said of Wong.
“To evaluate Bronny near the top ten picks compared to what the other guys have done at No. 55 is just not fair. And obviously it will happen, we all look up to him because of who he is and that he plays for the Lakers, don't forget that, too, in addition to being LeBron's son. But he does not play at a much lower level than other players who have been in his position and who have played before.”
Nichols then talked about Alex Sarr, the number two pick by the Wizards.
He shot 1-21 from the field over two Summer League games and went all 30 minutes without scoring. But the NBA media doesn't want to talk about that.
Bronny should use the Summer League games as a learning tool and not much else, Nichols said.
“Bronny James is the 55th player. JJ Redick has come out and said he's an improving player, we all knew this going in, so to sit there and criticize him with Summer League numbers is, as I've said many times, numbers don't matter in summer league. We've seen guys have bad Summer Leagues and go on to great NBA careers,” Nichols said.
“What Bronny has to get used to in the Summer League is the speed of the game, he has to get used to new coaches and teammates and new schemes and he has to get used to the attention he gets, because that is one of the ways. other things I saw sitting on the court in that Monday night game between the Celtics and the Lakers, every time he touched the ball, the crowd went wild. And when he finally scored in the fourth quarter, there was just this wave and we've seen some of his games, that the fans actually booed the coach from the stands saying, 'Give Bronny the ball, give Bronny the ball.' Nobody wants that as a player.”
READ MORE: Bronny James Reacts To His Best Lakers Performance Yet
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