LeBron James Says Bronny ‘Doesn’t Care’ At All What Critics Say About Him

During an interview with NBA reporter Dave McMenamin of ESPN, LeBron James said his son, Bronny James, “doesn’t care” at all what critics say about him. 

The Los Angeles Lakers drafted Bronny with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft out of USC. 

“I don’t know if people really understand Bronny,” LeBron told ESPN. “He doesn’t care. I actually care a little bit. When I came in [as a rookie], I wanted people to like me and some of the things that people were saying about me kind of bothered me early on in my career. … He doesn’t give a f—.

“He does not care about nobody. He doesn’t even listen to that stuff. He’s like the coolest. He’s like the complete opposite of his dad. His dad will say something [to address the critics]. Bro does not care. … Everything that’s being said about him, he really does not care.”

LeBron and Bronny will make NBA history in 2024-25. They will become the first father-son duo to play in a game together. 

Bronny has a lot of critics since LeBron is his father, but LeBron says Bronny is unfazed. 

“Just imagine if you were a kid, you were born into a situation where your dad was super famous, super wealthy and you the kid still had the drive to want to be able to accomplish things for yourself,” LeBron told ESPN. “I personally don’t know if I would’ve been able to do that if the roles were reversed. …

“When I was coming up, I had no choice. I literally had no choice. … I had to make it out for me. My mom, my family, my hometown, my city. Bronny has all the choices in the world. If Bronny wants to stop right now or never played basketball or just wanted to be a gamer or wanted to be a chef or wanted to be nothing to whatever, he could have done that. … People don’t understand how hard that is and the commitment for him to be coming out of heart surgery less than a year ago, for him to be able to be in the NBA, the kid, he’s special. But he doesn’t care. He doesn’t. It doesn’t bother him.”

The Lakers signed Bronny to a four-year, $7.9 million contract.

Bronny will spend most of the 2024-25 season with the Lakers’ G League team after sharing the court with his dad during the first week of the regular season.