Can NBA media stop being weird about Bronny James?

With Bronny James’ NBA future nearly decided, NBA media is firing off some of its weirdest takes about the whole situation.

Throughout his brief basketball career, Bronny James has been the subject of as much media focus as anyone ever has at his age. Being the son of the greatest NBA player of all time will do that even before you take into account that Bronny was, at one point, one of the most heralded players of his class.

Unfortunately, with the state of media in 2024, that has led to lots of weirdness. And with Bronny’s NBA fate about to be decided on Thursday when the NBA holds the second round of its draft, that weirdness is really being turned up a notch.

It’s been clear throughout the predraft process that Rich Paul, agent for Bronny and LeBron both, is trying to steer his client to specific teams. He’s no the first agent to do that and won’t be the last. But because the Lakers are the team he’s being steered to and because he’s Bronny and because he’s LeBron’s kid, the NBA media is really struggling to be normal about this.

On Thursday morning, Tim Legler of ESPN offered up his take on the matter, suggesting — probably jokingly, I hope — that the Celtics, who hold the pick right before the Lakers in the second round, should draft Bronny and hold him hostage. Yes, really.

For some reason, this has become a common suggestion, including Bill Simmons of The Ringer. On a podcast last week, Simmons offered up more or less the same premise of drafting Bronny with no intent of playing him or helping him develop, but instead to hold him hostage and make the Lakers trade for him (h/t MSN):

“I’m saying for the asset,” he said. “The Lakers, you want him? Well, we took Bronny, so give us Max Christie. How bad do you want him? I would say Bronny the asset at 30 as a trade thing is worth more than anyone they could get here.

And just in case you wanted to see someone else make the same case, Alan Hahn, a sports radio host for ESPN radio, appeared on Get Up last week and said the Celtics should hold Bronny ransom.

We’re aware Bronny is a person, not some inanimate asset, right? Like this is a person’s life everyone is suggesting just toying with. What is it about Bronny that makes people act really weird? Can’t we just treat him like a normal prospect?

Analysts have long struggled with the fact that athletes are human beings and not simply assets and this is the latest example. Drafting him and holding him ransom is one of the weirdest things you could possibly say about this whole situation.

All of this also hinges on the belief that LeBron is adamant that he wants to play with Bronny, an idea he has long backed away from. It’s not even based on anonymous reports or beliefs or anything like that. Rich Paul himself outright said it.

Bronny’s a young man who simply wants to fulfill his NBA dream, which he will on Thursday. It doesn’t need to be anything other than that. Just let Bronny live out that dream without being bizarre and weird about it.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.