Bronny James' teammate slams 'special treatment' claims of LeBron James' son on Lakers: "That doesn’t really shock me"
LA Lakers rookie Bronny James has been receiving a tremendous amount of attention since he declared for the NBA draft. Both leading up to and since the draft, Bronny James has been one of, if not the single most discussed rookie in the league. Despite that, rookie Blake Hinson didn't feel as though Bronny got preferential treatment in Summer League.
Hinson was one of the best performers of the NBA 2k25 Summer League in Las Vegas, leading the team to a win in their final game against the Chicago Bulls with 25 points.
He and Bronny shared the court several times this summer, both at the California Classic and at the NBA 2k25 Summer League in Vegas. While there was plenty of media attention and fan attention focused on Bronny, Blake Hinson didn't feel as though he was treated differently.
While speaking in an interview with Lakers Nation, he opened up on his experience playing alongside Bronny, refuting a report from an anonymous player that alleged Bronny received special treatment.
“Where is that (report) at? Honestly, you know how it is. Stuff like that doesn’t really shock me. But we need to figure out if that’s even true because to be totally honest with you, as far as his treatment, he was just a normal guy.
“He just played basketball, he really stays out of the way. He’s a cool dude. I don’t really understand how something like that came out. So that’s nonsense to me.”
Looking back at the anonymous report of Bronny James receiving preferential treatment
As Blake Hinson explained, he wasn't quite sure where the report of Bronny James receiving preferential treatment came from. To date, the player quoted in the US Sun article has remained anonymous, leaving fans to speculate as to who the source was.
The Lakers played in two legs of the Summer League, first competing in the California Classic, before then heading to Las Vegas for the NBA 2k25 Summer League. Their team was comprised of 13 players, including Bronny James and Blake Hinson, as seen below:
- Colin Castleton
- Mohamed Diarra
- Sean East II
- Blake Hinson
- Bronny James Jr.
- Dalton Knecht
- Tommy Kuhse
- Maxwell Lewis
- Kyle Mangas
- Grayson Murphy
- Joirdon Nicholas
- Quincy Olivari
- Armel Traore
- Vincent Valerio-Bodon
This narrows down the potential source to 11 players once we exclude Hinson and of course Bronny James. As the source alleged in the US Sun article:
“I ended up being very frustrated because I was never put in the best situation, or even put in some plays or game plans because they wanted Bronny to show his skills and shine."
The player claimed that other players on the Lakers's Summer League roster would back him up on his claims, however, from the sounds of things Hinson doesn't agree.
Whether or not other players come forward to corroborate, or refute, the claims, only time will tell.