"Bronny may not even be the worst example of nepotism" - NBA podcaster identifies lower potential draft prospect than Bronny James
Bronny James is unsurprisingly in the limelight after he decided to forego his college basketball eligibility by remaining eligible for the 2024 NBA Draft. Some are convinced James Jr. is only getting opportunities because he is LeBron James’ son. Many of his critics are saying that the former USC guard’s skills need more time to develop before any NBA team considers drafting him.
Nepotism has become the theme leading into the draft. The younger James can’t do anything about those accusations except to prove that he deserves a place in the biggest basketball league in the world. He started to do just that with a solid Draft Combine that had evaluators re-thinking their analysis of the former Trojan’s potential.
Bronny James’ possible entry into the NBA may not be the biggest example of nepotism. Sean Barnard of “Pick Swap Media” pushed another name that more than rivals James Jr.’s case:
“Shout out to our guy JZ Zaher who is sticking in the draft from Bowling Green. [He] averaged a whopping 0.7 points per game on 12.5% from the field this season. His uncle also happens to be the owner of the Pistons. Bronny may not even be the worst example of nepotism in this draft.”
Co-host Ryan Hammer chimed in:
“That s**t is so much worse. What are they gonna give him? They’re gonna give him a G League deal? That s**t is crazy.”
JZ Zaher played five games for the Bowling Green State University Falcons and averaged 0.7 PPG in 4.3 minutes per contest. He also spent one season with the Eastern Michigan Eagles where he played two games and had zeros across the board. Only his 1.0 MPG broke the monotony of his line with the Eagles.
The podcasters may be right when comparing the possible nepotism accusations between Bronny James and JZ Zaher. Detroit has the No.5 and 53 picks in the NBA Draft. It will be interesting to see who they will get. They might even go for James Jr. to add to the circus.
Bronny James’ agent Rich Paul insists his client should not care about nepotism
Bronny James’ agent, Rich Paul, who is also LeBron James’ representative, took a hard stance about nepotism accusations. The Klutch Sports CEO casually brushed aside detractors by saying that “America is built on nepotism.”
Paul went outside basketball to give an example of his assertion. He talked about Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and how his kids will be positioned because of what the father did. The renowned sports agent, in an interview with TNT's Chris Haynes, added:
“Bronny shouldn’t apologize for who his dad is.”
In the same way, JZ Zaher should not apologize for who his uncle is.
But, Rich Paul emphasizes what Bronny James, and in effect Zaher, should face:
“But as far as the sports people having an opinion, they have every right to have an opinion, and they have every right to critique Bronny's game. Under no circumstance should he get a pass because of who his father is."
Bronny James is getting drafted for business and even non-business reasons. It remains to be seen if JZ Zaher gets to follow that route later this month.