"He didn't have the opportunity to truly prepare for the season": Robert Griffin III defends Bronny James' unimpressive freshman year with USC
Bronny James, the son of NBA legend LeBron James, had an awful start to his collegiate career with the USC Trojans. After high expectations from the son of an NBA legend, Bronny had an episode of cardiac arrest in the summer, forcing him to miss a ton of training and part of the early season.
Robert Griffin III, a former NFL player, defended Bronny for his bad performance in his freshman season. He stressed the fact that Bronny had less time to prepare after returning from the health issues. He took to X (formerly Twitter) to support Bronny in his bad times.
"For anyone who wants to bring up his stats from last year at USC, understand that Bronny James almost DIED. He went through cardiac arrest on July 24. He was in the hospital for three days," said Robert Griffin III.
"Then, when it came around to the season, he wasn't even clear until November 30. He had two full-contact practices with his teammates before his debut on December 10," he added.
"So if you want to talk about the points per game that he had, you want to talk about the three-point percentage that he had, understand that he didn't have the opportunity to truly prepare for the season," he added to highlight Bronny's lack of preparation due to injury.
Bronny averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game in the 2023-24 season. Draft experts had him going undrafted at the 2024 NBA Draft, until recently. He has already declared for it. His father, LeBron James, has a dream to play with his son in the NBA.
The fact that LeBron's contract with the Lakers expires this season is very important to Bronny's NBA Draft future. The Lakers might sign Bronny to lure his father to sign another contract with them and finally, the much-awaited father-son duo will be on the court in the NBA.
"We've got to let Bronny James live man. I mean, let's be honest, LeBron James and Bronny James on the same team next would be must-watch TV. I mean sign me up right now for that," said Robert Griffin III in his video.
How did Bronny James perform at the NBA Draft Combine?
On days 1 and 2 of the NBA Draft Combine, Bronny James left everyone surprised with his performance in the drills. For his performance, aiming to improve his draft prospects, Bronny received praise from NBA champion Kevin Garnett.
"Up there, Bronny looks really good. He looks really good. He looks poised. He looks like he wasn't rattled by everything that was going around. He looked like he was used to the moment. He had a good session where he shot the ball well," said Kevin Garnett.
Bronny secured the fourth-highest vertical at 40.5" and also converted 19 out of 25 three-point attempts. In the presence of his father and mom, he also made 12 consecutive shots to make him a more attractive prospect for the NBA.