“The NBA is going to be great for him”: USC teammate Isaiah Collier speaks highly of Bronny James ahead of 2024 NBA draft

It's been a season of mixed opinions about Bronny James's readiness for the NBA. The son of NBA legend LeBron James, Bronny struggled as a freshman at USC after a cardiac scare last season. However, a few basketball professionals have talked about his potential to be a great player in the future.

On May 12, during the NBA predraft camp in Chicago, Bronny's USC and Sierra Canyon School teammate, Isaiah Collier, praised him, saying that he was going to be successful in the league.

"The NBA is going to be great for him," Collier said. "People haven't seen as much as what we've seen as a team. He's going to be a great player. Little that people know, he's really good."

Bronny James was expected to do wonders in basketball, with expectations coming along with his name, being LeBron James's son. However, after the cardiac arrest scare in July and not playing in a game until Dec. 10, he averaged only 4.8 points per game while shooting 36.6%.

Despite that, he declared for the 2024 NBA draft and was invited to the NBA draft combine where things turned around for him. Bronny had an amazing combine, recording the sixth-highest vertical (40.5 inches) and canned 12 consecutive 3-pointers during the shooting drill.

However, analyst Ryen Russillo recently talked about Bronny's NBA draft status on his podcast. His comments reflected major dissatisfaction with what Bronny has to offer NBA teams.

"I did a deep dive this week, and I can't believe we're even doing this," Russillo said. "There's almost nothing that stands out. You forget he's on the floor in college. The shooting numbers are not good. Cool screen here or there."

On the same podcast, The Athletic's Sam Vecenie didn't agree with Russillo.

"I've done, you know, a dive back to like 2008 or so, and I believe that Bronny would be the only one-and-done, like, ever drafted point blank that is 6-foot-1 that averaged under five points per game," Vecenie said.

Isaiah Collier praised LeBron James for his support

NBA combine: LeBron James

Isaiah Collier's comments did not just reflect his great relationship with Bronny but he also talked, via Marc J. Spears of Andscape, about how helpful his father, LeBron, has been to him.

"It's vibes just talking to him," Collier said. "He told me to enjoy the process. It's hard to make it even this far in your career.

"I've talked to LeBron a couple of times. He has definitely been a great resource for me. He is one of the greats – in my opinion, the greatest of all time. It was crazy surreal to have met him. I'm blessed to be in this situation, and I'm taking advantage of every moment."

It's draft time, and both Bronny and Isaiah are expecting their names to be called either Wednesday or Thursday.

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