Someone who had an NBA career - something that a Bronny Brown wouldn't sniff
The 2024-25 Los Angeles Lakers Thread
- Thread starter Brian in Mesa
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Lebron has won a championship with the Lakers. What has Kwame Brown done.? His career was a huge letdown. He should show some respect.
Giving up a late second round pick (55) was cheap to keep Lebron. I think any other NBA team would have gladly done the same.
He's talking about Bronny - a person that wouldn't sniff the NBA without his dad insisting on it.
If that was the deal the Lakers made - fine, but Bronny should expect to be exposed and called out for it.
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Bronny is a young man who wants to please his father and walk in his footsteps. He wants to succeed.
He can't help it that a player of Lebron's talent only comes along once a generation or whatever.
Is he not to try and take advantage of the opportunity to play in the NBA?
I certainly don't blame him for those that fuel the father-son dream.
Kwame was a 12 year NBA player. Was he a bust at #1 overall? Absolutely. That doesn't remove the fact he was a contributor though and positively helped some teams after his draft hype dissipated.
As a former Laker, I think he has as much if not more of a right to say "Bronnie sucks" than we do as fans. I think Bronnie sucks and doesn't belong in the NBA and I'll admit that his presence on the Lakers makes the Lakers a worse team, which is good for my fandom of the Suns so I should be rooting for 13 Bronnie's being on that squad. I can remove my fandom and bias though and say that Bronnie hasn't shown an ability to earn his roster spot. There are more talented player that should have that spot if the Lakers want to compete for anything positive brought by winning.
That's fine. Just don't get bent when people point out the obvious.
And that is a LeBron issue. I wouldn't be cool with the Suns placating that at the expense of the team and also the development of Bronnie, which I feel is being ignored by Lebron. He's pushed for this moment for 6-7 years that I remember. I don't blame Bronnie, it was his dad who started this and hurt his development as a player saying he wouldn't go anywhere that offered a Two-Way deal since that is his skill, if even that. He's definitely not above that yet but LeBron has forced his desire to be met at the expense of his son's desire to better himself as a basketball player because LeBron wants this father son moment, which I get as a father but I don't agree with as a sports fan examining the situation from a more subjective perspective. I believe that's where Kwame is coming from also, from a perspective of someone who walked the path and he's entitled to his opinion just like anyone else.
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He knows a bust when he sees one. LOL
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I don't believe in criticizing a young man doing his best to follow in his father's footsteps by playing in the NBA.
It's not his fault he may not have enough talent.
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As a Lakers fan, I would think you would be on the other side of the coin.
If I could have added Lebron to the Suns for the 55th pick, I would have done it already.
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I don't understand the "bent" comment. I'm giving my opinion.
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Kwame Brown was definitely a bust, but he was also a part of the trade which brought Hall of Famer Pau Gasol to the team, and he helped us win titles in 2009 and 2010.
I respect your opinion but disagree. I don't think a roster spot should be wasted to placate a players ego, which has happened to the Suns and is happening to the Lakers. See Zoran Dragic for the Suns example, he didn't deserve a spot in the NBA and it blew up in our face. I don't support it. I don't agree with attacking the person who is collateral damage, ie Zoran & Bronnie, but facts are facts in that they aren't skilled enough to play in the NBA and throwing them in with NBA players doesn't help their development.
I'm going to quote Kwame, because I agree with what he said here and don't see the issue. He raises a valid critique in saying Bronny isn't doing well. He's addressing LeBron also though, so I don't think he's being unfair in his take.
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I'm not getting into trades and expanding the discussion.
So was the 55th pick not worth keeping Lebron? Most of those late draft picks never work out.
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I don't like it because our GM should be picking the players, and the top player should be playing basketball. Period. Our GM has had enough struggles since our last championship. Making this a "bring your kid to work year" only helps if it helps the team win more. So far, there is nothing to show that this move will help us win more.
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IMHO, we could have drafted another player and just picked up Bronny as an undrafted player. I don't think any other team would have drafted him unless they did it to waste a roster spot in the hopes it would lure his dad to their team. Most GMs don't want to play those kinds of games.
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If Brown kept out the reference to his "father" in the quote, it would be fair criticism, especially if he is grading all the late draft picks and free agents. I'm not sure if this is the case though.
I'm glad the Suns have given brothers an opportunity to play in the NBA such as the Morris twins, Zoran Dragic and Miles Plumlee. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
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Don't forget they had both Tom and Dick Van Arsdale in the 70s for the final season (76-77) for both twins as players.
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It's a very small cost of doing business.
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Yes, I remember, but I didn't want to change what I had already written. There was another brother as well, who I can't think of at the moment.
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It is the definition of the inmates running the asylum. The entire structure of the franchise is fractured. Who is the head coach? Oh, just a guy that our best player had a podcast with. Who should we draft? How about our best player's son? What is Rob Pelinka even doing these days? Does he have a steno pad and write down whatever LBJ suggests the team should do? The optics are horrible.
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Here is our top player whining about having to travel to Milwaukee for a preseason game. (It is part of a home and away agreement between the two teams)
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It's hard continually riding the crest of a wave, which the Lakers have done over the years, attracting star players.
I'd gladly take just one of those championships for the Suns.
You see it as the cost of business while I view it as a warning sign. A player who wants to win championships doesn't want to have a spot used for someone not ready for primetime, as Bronny is not, which shows LeBron isn't as focused on winning championships as he is on exerting his power and fulfilling his dream of playing with his son. They can play together anywhere except they shouldn't be playing together in the NBA unless we're all willing to admit that LeBron isn't as focused on winning right now.
The other brother I'm thinking of is Taylor Griffin, who was also not an NBA talent and that proved to the be the case. I don't blame the Suns for doing so when they believe it makes the team better as a whole to compete, like when they brought in Marcus to play with Markieff. Both players had shown NBA level talent at that point and it was worth seeing if they'd do better and take that next step together because the Suns weren't competing for a title. We were trying to build a roster of talented to players to add too and Markieff filled a role as did Marcus. I don't see Bronny doing anything to help the Lakers win, which is supposedely their goal. If they came out and said they were interested in Bronny's development then they'd have probably signed him to a Two-Way and not thrown him in the deep end before he's ready to swim because he hasn't shown that level of skill at any level. If his dad wants to develop his son and is as good of a basketball mind as he claims to be then he needs to interject also because this isn't helping Bronny. I want the best for Bronny and I don't think that is on an NBA roster because he's under a HUGE microscope and has these expectations thrust on him that aren't fair to him but his father put him in this spot and he's not going to fair well, IMO. It sucks because we're watching a young man fail because of goals his father has set. LeBron wants to play with his son in the NBA being the main thing, regardless of whether his son has the skill to truly earn a spot.
LeBron really does live in his own little world. I liked him as a player initially, hated him because of "The Decision", and respected the hell out of him as an athlete and man who went back to Cleveland and won a title. He started going a little nuts calling for things in Cleveland and ultimately left, which is his call entirely but his ego has exceeded his considerable skill set since he's been in LA, at least that's how I view it. Sucks for the Lakers fans they have to deal with an ownership who is fine with that sort of ego and control he demands but maybe it's worth it or acceptable for y'all. I can't say I don't enjoy seeing the ridiculousness as a Suns fan and I'm grateful my team isn't willing to sacrifice to that level. Maybe it's why we don't have banners but if that's the cost we'd have to pay then I'm grateful it's not something endure.
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