Bronny James says he’s prepared for ‘amplified’ pressure at introductory press conference

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — As with everything involving Bronny James and the Lakers, his father’s shadow looms over everything. Even though Bronny tries to make his own way.

On Tuesday, Bronny was on the makeshift stage at the Lakers’ practice facility, officially introduced as a member of the storied franchise — alongside Lakers first-round pick Dalton Knecht — and talking about how his father isn’t the reason he makes decisions or how he does them.

“I just want to come to work and get better every day. I never really thought about playing with my dad,” Bronny said. “It’s always there, but it wasn’t my main focus.”

Yet, in the back of the room stood LeBron, in shorts and a hoodie, listening and with multiple cameras trained on him as he moved. Later, as Bronny walked across the court and toward the Lakers’ locker room, father and son shook hands as usual.

And so begins Bronny’s career. He’ll try to carve out his own path, but it’ll be hard to escape the shadow of his father, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a GOAT, the face of the Lakers franchise and still an All-NBA player heading into his 40th season.

“Rob and I didn’t give Bronny anything,” new Lakers coach JJ Redick said of drafting Bronny at No. 55. “Bronny earned that through hard work.

“For the Lakers, we view Bronny as a number one case study because his baseline in terms of feel, athleticism, point-of-attack defense, shooting, passing, there’s a lot to like about his game. As we build our player development program holistically, he’s going to have the opportunity to become a great NBA player.”

Knecht too, and the Lakers need him to do it sooner. Los Angeles selected the 23-year-old from Tennessee because he is
Knecht is one of the best shooters in the draft and can immediately help a team that has seen little change so far this offseason. Both Knecht and Bronny will get a chance to showcase their talents in Summer League.

Bronny still has a long way to go and a lot of work to do to get there, according to scouts who spoke to NBC Sports about Bronny. The shooting and passing Redick talked about need to improve, as does his ball game, and he’s had to prove that at 6’1″ he can defend at the NBA level.

This is all pretty normal for a late second-round pick — these are players teams are taking a risk on. Bronny is just working on that development for on a guaranteed NBA contractsomething few others in his situation do.

He’ll also have to do it in the spotlight and under more pressure than other second-round picks.

“It’s definitely amplified the pressure,” Bronny said. “I’ve seen people on social media and online say maybe I don’t deserve an opportunity. But I’ve been through this stuff my whole life. This is no different. It’s more amplified, for sure, but I can handle it.”

It’s up to him to get out of this if Bronny wants to get out of his father’s shadow.