Rich Paul Breaks Silence on Australian Threat from Lakers’ Bronny James

The Los Angeles Lakers are currently playing in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada, where all eyes are on Bronny James, the son of NBA legend and current second-round forward Bronny James. While first-round pick Dalton Knecht has shown some signs of excitement for Lakers fans, Bronny has largely struggled in the Summer League so far, having yet to make a three-pointer and disappointing fans who hoped his strong college defense would translate to the NBA level.

While Bronny’s selection was described as a heartwarming motivational story by some, the reality of how he ended up at the Lakers was a little less romantic, as it was reported that LeBron James’ former throwback jersey dealer Rich Paul essentially threatened teams not named the Lakers that if they drafted Bronny, he would use his talents to play in Australia instead.

Today, Paul defends these actions during a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.

“You actually have relationships with people and you make the decisions, they respect each other,” Paul said, via Pat McAfee on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “They understand what was at stake in this deal. There were a lot of teams interested in Bronny, but you have the decisions, you talk about it and they understand it. It’s just relationships across the league, you know what’s going on in Australia, that’s what it is.”

Paul also defended Bronny James as his Summer League struggles continue to intensify.

“I think all these guys are developing, Bronny is no different,” Paul said. “He can’t be left out of the development phase. He obviously wants to make shots, and he will, but again, it’s about developing good habits. I think Bronny’s opportunity to play at the league level is going to be on defense and that’s something he’s really good at now. He’s got to get better at the other components of the game and he will.”

Does Rich Paul Have Too Much Influence Over the Lakers?

At this point, it’s certainly fair to wonder whether Bronny James’ current situation is a result of what he wants himself, or whether those around him, like Paul as well as his father LeBron, are making most of the decisions for him.

Regardless, Lakers fans hoping to see Bronny on the Lakers roster this year won’t be very encouraged by what they’ve seen from the point guard in Summer League this year. At this point, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, Dalton Knecht, Gabe Vincent, Max Christie, Cam Reddish, Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis should all be ahead of him on the depth chart, making the prospect of him making the main roster, let alone playing in a game, far-fetched at best right now.

Yet fans who are quick to direct social media hate at the teenager should perhaps stop and reconsider how much of it is actually his fault, and how much of it can be attributed to the influence of people like Paul.