NBA (DR)

LeBron James’ friend and agent Rich Paul also counts the King’s eldest son, Bronny, among his clients. In recent hours, he has therefore agreed to return to the rumors according to which he had used blackmail on the sidelines of the Draft of the young guard.

In a Draft whose level had been the subject of reluctance within the league for months, the main topic of discussion has long concerned a simple second-round choice.

But not just any choice, since it was Bronny James who made a lot of noise before being selected with the 55th pick. His name has remained at the heart of the debates since, and not necessarily for the right reasons.

Rich Paul reveals his 4 truths about the Bronny James soap opera

Obviously highly anticipated in the NBA given his surname, Bronny James is the subject of particular attention in the context of the Summer League, which is currently taking place. However, his level of performance is far from meeting the expectations of observers, and even his own according to his own admission . His agent, Rich Paul, wanted to calm things down concerning him on the Pat McAfee Show :

Rich Paul: You know, all of these guys that are in Summer League are developing, and Bronny is no exception. He needs to develop as well. Obviously, he wants to make his shots and he’s going to make them, but the most important thing is to get into the right habits. I think he’s going to play in the NBA because his defense is very good and as far as the rest of his game goes, he’s going to improve

It is not certain, however, that the environment in which the young guard finds himself is the most suitable for such a development process.

And yet, it is indeed his camp that would have pushed for him to join the Lakers, to the point of even threatening the other teams that wanted to draft him to snub them by joining… the Australian championship.

A rumor that Rich Paul has not sought to deny in recent hours:

Rich Paul: When you have good relationships with people within the league, you make phone calls and they respect what you have to say. In this case, they understood the ins and outs. There were several teams that were interested in Bronny but we made phone calls, we talked about it and they understood.

That’s what happens when you have relationships within the league.

As for the threat to Australia, that is part of those discussions.

It seems clear that the influential agent did everything he could to bring Bronny and LeBron together in the Purple & Gold ranks, even if it meant resorting to inglorious methods. This is not likely to improve the image of the Angelino rookie within the league.

Accused of using the NBL to ensure that Bronny James joins the Lakers in the Draft, Rich Paul has in a way pleaded guilty in recent hours. Not sure that this will suit his young client, already in difficulty in the NBA.