Skyway Park, Tampa Bay, Florida, 1980. I was twelve years old.
I finally got the chance to play Little League. Having grown up in New York City prior to moving down south, I lived and breathed baseball but the closest I’d ever got to playing organized ball was summer camp or charting the pitches I’d thrown against the wall of our skyscraper’s brick foyer.
Once I got to Tampa though, things would be different. I played on a competitive team, sponsored by Lefler Drugs (“Be a Hitta, son!), and soon strutted my stuff in a uniform only slightly too baggy.
I’d eventually earn my spot at second base and put forth an all-star caliber performance.
At the end of the season, the league chose a traveling all-star team from each squad. I was left off. The second baseman selected to represent the league… was another coach’s son.
I felt robbed. I was perturbed by the blatant nepotism, even though at only 12, I had no idea what those words meant.
But I wasn’t nearly as bothered back then, as the rest of America is now, by the nepotism affecting the fifteenth and final roster spot on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Perhaps you’ve heard the name Bronny. Bronny is short for LeBron James, Jr., who was selected in the second round of this year’s draft, largely because his dad is kind of a big deal. It is highly likely, if not 100% probable, that if LeBron James wasn’t LeBron James, his namesake wouldn’t be wearing an NBA uniform.
While Bronny was still enrolled at the University of Southern California as recently as last year, LeBron made it clear he would play for whichever team drafted his son. His comments added intrigue to this summer’s draft. Would another team select a clearly unqualified player simply for a shot at LeBron and if so, how early? Gambling services even offered odds at Bronny going number one, a semi-ludicrous concept considering how important number one draft picks are to franchises. But if taking Bronny earlier than his skill set warranted meant also landing an aging yet clearly still competent LeBron James, it might be worth the gamble, especially with no clear-cut number one in this draft.
Alas, no team took the bait, either because they weren’t interested or because LeBron’s influence over the league is that powerful. I’m not entirely convinced the latter isn’t altogether possible. Either way, the Lakers selected LeBron James, Jr. 55th overall.
Pundits remain up-in-arms about the pick. How dare James use his influence to get his son drafted, as if no father in the history of fatherhood has helped get his kid a job. I’m not sure when we all collectively became so concerned about the final and generally irrelevant roster spot on a basketball team that has struggled to make the post-season, but most pundits with a podcast or major sports outlet timeslot would have you believe it’s a matter of national security.
As children, we dream of the moments we toss a baseball with our fathers in the park. It was LeBron’s dream to play professional basketball with his son. He did everything in his power to make that happen. Why is this a crime?
Do you know who Maxwell Lewis is? Of course you don’t.
Maxwell Lewis played 34 games for the Los Angeles Lakers, all in mop up time. He scored 11 points the entire season. This is the kind of roster spot that Bronny will assume.
Bronny may see playing time. He might not. He might make the roster. He might not. He might play for the Lakers G League team, unlikely if LeBron has anything to say about it. He might not. It really doesn’t matter. If LeBron James used his influence to get his son a job with the company that he works for, then so be it.
“Research from LinkedIn shows that in 2016, a whopping 70% of people were hired at a company where they already had a connection in place. At the most desirable companies the number is higher, with 95% landing jobs because of connections.” I’m going to go out on a limb and call the Los Angeles Lakers a “desirable company.”
Guess what. Bronny James knew someone on the Lakers, someone who happened to have the same name as him. Big deal. His dad got him a job, a foot in the door. More power to him. As with any other job in America, it’s going to be up to Bronny to keep it.
