Bronny James on haters: 'I see everything that people are saying, and people think like, I'm a f****ing robot'

But in our conversation Bronny said, multiple times, he actually does hear some of what is said about him, and he uses it to his advantage. “My first thought about everything is I always try to just let it go through one ear and out the other, put my head down and come to work and be positive every day,” Bronny said. “But sometimes it just, it fuels me a little bit. I see everything that people are saying, and people think, like, I’m a f—— robot, like I don’t have any feelings or emotions.

Source: New York Times

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Kurt Helin @basketballtalk

Bronny James: 'I see everything that people are saying... but I just take that and use it as fuel'

Bronny has improved this season but still has a ways to go (especially with his shot). He was always a longer-term project.

nbcsports.com/nba/news/bronn… - 1:18 PM

Joe Vardon @joevardon

Amidst fierce and consistent criticism, Bronny James got better at basketball this season. How did he do it? ⁦@TheAthleticNBA⁩ nytimes.com/athletic/62169… - 12:44 PM

Emiliano Carchia @Sportando

Los Angeles Lakers’ Bronny James ignites Lakers crowd with late-game three sportando.basketball/en/los-angeles… - 4:28 AM

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As of this writing, Bronny appeared in 20 NBA games for the Lakers, averaging 1.7 points and shooting just 26 percent from the field in about five minutes per game. Now, if you haven’t seen him, you may be thinking, “This is an improvement?” Hold on a sec. In a recent, close loss to the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers were without several of their rotation players, including Bronny’s dad and new Lakers superstar Luka Dončić. Coach JJ Redick turned to Bronny for 16 game minutes, and though he made just one of the five shots he took, his bucket was a crucial 3-pointer in a pressure situation. He also got to the foul line and turned in a steal. “It’s great that JJ had the level of trust to throw him into a big game the other night at Denver, which is a tough place to play, and he got in the game, made a couple defensive plays, made a corner 3, and I think that’s what he prides himself in is the 3-and-D type of archetype,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said. -via New York Times / March 20, 2025

But was the 20-year-old, 6-foot-2 shooting guard standing in front his locker, shaking my hand and making jokes, the same basketball player I saw just five months ago join LeBron James, the league’s all-time leading scorer and proverbial “face of the NBA” for more than a decade, as the only father-son duo to play in the same game in NBA history? No, I can’t say he was the same. This version of Bronny James is better. “I definitely think I’ve improved, not only as a player, but just having a different mindset as a player to go out and play my game and play the game that I know how to play,” he said. “I feel really good about it — I see the progress.” -via New York Times / March 20, 2025

“I saw consistency coming (before that Cleveland trip), and that’s like the biggest thing I’ve been criticized about for a minute, just being consistent as a player,” Bronny said. “I started to see that, and it kind of drove you to (consider that), well, maybe these people don’t think that I could be consistent as a player, be a good player, produce as a player. So just seeing those numbers and seeing myself on film, I believed in myself more, and that boosted my confidence. That little Cleveland stretch definitely sparked a little something.” In our talk, it was Bronny who first brought up the criticism. Because of who he is, and the history he and his father made, and his draft and contract status, Bronny was always going to have a brighter spotlight on him than any other late second-round pick (or even front-runners for Rookie of the Year or the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft, for that matter). -via New York Times / March 20, 2025

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Bronny James on haters: 'I see everything that people are saying, and people think like, I'm a f****ing robot'

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