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LeBron James is a four-time champion, one of the best basketball players in history and, apparently, not the biggest fan of mock drafts.
The King took to social media Monday to react to a post stating that ESPN removed the younger James from its 2024 mock draft and instead projected him to go to the NBA in 2025 and said, “if y’all don’t know he doesn’t care what a mock draft says, he just WORKS! Earned Not Given!”
James also said mock drafts don’t matter “one bit” and encouraged younger players to keep “striving to be great.”
And to all the other kids out there striving to be great just keep your head down, blinders on and keep grinding. These Mock Drafts doesn’t matter one bit! I promise you! Only the WORK MATTERS!! Let’s talk REAL BASKETBALL PEOPLE! ✌🏾👑
ESPN isn’t the only publication that doesn’t envision Bronny James being drafted in 2024.
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman did not include the USC guard in his most recent two-round mock draft, which was released Friday.
James is just a freshman for the Trojans and has been a secondary contributor. He is averaging 5.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 37.1 percent from the field and 27.5 percent from three-point range for an 11-16 squad.
It should be noted he missed some of the team’s summer training and did not debut until more than a month into the season because he was recovering from the cardiac arrest he suffered in July.
If James does stay at USC, he will have a year of college basketball experience under his belt and, presumably, an entire offseason to prepare for the 2024-25 campaign. That should help him be a bigger factor for the Trojans during his sophomore season if he forgoes the NBA.
There has also been no shortage of speculation about LeBron James wanting to play alongside his son in the NBA at some point. The 20-time All-Star has a player option with the Los Angeles Lakers and could choose to exercise it and become a free agent during the same summer as the 2025 NBA draft.
If that is the same offseason that Bronny James chooses to go to the NBA, his father could wait to see what team drafts him and then go there in free agency.
For now, though, the younger James is focused on helping the Trojans improve down the stretch and, if his father is to be believed, not paying attention to any mock drafts.
