'Just There Because of His Daddy': NFL Legend Gets Real on How Bronny James Redeemed Himself

Bronny James showed flashes of potential during the 2025 NBA Summer League, opening with a strong performance in his California Classic debut by scoring 10 points, highlighted by a steal and dunk just seconds into the game. He improved further in his second game in Las Vegas, posting 14 points while showing good aggression attacking the basket. While his statistics don’t necessarily jump off the page, it’s clear he’s already a level above his rookie campaign.

Last year at the Summer League, Bronny looked like a player who didn’t belong. He struggled, averaging 8.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assist over four contests, while shooting a ghastly 35% from the field and just 15% from deep. With critics already questioning his presence in the league as a product of nepotism, those underwhelming performances only added fuel to the fire and hurt his early reputation.

But now, with a pair of solid, game-changing performances under his belt, the perception of Bronny is quickly shifting. Suddenly, there’s optimism about the 20-year-old earning a spot in the Lakers’ rotation. Even former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson has taken notice, saying he’s seeing a different version of the young guard.

“Last year, when we evaluated him, watched him, whatever you wanna call it, he didn’t look like he belonged in the Summer League. He just didn’t look like he belonged in the NBA at all,” Johnson said on SPEAK. “Just watching him last night, I’m like, ‘Okay, he looks like he’s more comfortable and he actually belongs.'”

Johnson echoed the growing optimism around the late second-round pick, expressing his belief that Bronny has the potential to build a career on his own merits, even if he wasn’t LeBron’s son. “I didn’t walk away from it, Paul, saying, ‘He just there because of his daddy,'” the Buccaneers legend continued.

“Last summer, many people walked away at times saying, ‘Oh, man, he didn’t deserve to get drafted where he got drafted at.’ Now that he’s got a year under his belt and he looked like he had looked last night, you can’t say that about him at all,” Johnson added.

Paul Pierce agreed that Bronny looked much more comfortable on the floor compared to his first season. The Truth explained that Bronny seems to have overcome the biggest thing holding him back as a rookie, a lack of self-confidence. “You could tell, as far as a confidence standpoint, he’s a lot better in that aspect,” Pierce said.

“That’s what I thought from him. He just lacked confidence,” the Celtics legend said of Bronny. “It’s a very tough spot. You go into a situation, you’re the son of one of the greatest players to ever play the game … I think at some point he missed like, I don’t know, 10 or 15 straight threes … And that was just a confidence thing.”

Bronny has clearly shown more confidence and composure in his second Summer League appearance, but maintaining that momentum into the regular season will be key if he wants to earn a spot in the Lakers‘ rotation. With the team in need of dependable perimeter defense, that could be his clearest path to contributing early on. That is, if he’s on the roster when the season tips off.