He might not demand attention, but Bronny’s online presence is vast. “They’re entitled, spoiled, whatever the case may be. “When you’ve got these four- or five-star kids, they’ve got the entourage, the stardom, and they’re not quality people in general,” said coach Larry Thompson of Wheeler High in Marietta, Ga., which lost to Sierra Canyon at the Galen Center in January. He is cheerful but generally quiet in public - eerily similar to his father’s - never loud. He takes over the speaker in warmups to play Yeat. Bronny patiently poses for pictures with anyone who asks. Inside the Chatsworth bubble, life is simpler. “It felt special,” he said of playing in the same arena as his dad. Bronny answered questions from the media once during four years at Sierra Canyon, making a few brief comments after a junior-year game at what was then called Staples Center. Bodyguards attend every game, sometimes trailing his window-tinted black Mustang after school. Mary coach Dru Joyce said, recognizes his son’s journey is different from his own and tries to protect Bronny from scrutiny. “There is kind of a smell of nepotism here that isn’t good for our kids,” Dinos Trigonis, a West Coast NCAA recruiting analyst, said of Bronny’s All-America selection. When Instagram aggregator LegionHoops posted he made the Nike Hoop Summit roster, some of the top comments read: “Last name privileges” and “Nepotism merchant.”īronny later was chosen for the McDonald’s All-American game, which will be played tonight in Houston, and was outplayed during subsequent games by Sherman Oaks Notre Dame senior Caleb Foster, who wasn’t selected for the game. So the chirping follows Bronny at every turn. Critics question: Is he truly good enough to justify the attention? His highlights draw praise and admiration, but they also fuel cynicism. And for many, that will never be enough.Įver since his AAU highlights went viral at 10 years old, Bronny has grown up in front of millions.Ī slice of his journey is captured on Instagram reels, TikToks and YouTube channels, amplifying the hype around his name while also distorting reality. After months of observations and 70 interviews inside Sierra Canyon and outside the program, two truths became clear.īronny James is great, in his own way. The Times traveled 6,000 miles and attended 21 games during Bronny’s senior season. It was a low point during a tumultuous senior season of growth, injury and disappointment for Bronny, an athlete trying to forge his own path that’s constantly altered by outside expectations. Yet a half-hour after that loss in December, in the hallway, Bronny slumped in a chair next to brother Bryce, headphones on, burying his head between his legs. Pull on the headphones, block out the noise. That poker face, assistant coach Chris Madden said, generally remained intact through four years of impossible expectations as the most visible high school athlete in America. (Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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