There is no giving up for Bronny James. LeBron James’ oldest son has been the subject of nepotism in the NBA, with Lakers fans and sports enthusiasts questioning why Bronny is pursuing a basketball career.

On Monday, Bronny performed well during his G League game with the South Bay Lakers. Sports Illustrated reported that the Santa Cruz Warriors lost 122-118 to South Bay with James’ career-high 39 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals.

After the game, James told Spectrum SportsNet’s Timothy Parker, “I belong out here. It’s all I’m trying to prove.” 

“A lot of people say that I don’t, so I just come out, work everyday, try to get better every day and prove myself every day,” James added. “All the criticism that’s thrown my way, it’s just, you know, amazing to shut all that down.”

The Athletic recently spoke with James about his acceptance of all criticism. Some say Bronny was drafted because of who his father is; his younger brother, Bryce, is better than him, and he isn’t qualified to play.

In spite of his efforts to ignore or use outside noise as fuel, James admitted it can be overwhelming at times.

“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.

“But I just take that and use it as fuel for me to go out, wake up every day and get to the gym early, get my extra work in, watch my extra film every day, get better every day,” he continued.

According to Sports Illustrated, Bronny inspires his younger brother with positivity. 

With Bronny and Bryce having received significant attention as the children of one of the greatest NBA players, Bronny spoke of how his advice has evolved for Bryce over the years. 

“When we were younger, the main thing I’d like to push to him just was having fun, playing your game, being confident in yourself,” Bronny said. “But yeah, I think as I became a senior, and he’s a senior now, to just have that mindset of working because there’s a lot of kids out there that want to be in my spot or his spot and you can’t take that for granted. So yeah, just keep working.”

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