Draymond Green and Baron Davis defend Bronny James against critics of his draft position and preseason play with the Lakers. They argue the scrutiny is unfair because his father's fame amplifies attention, and advise Bronny to play aggressively and embrace a glue role. Green and Davis stress that late-round picks rarely face this level of criticism.
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I say as a dad, you know, LeBron and Bronny playing together, I think this shit is dope.
Fire.
You faced both of them in the preseason, right? They didn't play together, but Bronny had a solid game in the last one. There was a report out that said the Warriors passed up on Bronny to respect the wishes of LeBron James. Cool for the Warriors to say something like that or to do something like that? I mean, your thoughts?
I think it's great for the Warriors to say and do that because the reality is they could have drafted Bronny. And I think after watching Steph and Bron in the playoffs, you probably look back on it like, dang, we probably should have tried to lure him away because that thing just looked incredible watching them two. In the Olympics together. In saying that, I think number one, Bronny and Bron playing together.
Incredible.
It's insane.
Incredible.
Anybody who hating on that, hate yourself. You're out the clique, bro. Yeah, hate yourself. You're out the brotherhood.
Get outta here.
If you're hating on that at all, hate yourself because There's absolutely nothing to hate about with that, number one. Two, play against Bronny, especially the second game, or the last game of the preseason. My only thing to Bronny is this, brother, if you gonna fail, and I actually said to him, hey man.
Go out guns blazing, baby.
If you gonna fail, fail on your terms.
Yep, go out guns blazing, baby.
You know how to play basketball. And some of this time I'm watching you play, "and you acting like you don't know how to play basketball. The one thing I know you know how to do is you know how to play basketball, bruh." I'm like, "Hey man, just play your game. If you gonna fail, fail because you failed playing like you know how to play. Don't fail because you ain't doing what you know how to do." Yeah, don't ask for permission. Yeah, like, and to see him have that last game that he had, I enjoy watching it because the scrutiny that he's under for the 55th pick, like—
Come on, yo.
If you go down, if you go to the average NBA fan and ask them, give me the 55th pick of the last 10 years, they probably can't get 2 of 'em right.
2, absolutely.
Cannot get 2 of 'em right. And so the scrutiny that he's under, you don't hear about the first pick, You don't hear it about the second pick. You don't hear it about the third pick. But for some reason, all of a sudden, because African American dad and his African American ass son are now on the same NBA team. Like we don't see this in corporate America every day. Like we don't see this in ownership of NBA teams every day. Like we don't see this in— Draymond Green. Lawn services every day, construction companies every day. Like, we don't see this all over the place. And people want to act like the 55th pick, that if it wasn't, if his name wasn't LeBron James Jr., they wouldn't care, they wouldn't know. And they wanna act like, ah man, look, he had a bad game. What did you expect, by the way, from the 55th pick?
Quite frankly, if I'm honest. I think he 19 still, right? Ain't he like 19?
Yeah, he's 19. And guess what, if I'm honest, the 5th pick that comes into the NBA after 1 year of college ain't ready to play in the NBA.
No, nobody is, bro.
So to act like the 55th pick supposed to be just ready to go in the NBA on day 1, like you're just a hater.
No.
Because it's unfair and it's whack. And the last thing I'm gonna say about Bronny is this. When he get the ball, stop fucking cheering like he don't know how to play and like he not in the NBA. You make it so much harder when an NBA player get the ball in the crowd. Oh, like an NBA player.
I didn't even know that.
Let me go play because you're making this like some phenomenon when I'm on the court like, oh, like, and I just wanna go play basketball. So stop with the whole every time he get the ball, y'all go crazy. Like relax, let that man play basketball. Ain't nobody coming to y'all job every time it's time time for you to, oh, you trying to do something. Oh, like ain't nobody coming to y'all job doing that. Stop going to that man's job and he get the ball and you start going crazy and like he gotta do something because you're not giving him a fair shot to be successful.
Yep.
Get that young man a fair shot to be successful. He worked his ass off to get to where he at. And regardless of how you feel he got there, he there. So give him a fair chance. Stop, oh, like he can't play. I hate when people do that. That's an NBA player.
Stop it. Come on. All NBA players, whether you like 'em or not, they got game. The one on the fringes in the G League and the two-way, I like Bronny game. One, Crossroads alumni, so I'm a fan. You know, the SC thing, I'm glad he got outta there, but I didn't think, oh my God, SC. Like Bronny, you should've went UCLA. We ain't gonna even get into that. I had to hate on him a little bit when he went to SC, but I also didn't— when I saw him at SC, I was like, this kid does not belong in college.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean? Because he's a good player and he can fall into being a good player in college and a glue dude, or he can go to the league and become a point guard at 6'2" with his build, his athleticism. Right, and so he's gonna get so much better, bro.
Yeah.
Right? And how about this? His daddy, who he on the team with, is one of, is the greatest player ever played. One of the greatest players ever played.
Okay.
So look at that ism. So that ism gonna fall. He 19, he can jump out the gym, he fearless. Bronny, no permission, bro. We not asking for no permission, homie. I don't give a fuck if we turn it over, steals, blocks. Like, you gotta just go and learn. You know what I mean? That's all you gotta do is just go and learn. 'Cause he is getting better. And I was telling people, bro, summer league is the worst time to judge somebody.
Facts.
Once you in training camp and you start seeing where you fit in and like, Everybody, when you get to the league, I don't give a fuck how good you are, you better figure out how you become some part of the glue.
Exactly. You know what I mean? Or you unglued, you out. 1000%.
So he's smart enough to know how to fit in. He's smart enough to know how to play. He just gotta be able to say, you know what? I don't give a fuck. If y'all don't think I deserve it, I didn't show you.
Exactly.
Oh well, I'm in.
You know what I mean?
And if it's a party, I'm gonna dance too. That's it. And I think him doing that, but I also say this is good for the Lakers, bro. You know, 'cause LeBron has more responsibility to be a great teammate to everybody on the team, bro.
100%.
You can't even, you can't be the Kobe thing now. You can't be— you like, you can't be what you used to be. You kind of got to be a little bit engaged. You kind of got to be a little bit, um, coach, mentor in a different way, right? And then having your son there, it's like you got to leave all the goodness so he can continue.
Facts.
You know what I mean? So you got to treat everybody on your on the team 10 times better than you treated them last year. You can't walk by nobody, you know what I mean? So like the level of leadership is now, it has to be outside of King James. It's gotta be like, I gotta show my son, I gotta show these young dudes the way.
Yeah, that's a fact. That's 1000% a fact. And I think, Bron, just like any other responsibility he's ever had, he gonna shoulder it, he gonna excel in it, and it ultimately will help Bronny.
Yeah.
And I would say the last thing I would say about Bronny is, if I'm Bronny, anytime I check into an NBA game, if the point guard is bringing the ball up the floor, I'm picking you up full court.
Pick him up full court.
Every time. As long as I'm in that game. And I say this to all young guards, by the way, if you not a starting point guard in the NBA, When you come in the game, I ain't saying you gotta be Patrick Beverly turning the guy, like, but you better be up there just to turn him a couple times just so he ain't walking the ball up. He ain't comfortable because if you gonna let these guards, starting guards like yourself, just walk you up to the spot that they wanna get you to, you dead.
Yes, sir.
So that would be my word to Bronny is anytime you step foot in an NBA game, You go pick up the point guard and you go pick him up 94 feet every time.
Yeah, that's your moment to introduce yourself. Yo, what's up Jason Kidd, man? I'm BD. I've been watching. I'm about to pick you up full court. What's up, Nick Van Exel? Full court. Sam Cassell. Sam Cassell tell you, man, what are you doing over here? Boy, you better get back there. You know what I mean? But like you develop that relationship and that is the first initial way you earn respect, bro.
