"Bronny has to be half of Patty Mills": Mal defends LeBron James' son against 'nepotism' allegations with bold comparison

When the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Bronny James with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA draft, a lot of nepotism allegations were thrown toward his dad, LeBron.

However, Mal from the New Rory & Mal podcast defended the father and son-duo; claiming that it was the right decision on the Lakers' behalf and that there was nothing wrong if LeBron did practice nepotism. Mal also admitted to supporting nepotism when done by members of the Black and Hispanic community.

"I support Black and Hispanic nepotism. I support that because we don't get an opportunity to ever experience nepotism," he said.

Furthermore, he compared Bronny to a previous 55th pick who became a significant player in the Spurs: Patty Mills. According to Mal, Bronny needs to be only half as good as Mills to justify his presence in the league.

"Bronny just has to be half of what Patty Mills was. Just half!"

LeBron James speaks up about the scrutiny of his son Bronny James

Bronny debuted for the Los Angeles Lakers in the California Classic Summer League against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. Since then, the youngster has received a lot of scrutiny for his disappointing performance. He scored four points and fans were furious with his output. They expressed their opinions on social media, and most of them were negative.

"Maybe Bronny James should've gone to Australia?" one fan said

"Bronny James out there doing cardio," another quipped.

In an interview with ESPN, LeBron talked about how Bronny didn't mind all the outside noise. The Lakers star compared himself to his son and drew a parallel between their respective debuts.

LeBron revealed that he used to care a little about what people said about him when he started in the NBA. However, his son doesn't play by those rules and doesn't let the negativity pull him down.

"I don't know if people really understand Bronny. He doesn't care," LeBron James said. "He does not care about nobody. He doesn't even listen to that stuff. He's like the coolest. He's like the complete opposite of his dad. His dad will say something. Bro does not care. ... Everything that's being said about him, he really does not care."