LeBron James hasn’t forgotten that bit about Jaylen Brown.
The Los Angeles Lakers star was asked about his relationship with Brown shortly after the team’s 111-89 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday night. While he didn’t have anything bad to say, he did bring up a moment from a summer league game a few years ago when Brown was caught criticizing James’ eldest son, current Laker Bronny James.
“We have a very respectful relationship,” James said. “Other than that crap he was talking about Bronny in summer league, but other than that, we’re doing okay.
“I think he said some relevant things on social media. That’s all good.”
While James was clearly joking, he was referring to an old clip from the 2024 NBA Summer League in which Brown could be seen telling Angel Reese and Kesrae Gondrezic that he “doesn’t think Bronny is a pro.”
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Brown actually quickly took to social media to try to clean up the comments.
This all happened before Bronny’s first real NBA game. The Lakers selected him with the 55th overall pick in the draft that summer, and he ended up playing 27 games for the team last season while playing in the G-League affiliate.
He’s done the same thing this season. Bronny has played 29 times for the Lakers this season, averaging 7.3 minutes per game, scoring 2.2 points and 1.2 assists. In six games with the South Bay Lakers, he averaged 15.5 points and 5.2 assists.
Bronny did not play in the Lakers’ loss on Sunday night. Luka Doncic scored 25 points and 5 rebounds, and James made 1 of 5 three-pointers and scored 20 points and 5 assists.
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Brown scored 32 points and 8 rebounds in this victory, helping the Celtics achieve a record of 37 wins and 19 losses. Payton Pritchard also scored 30 points and 8 assists off the bench.
While James acknowledged that Bronny still has a long way to go in the league and that he didn’t take it all that seriously on Sunday night, he clearly won’t forget those who have criticized his son in the past — even if that was a few years ago.