LOS ANGELES — He seems so small. He seems so young.

Sitting on a stage with two seasoned NBA types and a veteran collegian Tuesday, Bronny James looked like a kid sitting at the adults’ table.

The Lakers’ JJ Redick, Rob Pelinka and Dalton Knecht answered questions about basketball. Bronny answered questions about his father.

Who happened to be standing in the back.

“For sure, an amplified amount of pressure,” the 19-year-old son of LeBron James said. “I’ve already seen it on social media ... and the internet ... talking about that I might not deserve an opportunity. But I’ve been dealing with stuff like this my whole life. So it’s nothing different.”

He sighed. “But it’s more amplified, for sure. But I’ll get through it.”

Imagine attending your first NBA news conference and already talking about enduring the pressure. How fair is that? But that is the position in which LeBron and the Lakers have put this young man by drafting him 55th when nobody else was going to take him, making him a pro when he should have stayed in college.

Threw him to the wolves and now he must fend for himself, and it might not be pretty.

“Living by the days, trying not to care about what other people think about me because there’s a lot of people that, you know, have something to say,” Bronny said. “I’m just taking it by the day and staying sane while doing it.”

Imagine celebrating one of the highlights of your young life — these debut pressers are supposed to be fun! — by feeling a need to remind everyone that you are staying sane. How fair is that? Thanks again to LeBron and the Lakers for creating hysteria in an attempt to make history.

...continued

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.