The freshman from the University of Southern California was initially projected by ESPN to be a top-10 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

An imitation draft is being mocked by LeBron James.

Following ESPN’s decision to remove Bronny James from its 2024 NBA mock draft, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer took to Twitter on Monday to defend his kid. ESPN, which predicted that James would be selected in the top ten in its initial mock draft in 2024, now anticipates that the freshman from the University of Southern California will be selected in the second round of the 2025 draft.

During the course of publishing a piece on X about the most recent results concerning his son, LeBron James played down the significance of mock drafts.

“Can you all please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball,” James wrote in a post that has since been removed from the internet. “In the end, regardless of what he chooses to do, the effort and the results will be the ones to speak for themselves. He doesn’t care what a mock draft says about him; he just works, in if you didn’t know that already. Is Not Given, But Earned!

Over the course of his first 19 games, Bronny James has played 20.2 minutes per game and has averaged 5.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Additionally, he has shot 37.1 percent from the field and 27.5 percent from beyond the arc. After experiencing a heart arrest in July, the 19-year-old player got off to a late start in his first season of college football. After four months, he was given the all-clear by the medical professionals to resume his full basketball career, and he made his debut on December 10th.

On the other hand, his draft stock has continued to decline, and Bleacher Report has also excluded Bronny James from its most recent mock draft, which was a two-round pick in 2024.

Despite the fact that he is 39 years old and has a player option worth $51 million for the 2024-2025 season, LeBron James has indicated an interest in playing with his son in the National Basketball Association.Should the most recent mock drafts turn out to be true, it is possible that his wait will be a little bit longer.

On the other hand, LeBron James made it abundantly clear what his position is about mock drafts, and he also provided guidance to players who do not have his lineage.

“And to all the other kids out there striving to be great, just keep your head down, blinders on, and keep grinding,” he said in a later post that has now been deleted. “And to all the other kids out there, just keep fighting.” Not a single one of these mock drafts is going to matter! You can count on me! Only the work makes a difference! People, let’s talk about basketball real people!