Nepotism In Sports Blows
But Not Enough To Matter
Mike Leitao ~ 07/01/2024
If you are a sports fan and spent any time this past weekend on social media, then you will have learned that LeBron James’s son, Bronny, was taken with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, a.k.a. his fathers team. You will have also seen the entire sporting world going off on a tangent about how this is clearly nepotism and how unfair it is for everyone else in the draft. Moments like these make me really wish that not everyone had a free outlet to speak their mind.
Let’s start with the fact that calling this nepotism might be technically accurate based on the definition, but isn’t really what people think it is. Bronny getting taken 55th overall was nepotism and, yes, he was selected there because he’s LeBron’s son. But anyone with even the slightest understanding of the NBA should be able to understand why it would’ve been an incredibly stupid move to not take Bronny. Firstly, LeBron has the ability to opt out of his contract this year and enter free agency meaning if he was hellbent on playing with his son and the Lakers let another team get him? They would have no one to blame for losing out on LeBron but themselves. Secondly, some people seem to forget but professional sports is a business at the end of the day. Every owner and GM is focused on being as profitable as possible. For most organizations the key to profitability is winning, since winning means more fans and views which equates to more money. For certain teams however (cough, cough, New York and Los Angeles) there is a little more to it. When you are always in the limelight there are alternative options for profitability, say, having one of the greatest basketball players of all time get the chance to play with his son on a nightly basis. As we already saw leading up to the draft, there is going to be constant coverage on Bronny and the Lakers this year and as a business, that is excellent for the Lakers. Additionally, it’s not like he was taken early, he was the 4th to last pick in the NBA draft. At that point you are just throwing shit at the wall to see if it sticks, so why not take the son of a genetic freak who has dominated basketball? I went back and looked at the last ten years of NBA drafts and I recognized a whole 5 names from pick 55 and later. If people are going to call out LeBron and accuse him of nepotism, then we need to hold everyone accountable. You telling me Giannis’s brother really deserves to be in the NBA? The guy wasn’t even selected to represent his team at the Olympics yet because he’s a meme and produces solid Twitter and TikTok content no one seems to feel the need to call out this man for taking away a potential roster spot that someone else deserves way more.
If we are going to start actively calling out nepotism in the sporting world, we got much bigger fish to fry than Bronny. Nepotism runs rampant in professional sports across every different league across every level. From players, to coaches, to management positions, to broadcasting, there is nepotism. That means it’s what you know, it's who you know. Anyone who ever tried to break into the sports world should know this since it’s something everyone tells you along with the importance of networking. Think about how many former players turned into coaches or management or broadcasters, and then think if they were actually good. Some of them have been and some of them haven’t been, but every instance of someone who hasn’t been is a clear example of nepotism that could have potentially led to someone not getting an opportunity that they may deserve. Add in the amount of coaches who have family who were former coaches and you start to realize that the number of people whose qualifications for getting to where they are was “I knew or was related to a certain guy” is staggeringly high. So maybe before you hop on the Bronny-hate bandwagon take a step back to realize if you are going to spew nepotism hate, maybe do it to all the undeserving players, coaches, or management who have all been given an exclusive seat at the
table not for their talent, but for their family relations and ties. Maybe spend less time hating on the son who didn’t get a say in where he gets drafted, and the dad who gets the opportunity to play professional basketball with his son and help coach him to make him into the best player he can possibly be, and support his future (you know what parents should be doing for their kids), and start putting some of that energy to all the real undeserving nepo babies out there.
Now, if in a couple years Bronny has proved he doesn’t deserve a spot in the NBA but is still employed ‘cause of his last name, then it’s fully time to throw in the nepotism accusation. I am not a supporter of nepotism in sports in any way, I hate it with a burning passion. There are so few spots out there for these exclusive roles and too often they are filled by people who do not have real qualifications, I am sure there have been countless individuals who have been deserving of roles that have been passed over and that’s a real shame. I’m also a logical person and I fully understand that nepotism will always hold a strong spot in the sporting world and no matter how much complaining people do online, it won’t really change. So a lasting piece of advice if you are trying to break into the sports world, I’d start looking to see if any sports icons are looking to adopt.