The Los Angeles Lakers picked Bronny James at No. 55 in the NBA draft last week. There were 58 picks allotted to NBA teams in the draft, so the Lakers were picking at the back end of the draft. It’s not as though they drafted Bronny 30, 40 or 50 draft slots ahead of where he should have been taken. The Lakers took Bronny four spots higher than what many people thought was appropriate. All this over four draft spots (No. 55 compared to an undrafted selection)? USA TODAY Sports columnist Mike Freeman doesn’t make that argument. He makes a different but entirely reasonable point: The Lakers are not unique or severe in their nepotism.
Freeman writes about nepotism:
It’s rampant not just in the NBA. It is rampant everywhere.
Nepotism is a mechanism mainly for the powerful and has been for centuries. It’s almost canon. It’s also not just the super rich. A middle class dad gets his son a job in the company where he works. The 2010 U.S. census outlined just how extensive nepotism is in the country. It said that 22% of men whose fathers were present in their teenage years will work for the same employer simultaneously as their fathers.
Freeman later continues:
The NFL is rife with nepotism. There are enough Belichicks to fill an NFL coaching staff. Sports broadcasting overflows with it. There’s nepotism in officiating.
It’s all over sports. Shedeur Sanders plays for his father, Deion, at Colorado. Austin Rivers played for his father, Doc, while both were with the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Lakers didn’t invent nepotism. They aren’t industry leaders in nepotism. Bronny James is hardly the worst example of nepotism in sports. We can all calm down.
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