NBA Legend Charles Barkley Makes Honest Bronny James Statement

Charles Barkley spoke about Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James.

Oct 4, 2024; Palm Desert, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) shoots during warmups against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Acrisure Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers will play their fourth preseason game on Tuesday evening when they host the Golden State Warriors.

Through the first three games, they have gone 1-2, and many eyes have been on rookie Bronny James.

Recently, NBA legend Charles Barkley was on Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara, and he spoke about Bronny.

Barkley: "We're all rooting for him because we have so much respect for LeBron. It's not gonna be easy because he has a target on his back because of his last name. There's gonna be a certain amount of petty jealousness of people who are like, 'You don't deserve to be in the NBA; you're not as good as some of these other players. You only got in because of your dad.'"

Through his first three preseason games, Bronny is averaging 11.9 minutes of playing time per contest.

He has two points, three rebounds, one assist and three blocks while shooting 1/11 from the field and 0/4 from the three-point range.

Charles Barkley says Bronny isn’t a finished product yet:

“It's not going to be easy because he has a target on his back because of his last name… They've got to handle this thing with 'kid gloves' literally because they just can't put him out there because he's not a finished… pic.twitter.com/OoSEBV03Ad

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) October 12, 2024

Since Bronny was the 55th pick (out of USC), he will likely spend a good amount of time in the G League with the South Bay Lakers.

Getting to play in the G League should help him develop since opportunities on the Lakers this season will likely be small.

Bronny James has been held scoreless in his last two preseason games pic.twitter.com/4yaE0I6Gkq

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 11, 2024

The Lakers will open up the regular season on October 22 when they host Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in Los Angeles.

They are coming off a season where they lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA playoffs.