Bronny James' Mom Almost Fought a Fan For Flipping Him Off Years Ago

Matt Levine | Nov 15, 2024

John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers made waves in the NBA when they decided to draft guard Bronny James out of USC in the 2024 NBA Draft. Despite a poor freshman season with the Trojans, James made it to the NBA.

Many have criticized the Lakers for nepotism in drafting James due to his dad, LeBron James, being on the roster. But Bronny worked out for multiple teams and had interest from a few squads other than the Lakers.

Most people have an opinion on Bronny, whether they agree with him being in the league or not. The young guard had had to deal with criticism all his life, even before coming to the NBA.

His mom, Savannah James, revealed that a few years ago, she almost fought a fan for flipping off her son.

On a recent episode of her podcast, "Everybody's Crazy", Savannah told the story.

“Yeah, so, short story, when I had the baby (Zhuri James) on my hip, ’bout to go and try to fight a man, he was flicking Bronny off in a game,” she began. “And you know how you say you gotta be an adult and talk to the people head-on? I marched up them bleachers with Zhuri, little tiny Zhuri. What am I gonna do? I’m talkin’ to a man, like, ‘So, you flickin’ my son off? That’s what we doin’ at this game?’ ‘Oh no, I was doin’ that to my son. That’s what we do.’ Okay, so now you crazy. You just randomly flippin’ your son off while he playin’ the game? That’s odd, but yeah, alright.”

Savannah was protective of her son and rightfully so. She seemed to have had enough and like many other mothers would, tried to protect her son.

Bronny hasn't let all the criticism take hold of him but rather has just put his down to play basketball. Los Angeles has a plan for him to shuffle between the NBA and G-League as he develops his overall game.

The rookie has shown strong instincts on the defensive end of the floor but his jump shot remains a work in progress. If he can start to hit his shot attempts, Bronny could see more time at the NBA level sooner rather than later.

But for now, he will take the opportunity in front of him and try to maximize it at every turn.

More Ball Around: When is Bronny James' Next Game with G League Lakers?