The Bronny James draft saga got messier again ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne dropped a bomb that has hoops fans losing their minds. She claims LeBron James didn’t influence his son’s landing with the Lakers at No. 55.
But the timing makes the entire claim very suspicious. For the unversed, JJ Redick openly admits LeBron runs the show in LA from behind the scenes, sometimes overruling the second-year coach’s playcalls mid-game. The King calls his own pitch and Redick’s cool with it.
The draft process reeked of tampering from jump street as Rich Paul, agent of both LeBron and Bronny, allegedly warned teams to stay away. Draft night intel suggested Bronny would bolt to Australia’s NBL if anyone besides LA called his name.
Bob Myers broke it down later on ESPN’s broadcast, saying that Paul was requesting that other franchise GMs pass on him by call. The Golden State Warriors had the 52nd pick—three slots before the Lakers — and supposedly backed off out of respect for LeBron’s wishes.
However, Shelburne is now trying to tell a different story on The Mason and Ireland Show. “I’m going to say something, and people are not going to believe me, but I have reason to believe I’m correct,” she said. “I don’t think LeBron asked the Lakers to draft Bronny.”
LeBron James reportedly didn’t ask the Lakers to draft Bronny James, per @ramonashelburne
(Via @ESPNLosAngeles ) pic.twitter.com/xLrEtG7FS7
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 27, 2026
According to Shelburne, the Lakers made the call independently. “I think they did this because they thought LeBron would like that,” she stated.
She name-dropped three other squads eyeing Bronny. “I know three other teams that had the same thought, ‘Oh, LeBron would like that. Maybe we should draft him,'” Shelburne said. “The Golden State Warriors considered him. The Dallas Mavericks, old Nico Harrison over there, and the Phoenix Suns.”
“Would they have actually taken him? I don’t know,” Shelburne added. “I know that they had interest for the same reason that I just told you the Lakers took him. That would make LeBron happy.”
So, Shelburne wants everyone to believe the Lakers picked Bronny on their own. But nobody is in any mood to buy that narrative.
Fans Doubt LeBron James’ Claim About Bronny James’ Draft
NBA fans exploded right away after learning that LeBron played no role in securing his kid a roster spot.
One fan wrote, “I’m reportedly 6’7, more fake news at 2.”
Another added, “Ramona could have kept this bullshit to herself. Cause I ain’t buying it.”
A third claimed, “F—— cap, this LeDumb.”
The fourth one noted, “That’s a bold face lie.”
A fifth fan remarked, “They shipped out everybody from that team not even 3 months later fool no parade and haven’t even acknowledged that bullshit ring.”
A random X user said, “Is LeBron the biggest liar on planet earth?”
Bronny averaged 4.8 points at USC on poor shooting splits. Teams rarely spend a second-round pick on a developmental guard with those numbers unless something else is at play. After joining the Lakers, his production didn’t improve, hovering around 1.5 points per game. The bigger issue? Redick played him just 6.9 minutes per game across 24 appearances.
What drove the headlines wasn’t his performance but the father-son storyline. That was the real draw; everything else that followed was just chaos. Fans’ math was not mathing after Shelburne suggested the Lakers made that decision on their own, without pressure from the franchise’s biggest star.
