Sports
Who will draft Bronny James? The Lakers should just say no
So now it’s official, Bronny James is entering next month’s NBA draft and I know what you’re thinking and …
No.
So now it’s obvious, LeBron James’ oldest child has a chance to play with his father and, wow, wouldn’t that be …
No!
So now it’s happening, the Lakers are going to pick Bronny so they can re-sign LeBron and …
No, no, no!
The Lakers should not draft Bronny James under any circumstances, with any pick, absolutely not, steer clear, take a pass, blow him off, take somebody else, anybody else.
Adding Bronny James to the Lakers would be like lighting up a cigarette at the gas pump.
Their lack of self restraint would result in an explosion.
It was confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday that Bronny, 19, officially is leaving college after one season at USC and turning pro.
Bronny wasn’t too impressive as a Trojan, averaging five points, three rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes per game after suffering a cardiac arrest episode the previous summer. However, he was one of the best players in the recent NBA draft combine and later shined for every team during a pro day at the Lakers practice facility.
Some experts are saying he could go in the first round. Others say he’s no greater than a second-round pick. Some still believe he’s not worthy of being drafted at all.
But most everyone agrees that the most predictable landing spot would be the Lakers.
USC guard Bronny James taps hands with his father, LeBron James, as he warms up before a game against Stanford in Los Angeles on Jan. 6.
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
Which predictably would be a disaster.
The Lakers have the 17th pick. It would be insanity to take him that high. The Lakers also have the 55th pick. It would be pandering to take him there.
Face it, they would be drafting Bronny only as incentive for LeBron to re-sign with them after he opts out of his contract this summer. That’s a terrible reason for talent acquisition, and forms a shaky foundation upon which the Bronny Experience would quickly crumble.
When your résumé reads only, “Nepotism,” you’re doomed from the start.
This is not to say that somebody shouldn’t draft Bronny. You can’t judge him from his season at USC because he was recovering from the heart issue. He apparently has a great basketball IQ and, even though he’s only 6 feet 2, his athleticism is enormous.
He easily could be a serviceable player and have a great experience in many places. He deserves, like all draftees, to play somewhere he can be himself and lay down his own footprints and be celebrated. He certainly could do this almost anywhere.
Anywhere but here.
If the Lakers draft him, first, they’re not being fair to Bronny. The pressure on him to perform in such close proximity to his father would be untenable.
It was bad enough when LeBron was sitting courtside at Galen Center. Can you imagine how Bronny would feel with his father sitting across from him in the locker room?
Can you ponder what it would be like to work in such close quarters with your famous father? And how would their teammates react? Would they ever fully trust Bronny? Could he ever truly be himself with his dad always watching?
The problems would only get worse when they move to the court. There would be unbelievably cool moments, like an ally-oop from son to father, or a cross-court assist from father to son, but they wouldn’t be enough to compensate for the constant heat on the shoulders of the kid.
Bronny would have to learn the pro game with his father hovering over every move, judging, advising, lecturing, maybe even occasionally scolding.
The Lakers’ LeBron James watches USC play Long Beach State at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Dec. 10. James’ son, Bronny, played for the Trojans.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
It would be one thing for Bronny to go two for 10 in Salt Lake City on a game LeBron can only watch on TV. It would be another thing for Bronny to struggle at Crypto.com Arena with LeBron breathing down his neck.
It wouldn’t be pretty. It’s already not pretty.
Bronny addressed the issue with reporters at the draft combine when he said, “Yeah, it’s a lot.”
He added, “My dream has always just been to put my name out, make a name for myself, and of course, you know, get to the NBA … I never thought about just playing with my dad, but of course he’s, he’s brought it up a couple times. But yeah, I don’t think about it.”
Perhaps the only people who would feel as much pressure as Bronny would be the Lakers themselves. Drafting Bronny would force them to give even more control to LeBron while setting themselves up for consistently awkward situations.
So, say, Bronny isn’t getting any minutes and needs to be sent down to the G-League. Do they ask LeBron or do they tell him? And if they ask him, what if he says no?
And what if LeBron thinks Bronny isn’t being coached correctly? How ugly is that going to be? How many whispers will leak out of the locker room then?
If the Lakers draft Bronny, the benefits will be far outweighed by the circus. The daily focus won’t be about wins and losses, but father and son. Their working relationship will dominate the talk on social media. With every Bronny move, the cameras will focus on LeBron’s reaction to that move.
No father and son ever played in the NBA at the same time. It would be history enough if Bronny plays elsewhere. It would be hysteria if he plays for the Lakers.
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
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And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
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ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
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They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
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Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
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So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.
Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.
Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.
The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.
The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.
UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.
Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.
A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.
Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.
Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.
The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.
Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
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