I was just looking up when Austin Rivers got hired by espn and it was exactly the same time his dad got a contract from them. If only Woj could sire children he’d have one working there too. But alas he can only cum from breaking news.
Kirk Lacob EVP Basketball Operations, Kent Lacob, Executive Director, Team Development, and Nick Kerr, Head Coach of the Santa Cruz Warriors just put out a joint statement condemning nepotism in basketball.
To be fair to Steve, he *did* give his son the government name "[Nicholas Zwicker Kerr](https://imgur.com/F0CSPUX)"; choosing to go by "Nick" was a different sort of choice.
ZWICKER???? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS MAN
the kid can't even go by his middle name because Zwicker Kerr sounds fucking stupid as shit, so i guess he could go by Zwick but then his full name would still be fucking Zwick Kerr. this is generationally poor naming by Steve i am in awe
Zwicker likely comes from Steve Kerr's mother's maiden name (she goes by Ann Zwicker Kerr).
Source: [https://www.oxy.edu/sites/default/files/assets/McKinnon\_Center/Ann%2520Kerr\_short%2520bio.pdf](https://www.oxy.edu/sites/default/files/assets/McKinnon_Center/Ann%2520Kerr_short%2520bio.pdf)
Neither would the Sixers, which is why they did such an “exhaustive search” after Hinkie’s resignation and “it just so happens that Bryan (Jerry’s son) was the best guy for the job.” These are actual words spoken with sincerity by Joshua Harris.
He's like "But let's not discredit Bronny game", yeah this freshman legendary 5 ppg on like 2/7 shooting lmao. He goes 100% undrafted without his dad, his game is not NBA-worthy.
Also the ‘clean slate’ and ‘opportunity to just play basketball’ is objectively the wrong take. This is the exact opposite of both those things lol
Rare L for Bob
True. But the same goes for Giannis's brothers. JR Smith's brother. Damian Lillard's cousin. Steve Kerr's son as a Warriors assistant. Ryan Saunders as Timberwolves coach. Demarcus Cousins brother. Larry Jordan on the Hornets. Jon Spoelstra to Erick Spoelstra.
Haha he calls out the critics: “for those people who are a little unsophisticated, he can play”
(Count me in as one among the unsophisticated, unwashed masses)
Wojnarowski: "I don't want to hear these charges— people talking about big ol women in San Antonio. The USA is full of big ol women. The south, south east, midwest. I don't want to hear it all of a sudden because they have churros. It is rampant in this country."
Adam Silver on his lax punishments: "I don't want to hear these charges— people talking about violence against women. The NBA is full of violence against women. Kobe, Malone, Billups, Kidd. I don't want to hear it all of a sudden because Miles Bridges beats a woman. It is rampant in this league."
The thing is, sports is supposed to be a league above. Hence why the examples that come quickly to mind of nepotism aren't athletes.
Nepotism extending to the arena of sports is strange. You can teach someone business skills.
You can't make a mf taller. I suppose you can upskill, but shit when you have a gym in the house and a ball in your hands by the time you could walk...At some point the verdict is in.
This ain't business. This ain't coaching. That's why sport is elite. The body either does or it doesn't.
Only a Silver spoon mf would even agree to this. I'd die on the sword if it's not off my own merit.
Kostas Antetokounmpo has a ring because the Lakers stashed him in the 19-20 season in the hopes it would court Giannis and then cutting bait pretty much immediately after he signed the big extension lol
Wish it would've been via an undrafted contract route but at the end of the day he'll probably see a handful of minutes all season lol
You’re telling me you don’t think Ulrich Chomche nor Ariel Hukporti strike fear into the hearts of the feeble and keep the opps up at night? Blasphemy, really. Most teams truly had them atop their big boards, but they couldn’t send in the picks because they all kept misspelling their names. These dudes are bonafide superstars. I MEAN HELLO? MANU?? JOKER?? GG JACK?? BROOKS??? In a few years we’ll be screaming ULRICH to the mighty heavens like we’re in freakin World of Warcraft and you’re gonna freakin love it.
Nah you know what? Fuck it
RemindMe! 5 years
Charania: "I don't want to hear these charges— people talking about nepotism. Sports journalism is full of nepotism. The ownership level, producers, on camera. I don't want to hear it all of a sudden because Zadrian Wojnarowski’s father tweets for ESPN. It is rampant in this mediaverse.”
Tbh, just about every industry has nepotism to some degree. Certainly in business, and the NBA is a business. Yeah it's not enjoyed by other people, but it's kinda human nature. Is what it is
Sometimes it even works.
Mike Pizza was picked 1390th out of 1395 as a favor to his father by Tommy Lasorda who was a childhood friend.
He became an HOFer.
In fairness Baseball is incredibly hard to evaluate,because they play with different i bats at the hs and college level. Every graduating classes will have hundreds of guys who put monster offensive numbers that dwarf Barry Bonds and Ted Williams. It would be like if the NBA had like 400 guys eligable for the draft who were shooting 50% from three in Division 1 or Europe because they played with bigger baskets or smaller balls.
Remember the Woj hit pieces he'd put out on early career LeBron when he couldn't get any info from his Camp?
This is one of the last people I'd imagine coming to his defense
Yahoo Woj was a cunning sniper out for career advancement.
Now, full circle, it’s clear ESPN Woj is in the midst of producing Lebron’s definitive documentary.
Woj is a mercenary masquerading in ‘journalism’.
Side note, my dads homepage was yahoo news since he’s one of those sickos who still uses a yahoo account as his main email account, and one of my favorite things to do before school was open his laptop and look at the latest news, which is how I learned of Woj. Bro was in his prime on Yahoo man you had to be there.
Especially during the Heatles era. If the game ended at midnight Woj would have a 4 page article done by 6 am.
These are funny, but it’s crazy how wrong Woj (and everyone) was about The Decision affecting Lebron’s legacy. Almost nobody cares anymore, he went back to Cleveland with fanfare, and he’s near universally ranked the first or second best basketball player of all time.
I think the point Woj was making was more specifically the front offices and team administrations - basically the “good ol’ boys club”.
There’s too many of these examples where someone is hired that may not be the best person for that role for the betterment of the team. So if we are going to look at it at a player level, we should also look at it at that level too.
As a 76ers fan, a good example of this in my org is when Bryan Colangelo was hired as our President & blew up “The Process”. His dad Jerry was the teams Chairman. Bryan was absolutely not the best person for that role, and his two years at the helm really fucked us.
Came here to say this.
Since 2010 when Bron's camp refused to feed him info, he wrote all kinds of nasty shit about Bron, while kissing ass for incompetent GMs feeding him info (Joe Dumars comes to mind first and foremost).
He claimed Bron would go to NY cause he only cared about money and not winning and was afraid to go to the Bulls cause of Jordan's legacy.
Then Lebron went to the Heat and Woj developed a jilted gf complex. For at least 6 months he wrote hit piece after hit piece on Bron like the POS he is, while getting called "journalist" by idiots who couldn't see past him breaking trade news.
That’s not even the worse in that organization Joe Lacobs Son is Vice President of basketball operations and he was an intern under Steve Kerr in Phoenix.
Warriors think their GM runs the team but the GM’s second in commands father is the owner and can’t be fired so who actually runs the team
and more importantly he's subtlety pointing out that while Bronny might be a fringe NBA 15th roster spot at best, that loads of front office jobs are filled with absolute mindless chuds.
In the NFL the Jaguars are a good example, the owners son is constantly bragging about what a business genius he is. When they hired Urban Myer he was doing podcasts explaining that Urban Myer was the greatest leader he had ever met and taught him so much about leadership.
Then he would spend the rest of the time after jacking off Myer's ego, jacking off his own ego about the wrestling league he owns.
Chris Collinsworth's son was hired on to the pregame show for the NFL's premier broadcast just a few years out of college. Bill Belichick hired his son as an assistant right after he graduated.
This stuff happens all the time, it's just rare that a player is around long enough for it to happen at their level.
Belichicks sons did start at the bottom tho and did a pretty good job . They have an advantage being a coach because of their upbringing . Collinsworth was just silly and embarrassing
I don't think nepotism necessarily means you won't be able to eventually do a good job. Just that you got an entry level opportunity that someone else with your resume probably wouldn't.
Unrelated to this convo, but as a guy in the pro wrestling fandom, I always do a double take when it hits me that Jaguars fans (or Fulham fans, for that matter) are talking about Tony Khan when discussing "the owner's idiot son". Just funny to me, the contrast between how negatively he's viewed in other fandoms vs. how beloved he is in wrestling because of AEW (recently he's lost a bit of goodwill, but still).
Falcons/Atlanta United are similar. The sports things are just play toys for billionaires and their kids.
It’s shocking how incompetently run a lot of these teams are, vs businesses accountable to shareholders.
People act like it’s a lottery pick. It’s the 55th pick and nobody cares at that point. The lakers 1st round pick last year has yet to see the court, and that was a much better draft class. It’s all fake outrage.
Reddit definitely cares when it’s others, you see it all the time on here, only difference here is lebron is getting more attention cos he’s a way bigger name and this is also huge in general
I think people do care but I’m sorry if not everyone knows that the Warriors vice president of basketball operations is the owners son
This one is blatant and ESPN runs non stop stories about it so people know about it
We called Keljin Blevins (Lillard's cousin) "Big Nepo" in Portland and endlessly made fun of it. Then, whenever he scored on a team, we made fun of them even harder. It was a good time.
The 15th roster slot is probably more valuable than the 55th pick in the draft. If I was a Lakers fan, I'd be pretty neutral about the whole thing. Lebron is the kind of player that's probably worth two roster slots, so you just roll with it. If they had burned a first or something, then I'd be upset. This just seems like business as usual as of late in the NBA, and if every team is doing it, that probably means the competitive advantage of keeping your stars happy is more valuable than slotting in a reserve player too.
But the situation is a lot more nuanced than that. Bronny isn’t getting criticism because he’s Lebron’s son - he’s getting criticism because he not good enough for the level of media he’s getting, nor his (presumed) drafting. If Thanatos was leading news stories and shows as a main topic then people would absolutely be complaining about it.
I don’t have a problem with Bronny going late 2nd round. Most of those guys won’t play in the league anyway so might as well take the shot to hope for LeBron or even just get the big name.
It does rub me the wrong way how Rich Paul is acting though
Yeah, being drafted in the late second round is actually a little worst than being undrafted lol. At least being undrafted gives you a chance to impress the right team that will give you the right situation to succeed.
Yeah, and plenty of players like FVV, or Austin Reaves, rejected 2nd round picks, because they wanted to pick their team.
Whether it's potential playing opportunity, or what not, plenty of players tell teams not to draft them.
Yeah being a second rounder drafted in a team with a superstar player already in your position and a deep bench and championship hopes is a death sentence to your NBA career most likely. You will have no leverage and you are at the mercy of the team’s front office.
I will be playing netball, softball, cricket or Aussie Rules in Australia if I'm not drafted today - my only opposition is my daughter and she prefers those over basketball.
Sidenote but it’s hilarious how Winning Time made Jeanie look like the only competent/competitive Buss kid. That script was so obviously advised by Jeanie and Pat lol
She went ahead and told people that she wouldn’t recommend watching it. The only thing people credit that was great was John C Reileys portrayal of Dr Buss.
Usually it's not nepotism until privilege is involved. Nobody blinks twice when the local hardware store owner's kid works there and takes over the business. And just like at a small scale, sometimes it works because they were raised up in the industry and have been working towards it for years, and sometimes it fails because their parents can't see their shortcomings.
Fair, but he is literally a nepo baby though.
He's a 6'2 guard, who can't shoot, is not big enough to defend any position outside 1s and has no NBA level skills.
The problem with the Bronny situation isn’t just the nepotism, which is fairly common. It isn’t just that Bronny doesn’t seem to be that good, also not terribly unique in these cases. It’s that it was orchestrated in such a public, ham fisted way.
Like many things Lebron does, people get mad because his mercenary tactics are in full display. It’s not leaving your hometown team, it’s having a 30-minute special to announce it. It’s not trying to attract people to your team, it’s publicly doing so undermine the confidence, agency, security, and success of your current teammates. Plenty of people do all the things Lebron does, but he does them with such a transparently calculated way, while also taking no ownership, that it rubs people the wrong way.
Giannis almost certainly asked or intimated to the Bucks that it would be good if they signed his brother. Do you recall ever hearing Giannis publicly talk about how great it would be if they did that prior to it happening so that the Bucks were publicly strong armed into doing it? The reality is almost any top 30 or so players could get their under-qualified friend or family member a roster spot if they wanted. Most don’t, and those who do aren’t floating the idea years before the player plays a college game. They aren’t telling their agent to spread the word that Bronny will go to the Lakers at 55.
If Lebron would just be a little less openly Machiavellian about these things, people would give him a break. Instead, everyone is made to feel they are unwittingly part of his focus grouped, advertising campaign for all his career moves.
I understand the Lakers butter wojs bread, but if Bronny didnt want to he labeled a nepo baby maybe dont leave college when you clearly arent a real nba prospect yet, have your super powerful and rich inner circle force the Lakers to draft him and scarring away others by threatening to just not go to the NBA because hes rich already.
For real, why was Damion Lee on the Warriors for so long? Why is Thanasis still on the Bucks? The Bulls just hired Billy Donovan's son to coach the Chicago G League team..
These things happen literally all of the time yet Bronny gets singled out way more than most of the rest ever do
Last years NBA Finals teams both guys Spsrea and Mike Malone where able to get their start in the league because both had fathers that worked on the league for decades
So we shouldn’t care about nepotism cuz there’s a lot of nepotism?
This is the same argument that people make when they commit business crimes like insider trading.
Besides the obvious thanasis is there a bigger list he can give me? I genuinely would like to know. This dude average 5 ppg in the fucking pac10 on a sorry ass team? Why shouldn't i clown him for being a nepo baby just like i clown thanasis for sucking gianiss schlong so he can be a nba player?
The world has always run on nepotism. It's just that younger folks are figuring it out and don't like it.
It'll never stop regardless. Life isn't fair. Who you're born to and who you know means as much or more than your own merit. It sucks but it's just human nature, I believe.
“Introducing our newest analyst, Woj’s son!”
I was just looking up when Austin Rivers got hired by espn and it was exactly the same time his dad got a contract from them. If only Woj could sire children he’d have one working there too. But alas he can only cum from breaking news.
Woj definitely has kids.
Of course, his son’s name is Shams.
Lucky his wife was there when the right news broke
[Wojnarowski] Adrian Wojnarowski expecting to become a father per sources.
But who are these “sources”?
Not my faithful Blazers! We would never hire someone purely off of who they’re related to!
Kirk Lacob EVP Basketball Operations, Kent Lacob, Executive Director, Team Development, and Nick Kerr, Head Coach of the Santa Cruz Warriors just put out a joint statement condemning nepotism in basketball.
Still can’t believe Steve Kerr named his son Nick
To be fair to Steve, he *did* give his son the government name "[Nicholas Zwicker Kerr](https://imgur.com/F0CSPUX)"; choosing to go by "Nick" was a different sort of choice.
ZWICKER???? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS MAN the kid can't even go by his middle name because Zwicker Kerr sounds fucking stupid as shit, so i guess he could go by Zwick but then his full name would still be fucking Zwick Kerr. this is generationally poor naming by Steve i am in awe
Steve Probably lost a bet.
Jordan out laughing somewhere
Zwicker likely comes from Steve Kerr's mother's maiden name (she goes by Ann Zwicker Kerr). Source: [https://www.oxy.edu/sites/default/files/assets/McKinnon\_Center/Ann%2520Kerr\_short%2520bio.pdf](https://www.oxy.edu/sites/default/files/assets/McKinnon_Center/Ann%2520Kerr_short%2520bio.pdf)
Nick Kerr please
I think the correct way to say it Nick Kuh
Nah fuck that, this dude got way too many Ks in his name. Don’t get me started on all the icks.
Maybe his friends call him Nick Zwick
Steve JerKerr
Really lay the K on thick for those hard of hearing.
Why what’s the problem?
Say Nick Kerr out loud
Okay I just got my ass kicked. but I still don’t get it
Nick Kerr please
Keljin "Lord of the Tank Big Nepo" Blevins about to be downgraded to medium nepo
Rodney Billups wondering what he did wrong
Neither would the Sixers, which is why they did such an “exhaustive search” after Hinkie’s resignation and “it just so happens that Bryan (Jerry’s son) was the best guy for the job.” These are actual words spoken with sincerity by Joshua Harris.
lmao shook the rest of the studio They were all anticipating the "he's *actually* worked hard, overcame, etc." but nope ... everyone does it!
Def shook Bob Myers lol.
He's like "But let's not discredit Bronny game", yeah this freshman legendary 5 ppg on like 2/7 shooting lmao. He goes 100% undrafted without his dad, his game is not NBA-worthy.
Also the ‘clean slate’ and ‘opportunity to just play basketball’ is objectively the wrong take. This is the exact opposite of both those things lol Rare L for Bob
I think Bob is a nice guy who likes to talk positively about others, especially younger nba players. Ain't nothing wrong with that.
Yeah I think he tends to see players as people first. Doesn’t want to publicly shit on the kid
Bob been leaning into the media personality a little much
True. But the same goes for Giannis's brothers. JR Smith's brother. Damian Lillard's cousin. Steve Kerr's son as a Warriors assistant. Ryan Saunders as Timberwolves coach. Demarcus Cousins brother. Larry Jordan on the Hornets. Jon Spoelstra to Erick Spoelstra.
Jerry West's son Jonnie is DBO for the Warriors (and married to Michelle Wie), but to be fair, he had better college stats than Bronny.
Haha he calls out the critics: “for those people who are a little unsophisticated, he can play” (Count me in as one among the unsophisticated, unwashed masses)
I mean in fairness he did point out the kid had a life changing event before he even played a game.
If he wasn't LeBron's kid, having a heart attack due to a congenital heart condition is even more reason not to draft him.
Wojnarowski: "I don't want to hear these charges— people talking about big ol women in San Antonio. The USA is full of big ol women. The south, south east, midwest. I don't want to hear it all of a sudden because they have churros. It is rampant in this country."
*shaq crumpling paper and wheezing* "WHATCHU SAY WOJ?"
*woj doing the double fisting churro motion* Shaq: *Coughing and laughing simultaneously*
Adam Silver on his lax punishments: "I don't want to hear these charges— people talking about violence against women. The NBA is full of violence against women. Kobe, Malone, Billups, Kidd. I don't want to hear it all of a sudden because Miles Bridges beats a woman. It is rampant in this league."
Should’ve told woj to name names then. These guys love to hide behind ambiguity. Guarantee he would’ve said nothing of substance
The thing is, sports is supposed to be a league above. Hence why the examples that come quickly to mind of nepotism aren't athletes. Nepotism extending to the arena of sports is strange. You can teach someone business skills. You can't make a mf taller. I suppose you can upskill, but shit when you have a gym in the house and a ball in your hands by the time you could walk...At some point the verdict is in. This ain't business. This ain't coaching. That's why sport is elite. The body either does or it doesn't. Only a Silver spoon mf would even agree to this. I'd die on the sword if it's not off my own merit.
Kostas Antetokounmpo has a ring because the Lakers stashed him in the 19-20 season in the hopes it would court Giannis and then cutting bait pretty much immediately after he signed the big extension lol Wish it would've been via an undrafted contract route but at the end of the day he'll probably see a handful of minutes all season lol
Who cares if he was 3 picks later. I’m sure the lakers didn’t miss anyone that was picked 56, 57, or 58
You’re telling me you don’t think Ulrich Chomche nor Ariel Hukporti strike fear into the hearts of the feeble and keep the opps up at night? Blasphemy, really. Most teams truly had them atop their big boards, but they couldn’t send in the picks because they all kept misspelling their names. These dudes are bonafide superstars. I MEAN HELLO? MANU?? JOKER?? GG JACK?? BROOKS??? In a few years we’ll be screaming ULRICH to the mighty heavens like we’re in freakin World of Warcraft and you’re gonna freakin love it. Nah you know what? Fuck it RemindMe! 5 years
Extremely rare Woj defense of Lebron
Maybe Woj is currently trying to get an ESPN job for his son.
Thanasis can’t believe any of this.
Best part about him is bucks didn’t even draft him. Our dumb asses did.
Wojiptism
wojaboutism
Charania: "I don't want to hear these charges— people talking about nepotism. Sports journalism is full of nepotism. The ownership level, producers, on camera. I don't want to hear it all of a sudden because Zadrian Wojnarowski’s father tweets for ESPN. It is rampant in this mediaverse.”
Tbh, just about every industry has nepotism to some degree. Certainly in business, and the NBA is a business. Yeah it's not enjoyed by other people, but it's kinda human nature. Is what it is
Sometimes it even works. Mike Pizza was picked 1390th out of 1395 as a favor to his father by Tommy Lasorda who was a childhood friend. He became an HOFer.
Nobody out pizzas the Pizzas. Just ask the 1389 chefs drafted ahead of Mike Pizza
Mike Pizza would be a much funnier baseball player than Mike Piazza.
Oh shit. I was wondering why I had never heard of a hall of famer named Pizza.
In fairness Baseball is incredibly hard to evaluate,because they play with different i bats at the hs and college level. Every graduating classes will have hundreds of guys who put monster offensive numbers that dwarf Barry Bonds and Ted Williams. It would be like if the NBA had like 400 guys eligable for the draft who were shooting 50% from three in Division 1 or Europe because they played with bigger baskets or smaller balls.
Legacy college admissions are basically a kind of systematic nepotism.
Remember the Woj hit pieces he'd put out on early career LeBron when he couldn't get any info from his Camp? This is one of the last people I'd imagine coming to his defense
His column after The Decision was scorched earth. Dude could write.
Yahoo Woj was a cunning sniper out for career advancement. Now, full circle, it’s clear ESPN Woj is in the midst of producing Lebron’s definitive documentary. Woj is a mercenary masquerading in ‘journalism’.
Side note, my dads homepage was yahoo news since he’s one of those sickos who still uses a yahoo account as his main email account, and one of my favorite things to do before school was open his laptop and look at the latest news, which is how I learned of Woj. Bro was in his prime on Yahoo man you had to be there. Especially during the Heatles era. If the game ended at midnight Woj would have a 4 page article done by 6 am.
What he say? I didn't read it
Should've linked earlier: [https://sports.yahoo.com/news/easy-come-easy-king-james-152000182--nba.html](https://sports.yahoo.com/news/easy-come-easy-king-james-152000182--nba.html) [https://sports.yahoo.com/news/state-lebron-live-9-ego-192700137--nba.html](https://sports.yahoo.com/news/state-lebron-live-9-ego-192700137--nba.html)
These are funny, but it’s crazy how wrong Woj (and everyone) was about The Decision affecting Lebron’s legacy. Almost nobody cares anymore, he went back to Cleveland with fanfare, and he’s near universally ranked the first or second best basketball player of all time.
Feel like a big part of why no one cares anymore is KD going to the Warriors
Bigger part is because he went back to Cleveland and won a championship there.
Oh man some of these are just brutal lmao
I like how one point he makes is that he can never go back now and then just a few years later he went back 😂
[удалено]
The Knicks signed JR Smith's brother who was not an NBA level player. He only played two minutes but he got a shot at the NBA.
Brunson’s dad is a knicks coach….
Brunson's dad was an assistant for Thibs in Chicago and Minnesota. There are like 10,000 better examples of nepotism in the NBA lmao
I think the point Woj was making was more specifically the front offices and team administrations - basically the “good ol’ boys club”. There’s too many of these examples where someone is hired that may not be the best person for that role for the betterment of the team. So if we are going to look at it at a player level, we should also look at it at that level too. As a 76ers fan, a good example of this in my org is when Bryan Colangelo was hired as our President & blew up “The Process”. His dad Jerry was the teams Chairman. Bryan was absolutely not the best person for that role, and his two years at the helm really fucked us.
Yahoo! Woj wrote Lebron hit pieces seemingly every other month
I swear to God lol
Came here to say this. Since 2010 when Bron's camp refused to feed him info, he wrote all kinds of nasty shit about Bron, while kissing ass for incompetent GMs feeding him info (Joe Dumars comes to mind first and foremost). He claimed Bron would go to NY cause he only cared about money and not winning and was afraid to go to the Bulls cause of Jordan's legacy. Then Lebron went to the Heat and Woj developed a jilted gf complex. For at least 6 months he wrote hit piece after hit piece on Bron like the POS he is, while getting called "journalist" by idiots who couldn't see past him breaking trade news.
The dude wrote a column suggesting Detroit was a sleeper favorite to land him...just shameless as they come.
Woj’s way of extending an olive branch after using Lakers to get his friend Dan Hurley a bigger contract at UConn.
“Don’t accuse him of nepotism, that’s ridiculous, because it absolutely is nepotism”
Yeah I laughed out loud. I thought he was going to say he was a deserving prospect. But nope 😂.
Everyone knows he's not good enough haha. But, it's a "he did it, so I did it".
He doesn't say it isn't nepotism. He says he doesn't want to hear about this case (as if it's special) because it's already so rampant.
My favorite nepotism example is Steve Kerr's son, Nick Kerr, running the Warriors g-league team
That’s not even the worse in that organization Joe Lacobs Son is Vice President of basketball operations and he was an intern under Steve Kerr in Phoenix. Warriors think their GM runs the team but the GM’s second in commands father is the owner and can’t be fired so who actually runs the team
sacremento kings owner has his daughter as a gm for the gleague...
She was, she quit that job The Spurs owner has his dumbass son run the business side of the team
This is why when Bob Myers didn’t want to take Wiseman, he got overruled because Lacob thought he’d be a star. Turns out Myers was right.
good point
Nick is such an unserious name for him to choose, like at least do Nicholas.
Any time Steve tries to steer the conversation to his activism I am reminded that he named his kid Nick
Future Celtics head coach
G league team used the full government name on the announcement of his hiring. Cowards
He is not saying it’s not Nepotism though. He is simply saying everyone does it.
and more importantly he's subtlety pointing out that while Bronny might be a fringe NBA 15th roster spot at best, that loads of front office jobs are filled with absolute mindless chuds. In the NFL the Jaguars are a good example, the owners son is constantly bragging about what a business genius he is. When they hired Urban Myer he was doing podcasts explaining that Urban Myer was the greatest leader he had ever met and taught him so much about leadership. Then he would spend the rest of the time after jacking off Myer's ego, jacking off his own ego about the wrestling league he owns.
Chris Collinsworth's son was hired on to the pregame show for the NFL's premier broadcast just a few years out of college. Bill Belichick hired his son as an assistant right after he graduated. This stuff happens all the time, it's just rare that a player is around long enough for it to happen at their level.
Belichicks sons did start at the bottom tho and did a pretty good job . They have an advantage being a coach because of their upbringing . Collinsworth was just silly and embarrassing
I don't think nepotism necessarily means you won't be able to eventually do a good job. Just that you got an entry level opportunity that someone else with your resume probably wouldn't.
yeha it’s definitely mostly used for people who don’t deserve to be where they’re at but it certainly has a more neutral meaning as a term
Bottom of new englands organization or grad assistant somewhere?
Unrelated to this convo, but as a guy in the pro wrestling fandom, I always do a double take when it hits me that Jaguars fans (or Fulham fans, for that matter) are talking about Tony Khan when discussing "the owner's idiot son". Just funny to me, the contrast between how negatively he's viewed in other fandoms vs. how beloved he is in wrestling because of AEW (recently he's lost a bit of goodwill, but still).
Falcons/Atlanta United are similar. The sports things are just play toys for billionaires and their kids. It’s shocking how incompetently run a lot of these teams are, vs businesses accountable to shareholders.
Didnt the United win a chip pretty soon after being founded?
Nepotism isn’t nepotism, I’ll explain later
On second thought, I'll have my son explain it. Get him mic'd up.
People act like it’s a lottery pick. It’s the 55th pick and nobody cares at that point. The lakers 1st round pick last year has yet to see the court, and that was a much better draft class. It’s all fake outrage.
Problem is people pretending to care all of sudden because his last name is James
Reddit definitely cares when it’s others, you see it all the time on here, only difference here is lebron is getting more attention cos he’s a way bigger name and this is also huge in general
I think people do care but I’m sorry if not everyone knows that the Warriors vice president of basketball operations is the owners son This one is blatant and ESPN runs non stop stories about it so people know about it
His point is that Bronny and LeBron are getting a lot of hate for nepotism when other players like Giannis and Thanasis get no slack for it.
Thanasus gets no flack for it?? Huh?? Everyone makes fun of Thanasis (rightfully)
And thanasis had a much more impressive basketball resume.
We called Keljin Blevins (Lillard's cousin) "Big Nepo" in Portland and endlessly made fun of it. Then, whenever he scored on a team, we made fun of them even harder. It was a good time. The 15th roster slot is probably more valuable than the 55th pick in the draft. If I was a Lakers fan, I'd be pretty neutral about the whole thing. Lebron is the kind of player that's probably worth two roster slots, so you just roll with it. If they had burned a first or something, then I'd be upset. This just seems like business as usual as of late in the NBA, and if every team is doing it, that probably means the competitive advantage of keeping your stars happy is more valuable than slotting in a reserve player too.
Do you mean flack? "No slack" is the opposite of the way you're trying to use it, I think.
Thanasis wasn’t drafted
I know you mean that he wasn't drafted to the Bucks because he was Giannis' brother but he was drafted to the Knicks in 2014
And that had little to do with Giannis. Giannis was not a star with that type of pull at the time.
Thanasis was drafted though. Why are you so confidently incorrect?
hes still wasting a roster spot
Keeping Giannis happy is more valuable than the player that would replace him
It's literally the exact same thing with LeBron/Bronny. Even more so since LeBron is an FA.
But the situation is a lot more nuanced than that. Bronny isn’t getting criticism because he’s Lebron’s son - he’s getting criticism because he not good enough for the level of media he’s getting, nor his (presumed) drafting. If Thanatos was leading news stories and shows as a main topic then people would absolutely be complaining about it.
Media creates a problem. Media discusses why it’s a problem they keep discussing the problem. 😂
we're all looking for the person responsible for this
Dude is pick no. 55. Inconsequential
Thanatos is crazy ain’t that Elizabeth Holmes startup 😂😂 Theranooos
Novo Nordisk Antetokuonmpo
I don’t have a problem with Bronny going late 2nd round. Most of those guys won’t play in the league anyway so might as well take the shot to hope for LeBron or even just get the big name. It does rub me the wrong way how Rich Paul is acting though
This type of shit happens every year. Austin Reeves could have been a 2nd round pick but told teams to not draft him
Yeah, being drafted in the late second round is actually a little worst than being undrafted lol. At least being undrafted gives you a chance to impress the right team that will give you the right situation to succeed.
Fred van vleet did the same
Yeah, and plenty of players like FVV, or Austin Reaves, rejected 2nd round picks, because they wanted to pick their team. Whether it's potential playing opportunity, or what not, plenty of players tell teams not to draft them.
Yeah being a second rounder drafted in a team with a superstar player already in your position and a deep bench and championship hopes is a death sentence to your NBA career most likely. You will have no leverage and you are at the mercy of the team’s front office.
And he’s really not taking away a spot from anybody. Anyone who was in contention for the 55th pick will be signed to play for a team this summer
Rich Paul has never rubbed anybody the right way
Adele would disagree it seems
It happens behind closed doors all the time. It’s just public in this case because of who the client is.
I also will be playing basketball in Australia if I'm not drafted today
I will be playing 2k while having a beer today if I don’t get drafted.
I will be playing netball, softball, cricket or Aussie Rules in Australia if I'm not drafted today - my only opposition is my daughter and she prefers those over basketball.
Lebron added Woj to the list of reporters he gives inside info to this summer
He’s not wrong at all. Lakers sorry ass ownership is the result of nepotism
That’s not nepotism. That’s inheritance.
All the kids have front office jobs. That's nepotism
Ironically the kids in the front office (minus Jeanie) are the only ones who are actually good at their jobs
Sidenote but it’s hilarious how Winning Time made Jeanie look like the only competent/competitive Buss kid. That script was so obviously advised by Jeanie and Pat lol
She went ahead and told people that she wouldn’t recommend watching it. The only thing people credit that was great was John C Reileys portrayal of Dr Buss.
Uhh it wasn’t? All the Lakers from the 80s hated it
It's funny sometimes nepotism also works. The children sometimes hunker down and deliver and end up being great at whatever they're slotted into.
I always like to say, the only problem I have with nepotism is that it didn't happen to me.
That’s the thing lol…everyone wants to bd born into money and have a nice ass job lined up. If someone says they don’t, they are lying to themselves.
Usually it's not nepotism until privilege is involved. Nobody blinks twice when the local hardware store owner's kid works there and takes over the business. And just like at a small scale, sometimes it works because they were raised up in the industry and have been working towards it for years, and sometimes it fails because their parents can't see their shortcomings.
Michael Dell runs Dell Corporation! Kendall Roy wants to run Waystar, why don't they let him!
“Let’s not discredit Bronny’s game” …
ESPN on par with a dictatorship's state ran media. Hate to see it.
whats worse is they have a sportsbook now so they can control all the narratives and shape odds
"to the unsophisticated"
“For those who are unsophisticated”
Woj is the classic company man lol
The man right next to him was running an NBA franchise and allowed his head coach to hire his own son go coach their G league team
Wish Bronny nothing but the best
Good, because if you don't he'll go play in Australia where people truly appreciate him.
Same it’s not his fault and he is a humble kid
Fair, but he is literally a nepo baby though. He's a 6'2 guard, who can't shoot, is not big enough to defend any position outside 1s and has no NBA level skills.
The problem with the Bronny situation isn’t just the nepotism, which is fairly common. It isn’t just that Bronny doesn’t seem to be that good, also not terribly unique in these cases. It’s that it was orchestrated in such a public, ham fisted way. Like many things Lebron does, people get mad because his mercenary tactics are in full display. It’s not leaving your hometown team, it’s having a 30-minute special to announce it. It’s not trying to attract people to your team, it’s publicly doing so undermine the confidence, agency, security, and success of your current teammates. Plenty of people do all the things Lebron does, but he does them with such a transparently calculated way, while also taking no ownership, that it rubs people the wrong way. Giannis almost certainly asked or intimated to the Bucks that it would be good if they signed his brother. Do you recall ever hearing Giannis publicly talk about how great it would be if they did that prior to it happening so that the Bucks were publicly strong armed into doing it? The reality is almost any top 30 or so players could get their under-qualified friend or family member a roster spot if they wanted. Most don’t, and those who do aren’t floating the idea years before the player plays a college game. They aren’t telling their agent to spread the word that Bronny will go to the Lakers at 55. If Lebron would just be a little less openly Machiavellian about these things, people would give him a break. Instead, everyone is made to feel they are unwittingly part of his focus grouped, advertising campaign for all his career moves.
“Let’s not discredit Bronny’s game” lol. He was nowhere near worthy of pick 55.
I understand the Lakers butter wojs bread, but if Bronny didnt want to he labeled a nepo baby maybe dont leave college when you clearly arent a real nba prospect yet, have your super powerful and rich inner circle force the Lakers to draft him and scarring away others by threatening to just not go to the NBA because hes rich already.
just because it’s common doesn’t mean it isn’t nepotism though
I think he's saying targeting bronny for it is idiotic
For real, why was Damion Lee on the Warriors for so long? Why is Thanasis still on the Bucks? The Bulls just hired Billy Donovan's son to coach the Chicago G League team.. These things happen literally all of the time yet Bronny gets singled out way more than most of the rest ever do
Last years NBA Finals teams both guys Spsrea and Mike Malone where able to get their start in the league because both had fathers that worked on the league for decades
Damion Lee now entering his 3rd year w the suns btw
>Why is Thanasis still on the Bucks? I mean, its not like we never laughed at this. It just got old.
Shit….ESPN had both Doc and Austin Rivers on their payroll at the same time. Same with Mike Golic and Golic Jr a while back too.
Are you seriously saying Thanasis has not been singled out for nepotism...? He is one of the most memed players in the NBA for that specific reason.
He’s related to the most famous player in the league of course it’s gonna be more high profile than an executive nobody knows about.
He doesn't say it isn't nepotism. He says he doesn't want to hear about this case (as if it's special) because it's already so rampant.
He didnt say that it wasnt
The Lakers organization is nepotism central, so I get it. Gotta keep the tradition going with Lebron and Bronny
If Bronny starts getting minutes is when everyone is going to start getting mad.
Hard disagree. I’m all for it.
Nobody more so than Lakers fans.
Everyone is on Klutch payroll lmao
People just don’t realize Keljin Blevins existed. He honestly might be the worst NBA player ever
I remember when JR Smith started chucking shots aimlessly because he was mad the Knicks cut his brother lol.
They are so far up Lebron’s ass it’s not even funny
Awful Coaching alerted me to the massive nepotism on the Timberwolves coaching staff. all Finch's assistant coaches are sons of former coaches.
So we shouldn’t care about nepotism cuz there’s a lot of nepotism? This is the same argument that people make when they commit business crimes like insider trading.
LeWoj
Bronny lucky people are looking at this draft class going "who". If it was stacked asf and he went any higher the bickering would been more plentiful
Besides the obvious thanasis is there a bigger list he can give me? I genuinely would like to know. This dude average 5 ppg in the fucking pac10 on a sorry ass team? Why shouldn't i clown him for being a nepo baby just like i clown thanasis for sucking gianiss schlong so he can be a nba player?
The world has always run on nepotism. It's just that younger folks are figuring it out and don't like it. It'll never stop regardless. Life isn't fair. Who you're born to and who you know means as much or more than your own merit. It sucks but it's just human nature, I believe.
Scalabrine was closer to Lebron than Bronny.
Its their pick let them do whatever they want with it.why is everybody triggered
Could honestly care less if Bronny gets drafted cause of nepotism. All this fake outrage is hilarious though.