Charles Barkley blasts Lakers' handling of LeBron James' son Bronny

The Los Angeles Lakers' decision to keep Bronny James in the NBA whenever the team's G-League affiliate is on the road is not sitting well with Inside the NBA's Charles Barkley.

'It's a bad look for the Lakers,' the 61-year-old NBA legend told 'The Bettor Angle' podcast about LA's handling of LeBron James' eldest son. 'The kid is not ready to play in the NBA. He should be in the G-League so he can play basketball.'

Taken in the second round of June's NBA Draft, Bronny's move to the pros has been met with considerable skepticism following his truncated college career at USC and unimpressive showing at pre-draft combines. And give his inexperience, the 6-foot-2 combo guard seemed like a good candidate to spend much of his rookie with the G League's South Bay Lakers in El Segundo.

But in a peculiar move, the Lakers have opted to keep Bronny in the NBA whenever South Bay hits the road, thereby denying the raw prospect some much-needed playing time.

'And also, this thing where he's only gonna play homes games,' Barkley said of Bronny. 'It's stupid, it's not fair to him. It's not fair to the team. Can you imagine the coach of that team? You come off a road trip and you have a player you haven't seen in a week or two. And then you probably feel like you gotta play him.

'I don't think they are doing Bronny any favors. They have just handled this thing very bad. It's a bad look for the Lakers. I really like everything LeBron has done. But it's a bad look for him [too], in my opinion.'

Bronny is averaging 5 points and 3 assists in 28.5 minutes across two G League games. At the NBA level he’s averaging 0.7 points per game in 2.3 minutes of action in six appearances. 

Barkley isn't alone in criticizing the Lakers over this move. ESPN's Ryan Clark, a former NFL player, also found it distasteful.

'What has Bronny earned?' Clark asked on X. 'He should want to prove himself to his teammates, his organization. More importantly, prove it to himself that he belongs!'

Clark's criticism comes in contrast to some of his ESPN colleagues, who have dismissed Bronny's move to the Lakers as common nepotism and not something that should be forbidden.

'People talking about nepotism,' then-ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said after Bronny was picked by the Lakers. 'The NBA is full of nepotism. The ownership level, front offices, coaching. I don't want to hear about it all of a sudden because Bronny James' father plays for the Lakers. It is rampant in this league'

Another ESPN analyst, Jay Williams, made a similar point.

'Don't we need more instances of black nepotism?' Williams asked. 'Especially when that person has the disposition and the demeanor of somebody that's worthy of being put in that position.'

ESPN may be changing its tune on Bronny next season, when Barkley's TNT-produced Inside the NBA will be aired by the Worldwide Leader.

Fans were thrilled to learn that the once-doomed show will continue on ESPN next season when the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned cable network is scheduled to lose domestic media rights to the league.

The news had led many to wonder if Stephen A. Smith would add a new role with Charles Barkley , Shaquille O'Neal , Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson, but ESPN president Burke Magnus shot down that notion in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

The bottom line is Inside the NBA remains TNT's show, and is unlikely to incorporate ESPN talent, even if the program is being aired on the cable giant.

Whether or not that means Barkley will be allowed to voice his occasionally controversial opinions remains a mystery. A long-time critic of ESPN, Barkley joked with his on-air partner Kenny Smith that the pair has 'got to go back to kissing ass' if they're changing networks.

Barkley famously kissed a donkey's rear after losing an on-air bet to Smith years earlier.