Were Celtics’ Jaylen Brown’s Comments About Bronny James Wrong?

Jaylen Brown voiced his honest opinion about Bronny James when the Celtics star was caught talking about the young basketball player at the NBA’s Summer League matchup between Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Even James’ agent Rich Paul didn’t take issue with Brown’s assessment of his client, stating the NBA Finals MVP has an opinion and didn’t believe the Celtics guard’s comments came from a place of “malice.”

NESN’s George Balekji and Ountae Campbell discussed the fact that Brown did not back peddle his stance on James in the latest episode of “Hold My Banner” and that they believed Brown was not wrong.

James has averaged five points and four rebounds in two games in 25.9 minutes of playing time. The 19-year-old has gone 0-for-11 from three-point range after being compared to Oklahoma City Thunder’s Lou Dort by Lakers head coach J.J. Redick during the draft.

“Going against guys that are going to be competing against him in the G League. Going against some guys that won’t even make G League rosters, some guys that could make their way into an NBA rotation,” Balekji said. “Look, this kid was not being drafted ready for the NBA right now. He is going to have to spend a lot of time in the summer league.

“That’s where I hope Jaylen Brown’s wrong, where but because of his name, he’ll be with the Lakers main. If what’s best for Bronny James to have a career in the NBA is for him to be developed the proper way, you need him to spend as much time possible developing, getting more minutes figuring out a shot at the pro level down in the G League during the season.”

Balekji believes James should have stayed in college and continued to develop under USC head coach Eric Musselman or transferred to Arkansas to play under John Calipari.

“Either one knows how to put guards in the NBA,” he said. “Look at the amount of Kentucky and Arkansas guys in the NBA right now, high level players. I don’t disagree with Jaylen Brown at all.”

James is slated to suit up against the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers on July 17 and 18 in Las Vegas.

You can check out the “Hold My Banner episode in this YouTube video or on Spotify.