Kwame Brown believes LeBron James and the Lakers’ handling of Bronny James have played a role in Dalton Knecht’s stalled development in Los Angeles.
Brown made the claim during an appearance on “The Basketball Show,” where he launched into a broader criticism of LeBron and argued that several players have suffered from playing around the four-time NBA champion.
“I thought LeBron James was a regular individual, and then I realized he’s a part of a group,” Brown said on “The Basketball Show.” “LeBron is a machine; it’s a marketing machine. He’s not an individual. And so, once I realized that, when you go up against a machine, it gives off toxic waste. So what makes it look good? It destroys things around it.
“If you look at the careers that he’s destroyed – Westbrook, all the various things before he even started. You got Dalton Knecht, because of his son, he didn’t get a chance to develop. And he comes there with Andrew Wiggins as the number one draft pick; they make up stories about him to trade him for Kevin Love.”
Knecht and Bronny entered the NBA together in 2024, with Los Angeles selecting Knecht 17th overall before taking Bronny with the 55th pick.
Their opportunities have been considerably different.
Knecht appeared in 78 games as a rookie, averaging 9.1 points in 19.2 minutes per game. His role decreased significantly the following season, when he averaged 4.2 points across 10.2 minutes in 54 appearances, according to ESPN statistics cited by Lakers Daily.
Bronny, meanwhile, averaged just 6.7 minutes across 27 games as a rookie before increasing that to 8.9 minutes in 42 appearances during his second season.
Those numbers alone don’t establish that Bronny’s role directly impacted Knecht’s development, with several other Lakers also competing for rotation minutes.
But Brown clearly believes there is a connection.
With Knecht still attempting to establish a consistent role in Los Angeles, Brown has now placed some of the blame directly on LeBron and the opportunities afforded to his son.
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