LeBron James' life has been under a microscope since he was a teenager. Now it's his son's turn, and the elder James doesn't seem to mind one bit.
James has been spending his summer enjoying Taco Tuesdays, shooting Space Jam 2, and traveling with his son, LeBron James Jr.'s, AAU team. And because everywhere LeBron goes cameras follow, videos emerged of James warming up and celebrating with his son's team at the 14U Big Time Vegas tournament this past weekend, which they eventually won.
In one video, LeBron is seen dunking while participating in the team's lay-up line warm-up.
Another clips shows LeBron celebrating after his son throws down an in-game dunk. But, the video that sparked the most attention didn't even involve his child. In the clip, LeBron leaps onto the court and loses his shoe after a pair of Bronny's teammates throw down a vicious alley-oop.
Some people took issue with James' sideline antics. On Monday's episode of Speak for Yourself, FS1's Jason Whitlock went on the offensive by condemning LeBron's sideline behavior.
"LeBron is making a spectacle of himself, a circus of his son's early playing days, and using his son's game as another platform to build the LeBron social media brand," Whitlock said after accusing James of living vicariously through his son.
Shannon Sharpe also criticized James' behavior on Monday's Undisputed.
People were quick to come to James' defense, arguing that he was simply supporting Bronny and his teammates.
Even Jayson Tatum went out of his way to defend LeBron.
What gets lost in the conversation surrounding LeBron's behavior is the impact his mere presence has on the young players. Judging by their social media posts, they love it when James shows up to their games.
And this, from one of Bronny's own teammates:
That enthusiasm wasn't limited to his son and his teammates, after James went out of his way to compliment one of his sons' opponents.
"[LeBron] came up to my son after the game," a man whose son plays against Bronny James told TMZ. "And said, 'I hope I'm still in the league when you're playing' and my son broke down crying.'"
One could argue that this kind of scrutiny is a natural side effect of being one of the biggest athletes in the world, and is par for the course when it comes to James, who is perhaps the most polarizing player in the NBA. The truth is, LeBron's presence and encouragement of kids who are coming into their own as human beings is an assist that's more valuable than a no-look lob. He's playing a role that's more important than the one he's playing in Space Jam 2. If that's not cause for celebration, than we don't know what is.
