Blake Hinson calls reports of Bronny James receiving special treatment at Summer League 'nonsense'

Bronny James might be receiving the most attention that any No. 55 pick in the history of the draft ever has prior to playing his first NBA game. That’s simply what happens when you’re the son of one of the greatest players in league history.

However, a good deal of that coverage hasn’t always been the most favorable, including an anonymous report that there was some jealousy among James’ teammates at the Summer League in Las Vegas.

Blake Hinson, an undrafted rookie out of Pittsburgh who was on the LA Summer League roster, joined the Lakers Nation podcast recently to dispute those rumors. He called the report “nonsense” and also defended Bronny as both a person and basketball player.

“Stuff like that doesn’t really shock me,” Hinson said. “But we need to figure out if that’s even true because to be totally honest with you, as far as his treatment, he was just a normal guy. He just played basketball, he really stays out of the way. He’s a cool dude. I don’t really understand how something like that came out. So that’s nonsense to me.”

Much of the narrative surrounding Bronny James is that he only got the opportunities he did because his father is Lakers forward and NBA legend LeBron James. His struggles to start off Summer League play didn’t help as he shot 6-of-26 from the floor and 0-of-12 from 3-point range across his first three games.

He eventually settled in to go 10-of-21 over his final two performances, including a 13 point, five rebound and three assist game against Cleveland. He rested for the final game of Summer League play with the Lakers out of contention for a championship.

Hinson again stressed that he and the other players all got along with Bronny well, and there wasn’t any truth to the anonymous report.

“Cool dude off the court, cool dude on the court,” Hinson said. “I don’t really understand that nonsense that you just informed me about. That’s not accurate, it shouldn’t be accurate.”

Hinson is signed on a two-way contract with Los Angeles for the upcoming season. He had several big performances in the Summer League, including a 25-point game in the final against Chicago.

Both Blake Hinson and Bronny James are promising young rookies for the Lakers going forward, and they’ll look to continue to build their bond throughout the offseason.