LeBron James is gone, Bronny still can't play, and the Lakers need to finally cut him loose

We all know why the purple and gold took him late in the second round that June.It was to appease his father, LeBron James, who very well may have left L.A.

if he couldn't play with his son.The move was relatively low-risk for the Lakers, who picked Bronny 55th overall.It's rare that someone selected that late makes any meaningful contribution to his team.

But now LeBron is in Philly, which begs the question: Why is Bronny still in the NBA?This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners.If you sign up or place a wager, FOX News may be compensated.

This content was created by a team that works independently from the FOX newsroom.LeBron James and Bronny James of the Los Angeles Lakers defend against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second quarter at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct.22, 2024.

(Getty Images)LEBRON JAMES, BRONNY JAMES ARE ‘NOT A PACKAGE DEAL’ AFTER 76ERS MOVE, AGENT RICH PAUL SAYSJames is not like Shedeur Sanders — who's at least serviceable despite his name outshining his game.He'd likely be in his sport's top league regardless of who his father was.

Bronny, on the other hand, would be lucky to play in Europe.Let's take a look at the third-year Laker's stats.In the 27 games Bronny played in his first NBA season, he averaged 2.3 points and 6.7 minutes (almost all garbage time) while shooting 31.3% from the field and 28.1% from deep.Keep in mind that these blatantly inefficient numbers came primarily against other NBA scrubs.In the 42 games he played in his second season, Bronny averaged 2.9 points and 8.9 minutes while shooting 40.9% from the field and 38.6% from three.

Yes, those numbers represented a modest improvement, but the sample size is so small and the competition so suspect that it's hard to judge whether he made strides toward becoming a legitimate NBA contributor.Perhaps the better place to look is Bronny's production in the G League — the NBA's developmental league — where James got ...