Every season is an important one for a franchise with as much history and success as the Los Angeles Lakers. But fans continue to grow impatient as we enter LeBron James’ seventh season with the team.

One NBA Championship has been accompanied by several playoff disappointments. The team didn’t make any type of splash in free agency this offseason; instead, they drafted Bronny James, which has drawn some backlash due to his unproven college track record.

Bronny James has garnered hate from his own teammates
Lakers president Jeanie Buss is under as much pressure as anyone else in the organization. Before anything else, she took the opportunity to defend Bronny from unneeded criticism, even from his own teammates.

We have to let the kid have an opportunity to play and prove that he should be in a Laker uniform. Everything that we’ve seen from him and about him and his work ethic, just some of the things he’s had to overcome being the son of a big star. He works hard, he’s dedicated. He really wants to do this. And if we can have a roster of players with that same mentality, then I think the sky is the limit.

A report came out in July that an anonymous Lakers Summer League player felt Bronny was getting treated differently, which didn’t sit right with all of his teammates.

It should be noted that “anonymous” sources aren’t completely trustworthy. It was also a Summer League player, so it’s not even assured that a player who will be on the regular season roster said that.

But Buss is sticking by Bronny as he embarks on his NBA journey.