The Los Angeles Lakers are fresh off a massive 109-80 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves that saw them plummet in the Western Conference standings.
This comes after less-than-stellar performances from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who only recorded 10 and 12 points, respectively.
This has brought up questions over how the Lakers could potentially improve. One option is to bring up guard Quincy Olivari from their G League affiliate.
With the South Bay Lakers, Olivari has averaged 35.5 minutes, 23 points, 6.0 assists, 5.3 total rebounds, and 1.0 steal per game. All of this could prove massively beneficial for a team that needs more help on the bench.
However, there’s someone that is in Olivari’s way to making it onto the Lakers roster, or at least that’s what former L.A. center Kwame Brown believes, per his podcast Kwame Brown Bust Life.
“We’ve got a kid who does not deserve his job,” Brown said, referring to Bronny James.
“Why can’t they just cut Bronny and bring up Quincy, somebody to help the Lakers? They just got their a– whooped by 25.”
Looking at the numbers, Brown isn’t wrong. In two games in the G League, Bronny has averaged 28.5 minutes, 5.0 points, 3.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks. This is paltry compared to what Olivari has done in four games.
Bronny has fared even worse in the NBA proper, averaging 2.7 minutes, 0.7 points, 0.3 assists, 0.2 total rebounds, and 0.2 steals over six games.
Gilbert Arenas, who was also on the podcast, praised Olivari’s journey and thinks that his position and performance with the South Bay Lakers is because of his hard work.
“Quincy earned a job when he got put onto the Lakers summer team league there was no roster spots,” Arenas said.
“He ended up making the preseason team he played so well, but because there were no spots, they had to cut someone.”
However, Brown still seemed adamant that Bronny was taking up the spot that other players deserved more.
“That’s the problem. It should have been a spot. It shouldn’t have been guaranteed for Bronny,” Brown said.
“Bronny should have been cut by now and he [Olivari] shouldn’t have to be gracious or grateful for s—. It’s a competition.”
There’s no doubt that this debate will continue as long as Olivari continues to excel and Bronny does not.
