Bronny James Trash Talks Back to a Heckler at Lakers Game

Bronny James has a limit when it comes to hecklers.

The 20-year-old rookie played 16 minutes in the Lakers' road loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday, March 14, as his father, LeBron James, continued recovery on his groin injury back in Los Angeles.

During the game, a heckler caught Bronny's attention as he huddled with his teammates on the sidelines. In a video posted on TikTok by the heckler, a Nuggets fan, he seemingly yells for Bronny and then screams, "We own your father."

Bronny then makes eye contact with his heckler and mouths, "Your chain fake."

The heckler later revealed himself to be wearing a white t-shirt and a massive gold chain.

Another video from the game shows the same heckler yelling to the Lakers' new star, Luka Doncic, trying to get a rise out of him as well.

Bronny is no stranger to scrutiny from NBA fans who say he was only drafted into the league — and by his father's team — because of LeBron's legacy. The father-son duo recently made headlines when Stephen A. Smith revealed that LeBron, 40, scolded him on the sidelines of a recent game for his critical comments about Bronny.

Smith, 57, said LeBron was "very, very upset" by the recent criticism of his son, but went on to say that LeBron "could've called" and had that conversation privately. "He could’ve been just as upset face-to-face, man-to-man as opposed to being courtside at the game," Smith said on March 7.

Smith said that he believes Bronny, who has averaged 1.4 points per game this season after averaging just over 4 points per game during his college career, is only in the NBA “because of his dad.”

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On the March 11 episode of NBA star Gilbert Arenas’ podcast Gil’s Arena, Smith spoke again about the incident, saying, “My point is, rather than come up to me at courtside, all you had to do was say, ‘Yo, I need you to stay, don’t leave this game I need to see you after the game.'"

“And by the way, I’m rooting for him, I ain’t rooting against nobody," Smith added.

Bronny was drafted with the 55th overall pick in April 2024. On Oct. 22, he and his father made NBA history as the first father and son to share the court.

After their debut game together, LeBron said, "It’s always been family over everything. To be able to have this moment working still and working alongside my son, it’s one of the greatest gifts I got from the man above and I’m going to take full advantage of it."