After throwing away the halo of being the son of James, who can join the NBA between Bronny and Zeng Fanbo?

Zeng Fanbo was officially waived by the Brooklyn Nets. News that he was benched in the second game of the NBA China Game continues to ferment. Fans are mainly divided into two camps regarding this news. One is sympathetic to Zeng and believes that Nets head coach Jody Fernandez is unkind and completely disregards the feelings of the Chinese home fans. The other is to support the decision of the Nets head coach and believe that Zeng is not strong enough and there is nothing wrong with what the coach did. Fans on both sides are tit for tat and bickering.

Fans who supported the Nets coach put forward an argument in the debate: "There is no sophistication in the NBA. The head coach will give you opportunities based on your ability and will not tolerate you at all."

The opposing fans immediately put forward an objection: "Who said the NBA has no sophistication? Even Bronny can play in the NBA, why can't Zeng Fanbo even play in the preseason? "

Fans supporting the Nets coach: "Bronny's father is James!"

Then the debate began to shift into a war of words between James and James, but it also led to an interesting topic, that is, if Bronny puts aside the halo of being the son of James, who is more suitable to play in the NBA? I will briefly analyze this issue in today's star test.

Let me state in advance that this article does not have any purpose of provocation. I will try my best to compare Zeng Fanbo and Brownie from multiple levels and invite fans to discuss rationally.

First of all, the two are in different positions. Bronny is closer to the shooting guard, and Zeng is the power forward. Among the 569 players who played in the NBA last season, 150 were shooting guards, 106 were point guards, 105 were small forwards, 105 were power forwards, and 103 were centers. From the perspective of player position distribution, big center players are the most scarce, followed by forwards, defenders are the least lacking, and shooting guards are the most competitive. Because the higher the height distribution of the human body, the smaller the number, so in terms of position scarcity, Zeng Fanbo, who is 2.08 meters tall, is more popular than Brownie, who is 1.86 meters tall.

Then we will delve into physical talent and athletic ability.

Zeng Fanbo did not participate in the rookie joint trial training session, which caused great controversy at the time. Currently, his physical data circulated on the Internet are 2.08 meters tall, 2.08 meters wingspan, 96KG, 2.69 meters standing height, 58 centimeters in place, and 89 centimeters in maximum jump during run-up. His jumping ability is average.

Brownie participated in the 2024 rookie joint trial physical test. The specific data are: height 1.86 meters, wingspan 2.0.1 meters, weight 95.4 kilograms, standing reach 2.50 meters, in-situ jump 81 centimeters (11th in the same draft), and maximum run-up jump of 1.03 meters (6th in the same draft).

It can be clearly seen from the comparison of physical test data that Zeng Fanbo only has an advantage in terms of height and wingspan. Once the athletic ability and physical strength are compared, the gap between him and black players is immediately reflected. Brownie has a strong genetic athletic gene. Putting aside his skill level, he is definitely a player with strong athletic talent who can run and jump. On the basketball court, players who are strong, fast, and jump high have an advantage, so in terms of physical talent and athletic ability, Brownie is obviously better.

Then we use the data scores of the two when they graduated from high school to see who had greater potential at that time.

The first is Zeng Fanbo. After graduating from high school, he was rated 88 points by ESPN as a four-star high school student. He ranked 9th among the 2021 American power forward players. The number one power forward position at that time was Paulo Banchero, the number one pick with a rating of 97 points. The second place is Patrick Baldwin Jr. with 97 points (destroyed by injuries). The third place is Jabari Smith Jr., the third overall pick with 97 points. He is ranked 34th among the top 100 high school students in the United States. This shows that Zeng's potential at that time was still very exciting. He was also selected by the NCAA. Recruited by Gonzaga University, a prestigious D1 school, he originally had the opportunity to be teammates with Chet Holmgren, but ultimately chose a more special path and joined the newly established Development League team Ignite.

Now we look at it from God’s perspective. His choice was a failure. The Ignite team was collectively funded by all NBA teams. Because the level of NCAA teams is uneven, the owners of each team originally wanted to bring together some players who clearly have NBA potential but are not old enough and let them play in the NBA Development League so that they can receive high-intensity competition training earlier. However, due to various factors intertwined, the Ignite team training The star players Jaylen Green, Henderson, and Kuminga are all athletically gifted, but players with average basketball intelligence. Because their development in the NBA is not going well, there is even a joke that "a product produced on fire must be a waste product."

Not to mention Brownie. Because of his father James, he has been in the spotlight since he was born. His high school games were even broadcast live across the United States for a fee. After graduating from high school, he was rated 89 points by ESPN as a four-star high school student. Ranked 6th among shooting guards in the nation in the class of 2023, the number one in the nation is Isaiah Collier, a five-star high school student with a rating of 94 points, and 22nd among the top 100 high school students in the country. Brownie has received NCAA awards including Duke, Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA, etc. Recruited by top schools, he finally chose to join the University of Southern California. After joining the team, he also served as a sixth man substitute, playing in a total of 25 games, averaging 19.4 minutes per game.

Judging from the attention and ratings of the two in high school, Brownie has higher potential than Zeng Fanbo. After graduating from high school, the development path chosen by the two was that Brownie was obviously more stable, while Zeng was a little aggressive. Of course, judging from the performance of the two in their freshman seasons, their chances of participating in the draft were slim..

Finally, let’s look at the most important piece of evidence before the two participated in the draft - the scouting report

It is precisely because of Xiao Zeng’s unknown performance in the 2021-22 season that he completely fell behind before the draft. The US NBA draft website did not even provide his draft report, which means that before the draft, the American media had basically acquiesced that he had no chance of being selected.

In contrast, Bronny's draft report is extremely detailed and professional. After all, he has been followed and observed by scouts since he was a child. The NBA draft issued a very comprehensive draft report for him, with a comprehensive score of 88 points. The expected draft pick is as high as 47th and as low as 56th. In other words, even without the halo of James' son, Bronny is considered by scouts to be a potential player with the potential of a second-round pick. I have included his draft report for your reference.

Draft template: Jeremy Pargo (undrafted in 2009, briefly played for the Grizzlies, Cavaliers and other teams, joined the CBA Zhejiang team in the 2015-16 season and became the assists leader that season).

Advantages: The most explosive point guard among the players in the 2024 draft, strong athletic ability (inherited from LeBron James), excellent speed, jumping, strength, and control. He can complete wonderful dunks and close-range basket finishes. He has good layup ability and can be used as a substitute during the substitute period. Excellent in both decision-making and finishing ability. His athletic ability reaches the NBA level (maximum jump is 1.02 meters). He shows good catching and finishing ability near the small penalty area. His finishing ability is smooth and explosive. He likes to hit the basket. He was initially considered to be more of a threat without the ball, but in the past 1-2 With the improvement in outside shooting and playmaking ability over the years, becoming a good defensive player and outside shooter will take the game to a new level that can help an NBA team. Team, quick on the counter, has a nice Euro step, his shooting form is a little stiff but overall pretty good, he comes from a pretty perfect family, and while basketball has likely been Bronny's "default" sport from day one (LeBron has never made it a secret that he wanted to play with Bronny in the NBA), Bronny loves the game himself, has his own presence and drive to play at the highest level.

Weaknesses: Labeled as a combo guard, he lacks the ball-handling and scoring skills when playing shooting guard, he is a bit small when playing point guard (bare feet are 1.86 meters), he lacks the passing touch and keen sense of smell of a point guard, he lacks the experience and skills to serve as a core defender, he has broad vision, skilled ball skills, and can dribble. He has reached the position he wants, but he has not yet shown the ability to serve as the main defender. It is doubtful whether his physical fitness can adapt to the intensity of NBA games. He has certain defensive abilities, but he has not yet shown the ferocity and tenacity that an NBA-level player should have. In addition, he has never been the best player on the team. , and has never assumed a huge offensive task. It is doubtful whether he has the necessary skills to create shooting opportunities by himself. He is not a scorer and prefers to "integrate" into the offensive system rather than stand out and dominate the game. Except for his athletic ability and finishing ability at the basket, there is no outstanding skill. , everyone wants to see him grow into a powerful outside shooter + monster defensive player like Gary Payton II, but he has yet to have a productive season. He did not prove himself in his only season at the University of Southern California. At the end of his freshman season, he entered the draft because he was the son of James.

It can be seen from the draft report that Bronny's dynamic talent is fully at the NBA level. What he lacks is technical refinement. Joining the NBA Los Angeles Lakers will be able to enjoy the most professional and top-notch training environment and the highest level of competition training.

Finally, if we take away the halo of James' son, I personally think that Bronny still has a greater advantage than Xiao Zeng in entering the NBA. Now from a God's perspective, although Xiao Zeng may not really be at the NBA level, his growth trajectory and experience and lessons still have a lot of reference significance for future Chinese players to enter the NBA. I hope that more high-level players will emerge in Chinese basketball in the future.