Interestingly, I think of the Bronny draft pick story similarly to the Aaron Rodgers missing minicamp story. It's obvious to say that the NFL and NBA are for profit, and that the Jets and Lakers are businesses. The less obvious thing is that sports franchises are less and less in the winning business and more and more in the social media/attention business.
The Jets could have easily excused Rodgers, let people know before, had Aaron address the media before leaving, etc. But they didn't, because the Johnsons value the media attention and buzz from the story of "Where's Aaron" more than they value having a team focused on winning.
It's similar with the Bronny thing. Whether he is "worth" the 55th pick from a basketball perspective is irrelevant. Even the "nepotism" angle is irrelevant. People are much more likely to watch and talk about the Lakers if they took Bronny than if they took anyone else. This generates endless conversation, website traffic, etc. If you don't see why Bronny was a great investment economically, I don't know what to tell you. They aren't in the basketball business, they are in the attention business, and boy will this bring them a lot of attention.
As a Lebron Stan I'm torn. On one hand I'm ecstatic the "play with his son" dream is coming true after watching this guy be great for the last 17 years, on the other hand, how the hell do I take this seriously? I would be shocked if they actually win anything pulling stunts like this.
