Not Keeping Up With The (LeBron and Bronny) James's - Transcript
Preeti (00:00.708)
I want to go back to something you said earlier about LeBron being ambitious. This seems like LeBron is one of the most ambitious people on the planet. So it would follow that he would have these kinds of ambitions, these incredibly lofty goals and set very, very high standards for his children. How would you as a father set really high goals and high standards for your children differently in this scenario?
Curt (00:31.033)
I think you said it right in your question, his goals for his children. You're absolutely right. Those are his goals to play with Bronny in an NBA game and catch an alley oop and play with his son. And they'll have a time out and hug it out and take pictures. What's Bronny's goal? Did he ever sit down and ask Bronny, even if Bronny does love basketball and that's been his dream, what are your basketball goals? How do you want to do it? You know, how do you want to go through? Is it high school or let's start at AAU?
high school, college, he went to USC for a year he was going to either transfer or go pro. Setting goals with your children not for your children is a big difference and I think that would be answering your question what LeBron could have done. I have a hard time believing Bronny said, yes, make the Lakers draft me, make this happen, make them give me a guaranteed $8 million contract, make sure I'm on the team.
someone would ask for this that's so out of their, say, natural course of how their life is going. So did he talk to him about it? Did they ever sit down and discuss how do you would you like to get me the NBA and you know, that kind of thing
Preeti (01:43.952)
Right. In terms of nepotism, nepotism, as you said, has existed since the beginning of time. A lot of people are pushing back on saying that this is unfair nepotism, because it's probably one of the preeminent examples of an African -American family being the beneficiary of nepotism. And given the history of our country, is this also
balancing that's happening as far as unfair nepotism is concerned. And as a parent, do we pull out all the stops? Do we use every resource that we have at our fingertips? Most parents I know absolutely do. I know mine did. They were definitely not LeBron James level resources, but anything that my parents could do for me to get me
a summer job or an internship or a leg up in any way, an opportunity, they absolutely went to the mattresses for me. So where's the line? When do we cross the line into unhealthy parenting and what does healthy parenting look like in terms of opening doors for your kids?
Curt (02:56.965)
I think the standard is every parent wants to help their child. Like you just said, in any way, could they make a phone call? Could they get me them an interview? alumni networks for colleges work the same way. And that's a little, little more of what you pay for in your college tuition is what network you can rely on or, kind of have contact with. and yes, nepotism is very common in sports. certainly, you know, the Patriots and Bill Belichick with his kids as defensive coordinators in certain positions.
I think Austin Ange, Danny Ange's son is still involved or head of scouting for the Celtics. The line you cross, at least in sports is on the field of play where it's competitive and you earn your spot, whether it's hockey, soccer, football, basketball, thousands of people are competing on skill for that one last spot. And to get me there, what LeBron is doing is taking that spot and putting
on the field, it would be akin to Tom Brady, let's say he was still playing and his son, think Jack's is oldest saying, all right, draft Jack, if you let's say Tom's on the Patriots or the Buccaneers, like I want to be the first quarterback to throw it to my son. Even though Jack might be a division three type athlete, kind of tight end somewhere. When you cross onto the field and you, you damage the integrity of the game and the authentic part of the game now with a player who is only there due
to an owner or in this case, LeBron making it happen. It's not earned properly like everyone else. That's what's the line that's crossed and I think is rubbing people the wrong
Preeti (04:30.192)
But we see a lot of families in front office work install their children in positions who are probably some probably not qualified at all. The fact that we don't see the repercussions of any of that, the fact that we don't see the workers, the other employees who have to pick up the slack for so -and -so's nephew or daughter who doesn't know marketing or economics and is, you know, working in either of those departments.
Does that play a role in this as well or is there something intrinsic in the idea of athleticism and physical prowess that changes this conversation?
Curt (05:14.487)
As you said, you don't see it. There's other sports, cameras are on the field, millions and tens of million people are watching this. They're not watching the marketing department, right? They're not watching the tickets, sales and community relations department on TV and seeing it. And I think that is where the line of competition, you're right, there would be competition for that same marketing job or someone who's not qualified to be in the accounting department.
And there may be 10 other qualified applicants. Whereas on the sports field, there might be a thousand people for that one spot to get me to the level of the NFL or the NBA or the NHL or pro baseball. And I think there's millions of people too, as parents that had child athletes and their dreams and their kid's dream was to get me to that level. It didn't happen for them. And that's part of, you know, teaching your child when they fall or their careers over, how they handle
And there's a feeling that LeBron cheated the parenting game too by moving his kid to the front of the line and putting him on the court if it does happen this year. That rubs people and just feels wrong to a lot of families who didn't have a son or daughter of that level. You know, I had to have those discussions and what do we do? You your sports career is probably coming to an end at high school or college.
Preeti (06:31.248)
Right. I also suspect that most of those front office jobs are not held by African Americans. And so we have more of the racial and economic disparity that plagues our country. And the criticism feels a little bit unbalanced just because we don't see what's happening. The fact is that families control a lot of interests and money and power and conversations and political parties. And there's legacy in all of
And in some cases, the Kennedys come to mind is actually something that's applauded and lauded. It's a family of public servants. But there was clearly a lot of corruption in that administration and it's definitely not necessarily something that has benefited the country. I'm probably going to delete all of that anyway. Interesting. Keep going.
Preeti (07:27.14)
I edit these heavily so we can just keep going.
Curt (07:29.689)
Okay. I guess to your point, I would say if LeBron helped Bronny become Rich Paul's lead agent or helped Bronny start an agency, right? Being a sports agent, you wouldn't have this furor and this debate and this, you know, sour taste in a lot of people's mouths because that I think is more accepted black or white African -American, Chinese, Mexican to help your son or daughter get me
started in life, like you said, or give them open any door they can. But there was a line crossed when it goes to putting him on the field again, or the court or the ice, whatever it is, Wayne Gretsky getting his kid to play with them forcing franchise to do something like that. That crosses the line. It doesn't matter the race. If Larry Bird did this, or like I said, Tom Brady, the all American Caucasian quarterback if he had
If his son Jack was a division three tight end and then he forced the Patriots to draft them so he could throw them a pass, it would have the same. This is wrong. And even LeBron's moment that he wants is now tainted. It's if this happens this year with Bronny coming in a game that he's hasn't earned or really qualified for on competition. And he throws his dad a pass. And like I said, they have a slam dunk and they take a picture. It's, it's going to be a meme, it's going to be with an eye roll for the rest of history. It's going to be with a.
Yeah, but his kid, it shouldn't even been in the league. He like, he, he acted like an owner basically. And that's terrible to take that moment. ruined that sports moment. And it's going to ruin that moment forever from the broad now and Bronny because it's fraudulent. It's not authentic. It's forced and it was created not through authentic means. and I think that's bad for the sport as well. And I think people, nobody wants to see a record or some first ever done in a sport, but we all know it's fake.
Preeti (09:20.954)
Right. Well, one of the things that we believe in at MAYA is that parents are not perfect and nor are they meant to be perfect. And we were here to provide resources and really help parents and be a partner to a parent who might be struggling with some of these issues. We have an e-book about some of the ways that parents can encourage true confidence and self-validation and help their kids build self-esteem and self-worth.
You can get me it at www.maya4life.com and on our social media. And they include things like letting your kids make mistakes, taking an interest in the things that they're interested in, and setting realistic expectations. Not everyone's going to be LeBron James, not even LeBron James' son. But Bronny has so much to offer this world and tons of opportunities. And we really hope
he's able to find his path and enjoy the journey. As we like to say at MAYA, it's 95% process, 95% journey and only 5% result. And the other thing I think we can say about this is that This is just a moment in a young man's life and whatever he does in the future, whatever legacy he ends up establishing for himself, it's gonna be really exciting to watch.
Curt (10:48.141)
Right. And a lot of these issues are actually in that free ebook you talked about letting your kid fall, stumble, fail, and teaching them how to pull yourself up and how to handle those things in life, which we've gotten away from as a society is super important and putting confidence in them and self -esteem, which is another part of that ebook for parents. Like we're hitting all the topics that we talk about not only with teens, but with their parents in our program.
I would love to have Bronny do our program and I'd love to have LeBron on if we can get me this show somehow to him over time to get me his opinion on the father side of it and what he's thinking. And my most curious point is to see what mom Savannah thinks. And if, as a mother, what her, what her opinion is of her son that's 18 going through this process and if, it was approved and they're both absolutely was it a good decision?
Preeti (11:38.394)
Well, also, this is a family that is not foreign to taking a hit on social media. So they have definitely had challenges that most families don't have. And yet there is a parallel. Our kids are facing unmitigated pressures to be liked on social media, to lead these public lives. And we don't know how to do that as adults in healthy ways, let alone teach our children how to do that.
One of the other things we're looking to do at Maya is make sure that parents have resources to help their kids through these pressures of social media. And you don't have to be Bronny James to know that sometimes it really sucks to be on the internet. And it should be a safe place and a welcoming place, but it's not always. And we teach teens and parents how to move through social media with both integrity and grace.
Curt (12:32.719)
Yeah, and the social media pressures, as we've covered in a few of our videos, which people can look back in the libraries, if you're on YouTube now, or even Instagram Reels, we cover how social media has changed. I mean, parents are well aware that we didn't have these, like you said, mistakes weren't broadcast around the world. Our mistakes were made in private, but now they're broadcast and the internet never forgets, as you have said in other videos. So how do you discuss that with children? All the way from sexting, you know, with Snapchat to
know, social media press is mean girls, if we want to call it and categorize it the bullying of online. So super excited with the people we're working with now and the families and teens and looking forward to more discussion, whether it be a Bronny James or anyone else that's kind of going through this process.
Preeti (13:20.386)
And again, you can find us at www.maya4life.com and @maya4lifeofficial on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
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