Bronny James asks NBA fan how much they earn during heated courtside incident
Bronny James asks NBA fan how much they earn during heated courtside incident
Tom MalleyMon, November 9, 2026 at 9:18 AM UTC
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Bronny James was filmed getting into a heated exchange with a fan during Sunday's game between the Lakers and Pistons in Detroit -Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited (Reach Publishing Services Limited)
Bronny James got into it with a heckler during Sunday's clash between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons, shooting back at them, "How much money do you make a year?" as tensions boiled over.
The Lakers reserve has been an easy target since he joined the NBA in 2024, when Los Angeles selected him in the second round and gave him a guaranteed contract, given his relationship to sporting icon LeBron James, with many fans keen to remind him that he will always be in his father's shadow.
With the 6-foot-2 guard yet to really get going in the 2026 season, averaging just 0.8 points in 2.4 minutes per game, hecklers have even more reason to get under his skin, and that proved to be the case once more on Sunday as the Lakers traveled to face the Pistons in Detroit.
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In footage filmed from behind the Lakers bench at Little Caesars Arena, James can be seen looking over at someone in the crowd as he stands with his arms crossed, surrounded by the Los Angeles coaching staff.
The 22-year-old can be heard shouting, "What did you say?" at the fan before offering a sarcastic, "Oh," and nodding his head, having clearly been left unimpressed with something he heard - or perhaps even didn't hear - in response.
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The clip then cuts to James asking the fan, who remains off camera at this point, whether they can "run a mile", as Lakers coaching staff begin to get involved to try to calm him down ad escort him away, though he isn't done there.
"How much money you making?" James can be heard shouting over to the fan, clearly keen to shut them down by making clear that they likely earn nowhere near as much as he does (he is reportedly on a base salary of $2.3 million for the 2026-27 season).
At the end of the video, the camera pans to a woman in the crowd sitting next to the person filming the heated exchange, with a caption reading: "She got kicked out lol."
Unfortunately for James, this is likely to be far from the last heckler he has to deal with this season, let alone his entire career, while he battles to live up to his father's legacy, and that is something he is going to have to simply deal with.
The best way to do his talking is on the court, so working hard to become a regular starter for the Lakers is the only way he will finally be able to put some respect on his name and prove to fans that he is worthy of his place in the NBA.
Lakers coaching staff attempted to de-escalate the situation by moving James away from the crowd -Credit:X/@FadeAwayMedia
Current and former players also need to be won over, especially after former NBA big man Kwame Brown offered a scathing assessment of James' career, suggesting that he has benefited purely from his father's professional status rather than earned his place in the league.
"This is the National Basketball Association. This isn't for the little boys and wimps. This is professional, and what I saw, I just don't get it. It's mind-blowing how somebody lost a job to that," Brown recently stated.
"Some kid that worked their butt off, that really feels like they could have made the NBA, they lost their job to that. And the only reason why everybody is okay with it is because of his father. This is a shame, what we're actually seeing."
Source: “AOL Sports”
