Let me start by saying that I would not put money on this happening (yet) and I don't mean to falsely get others hopes up, but I do want to layout the case for why Bronny James transferring to Duquesne and why there might be some smoke here

I want to start with yesterday's events because its the first time I actually believed that this could happen.

So yesterday evening a legitimate cbb reporter tweets that Bronny has entered the pool. This story immediately goes viral, gets picked up by aggregators, and becomes the #1 trending topic for the entire night. For the next few hours no other reporter confirms or denies the report. Eventually the reporter deletes the tweet and says it is just his guess and not his report. 

This could be where the story ends. However, LeBron actually does address the story in a post game press conference. You can watch the video here https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1775351553374757333?s=20
Some notes on the video:

1) LeBron does not actually deny that Bronny might enter the portal, he just says he doesn't know where that report came from

2) his follow up is that Bronny has to make some tough decisions and that he'll support those decisions

So while Bronny is not yet in the portal, you really don't get the sense that its a final decision. LeBron essentially tells us that Bronny has to and is thinking about his future and where he will play. 

The next part is why I'm starting to consider the possibility that there's smoke to this fire:

So after LeBron 1) Acknowledges this top story of the night (Bronny potentially transferring) and 2) essentially says Bronny has some tough decisions about his future that he needs to make right now, what does he do? He quotes tweets a Duquense BBall tweet that says "Family is Everything" containing a pic of Dru and his family with "IT SURE IS!!!! "

This is important for a couple reasons:
1) As stated above, LeBron has acknowledged the story about Bronny transferring. He knows its the biggest story of the night. 

2) LeBron is a notorious sub-tweeter. There are many examples of him doing this in the past. He is very aware that people are paying attention to what he tweets and looking for deeper meaning. You can see this by checking the quote tweets on LeBron tweets where it's all people taking the tweet as a message of Bronny going to Duquesne...these random people quote tweeting doesn't mean that it will happen, but it just shows how people interpret LeBron's tweets because of his past subtweeting. 

So that's the main reason why I think this might happen. I just don't see LeBron tweeting that with everything going on in the hours before (which again, we know he is aware of) without realizing people are going to make interpretations. Further, I don't see him trolling people at Dru's expense and bringing this false attention to Dru's program.  

Additionally, LeBron's quote tweet of "it sure is" is kind of an odd choice if its just showing support. In the past, his tweets supporting Dru have been very clear in the message of pure support and admiration. The quote tweet last night actually brings LeBron into the fold of the original tweet. Its active engagement. 

So what are the other supporting reasons for why this might happen?

1) Bronny's freshman year was obviously a disappointment and has put the pressure on Bronny. There is no coach in the country that is going to ride with Bronny no matter what the way Dru will.  He can go to a big school like OSU or Oregon or he can go to small CA school at Duquesne level, but no coach is going to have the loyalty and best interest of Bronny the way Dru will. There is without a doubt not a single coach LeBron trusts more with Bronny than Dru.  

2) He could follow Enfeld to SMU but 1) do we actually know good that relationship is? Is it really one where he will follow him no matter what? especially after that disappointing season? 2) Enfeld is a recruiter. SMU is a smaller program but Enfeld could bring in bigger prospects which is not in the best interest of Bronny. He needs somewhere he can play. 

3) LeBron's support and acknowledgement of Duquesne is at an all time high. More tweets than ever, announcing the hire, and he mentioned the Dukes in his most recent JJ Reddick pod about scouting the illinois game to give Dru and KD his notes. LeBron's always shown some support for Duquense with KD being here but not like this. 

So there they are. The reasons why I think there might be smoke here. That or I'm just the Charlie Kelly conspiracy meme. 

Last edited by TheActualDuke (4/03/2024 12:15 pm)