Nepotism debates surrounding LeBron and Bronny James stem from a longstanding stigma in America

LeBron James stood on the court next to his son Bronny and couldn't help but glance over at him to take in the moment. The duo wore matching Los Angeles Lakers jerseys with “James” and “James Jr.” embroidered in big purple letters on their backs.

“It was like the matrix or something,” LeBron said afterward. “It just didn’t feel real.”

The Lakers helped the 39-year-old James realize a yearslong dream of playing alongside his son when they drafted Bronny with the 55th overall pick in June, making way for them to become first father-son pair to play in an NBA game together in a preseason matchup on Oct. 6.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka has described the draft pick as “magical," while his organization has drawn criticisms about whether Bronny would have earned the opportunity if his father wasn't one of the game's greatest players. Those objections — albeit met with widespread excitement for the James family — reignited conversations about nepotism in sports and how powerful figures leverage their influence, while underscoring the stigma around kids following in the footsteps of a successful parent or family member.

“There’s always going to be people who are saying that things are nepotism,” said Alice Leppert, an associate professor of media and communication studies at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. “There’s going to be some cynical assumption that strings were pulled and basically that things are not fair.”

That's often based on people's desire to believe in a meritocracy, Leppert said, referring to the system where someone gains status or rewards based on his or her abilities, not wealth or social status.

“In general, we don’t live in a meritocracy,” Leppert added. “We want to live in a meritocracy, and that’s why we get these sorts of debates.”

For centuries, children born into rich and powerful families have inherited businesses, stardom and endless resources for success — a conspicuous display of power in Hollywood, politics and sports.

Critics of nepotism argue that those without the same access to resources — i.e. producers and directors in the entertainment industry, scouts and training facilities in sports — are left at a significant disadvantage when it comes to opportunities.

Others question why a practice so ingrained in society is being even being mentioned.

“I don’t want to hear these charges, people talking about nepotism," former ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said during the NBA draft. “The NBA is full of nepotism. The ownership level, front offices, coaching. I don’t want to hear it all of a sudden because Bronny James’ father plays for the Lakers. It is rampant in this league.”

There have been about 100 instances in NBA history of players joining the league after their fathers played. Those young men stepped into the league after the father's career ended, but they include Stephen and Dell Curry, Kobe and Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, Bill and Luke Walton, among others.

Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. played together with the Seattle Mariners during parts of the 1990 and 1991 MLB seasons. Hockey great Gordie Howe played with sons Marty and Mark for the Houston Aeros in the WHA and the New England/Hartford Whalers in the WHA and NHL.

In the 65 schools that compete in major college football, there are at least 25 instances of family members on the same coaching staff, according to an Associated Press examination of coaching rosters in 2022. In the NFL, 16 of the league’s 32 owners inherited their teams from family, per a study done by USA Today.

“I think we’re resigned in this country to the fact that if you own it, you can do whatever you want with it,” said David Grenardo, a law professor and sports law expert at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. “So I’m the owner. I can pass it down to my kids ... And that’s somewhat acceptable because that person has the right to do with their property what they want.”

That acceptance changes when it comes to athletes, Grenardo said.

"That is where we are completely uncomfortable with the idea of someone getting an opportunity that they did not deserve," he said, noting the intrigue of watching the best compete against the best in sports.

“So then when you have a situation where someone who may not be perceived as the best is getting an opportunity over someone else, and now it’s not a meritocracy, now it’s become political, now it becomes, ‘well whose kid is that?’” Grenardo said.

That's where nepotism conversations have sprouted around Bronny, whose critics have argued that he was unproven before being drafted and has earned more attention than almost any other late second-round pick in NBA history.

After recovering from cardiac arrest over a year ago, Bronny played one season at Southern California before entering the draft. He has been praised for his athleticism, definsive ability and work ethic but averaged 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds while starting six of 25 games for the Trojans.

“Part of this discourse with LeBron and his son Bronny is that he is a visible African American athlete,” said C. Keith Harrison, a professor specializing in sports and business management at the University of Central Florida. “And for some reason it’s being perceived that he’s not going to leverage any power and privileges that he has as an American, as an American Black man, as a successful athlete, entrepreneur or business person.”

Harrison pointed to plenty of examples of sports figures exercising their influence through nepotism: the Buss family's ownership of the Lakers; the Harbaugh family, which has an extensive football coaching lineage.

“If we have these monikers, or these approaches and these realities of nepotism, and people hiring who they are comfortable with ... when it comes to (LeBron) and his son Bronny, why is this popping up?” Harrison said.

Grenardo, separately, reached his own conclusion.

“Some of it may very well just be race,” he said. “That here’s a Black man who’s one of the few Black billionaires and that’s an American. And he is using his power like others have used their power as well, but ‘I don’t like it that he now is that powerful.’”

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FILE - Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, left, and his son, Bronny James, pose for photos during the NBA basketball team's media day in El Segundo, Calif., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, right, and his son, Bronny James, shake hands after an interview during the NBA basketball team's media day in El Segundo, Calif., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - A fan holds up a sign for Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, right, and his son Bronny during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Phoenix Suns Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, in Thousand Palms, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

FILE - Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James attends a news conference to introduce the NBA basketball team's NBA draft picks, Bronny James and Dalton Knecht, Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

FILE - Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, left, and guard Bronny James warm up before a preseason NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang, File)

FILE - Former Detroit Red Wings great Gordie Howe, center, is flanked by sons Marty, left, and Mark as they try their new Houston Aeros uniforms in St. Clair Shores, Mich., Aug. 3, 1973. (AP Photo/The Macomb Daily, David Posavetz, File)

FILE - Newly-elected Baseball Hall of Fame member Ken Griffey Jr. conducts interviews with his father, Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Sr. listening in after a press conference announcing that he and Mike Piazza were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

FILE - Bronny James takes questions from the media as he's introduced as the Los Angeles Lakers draft pick during the NBA basketball team's news conference in El Segundo, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's photo portrait display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document U.S. history.

The wall text, which summarized Trump's first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum's “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.

The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”

Trump's original “portrait label," as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump's Supreme Court nominations and his administration's development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”

Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”

Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump's “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”

The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents' painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump's display.

Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.

Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.

The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok's work.

“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”

For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.

And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”

Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents U.S. history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation's development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.

In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery's director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian's governing board, but she ultimately resigned.

At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.

The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump's two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden's autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”

Barrow reported from Atlanta.

People react to a photograph of President Donald Trump on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery walk past the portrait of President Donald Trump, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors stop to look at a photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

A photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)