Op-Ed: Bronny James Deserves Your Sympathies, Not Your Conspiracies

By: Zachary Draves

In a normal world, when Bronny James, the youngest son of LeBron James, goes into cardiac arrest during a workout at USC and is subsequently hospitalized, the general principle is that we offer our best wishes and a speedy recovery. Luckily, that is still the overwhelming sentiment expressed by those of common sense and basic compassion. 

In other words, sympathies. 

(Courtesy: Jay LaPrete/AP)

But in a world saturated with author Michael D. Rich’s words “truth decay”, a dark underbelly extends its tentacles into the public square and through one of the largest platforms expresses its unsubstantiated claims that some are prone to accept as fact. 

In other words, conspiracies. 

After the news broke about Bronny’s condition, Twitter CEO Elon Musk and some Fox News personalities claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine somehow played a part. The latest case in the ongoing perpetuation of allegations by some of the strongest and loudest opponents of some of the policies aimed at mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. 

(Courtesy: Quinn Harris/Getty)

Ironcially enough, one of those personalities was Laura Ingraham, who felt the need to jump in after she infamously told Bronny’s dad to “shut up and dribble”.

The burning question on the part of these conspirators, as well as those with some semblance of rationality, is how can young athletes in the prime of their lives when they are in peak physical condition can ever suffer something as horrific as cardiac arrest or other heart related problems?

Great question. 

The answer to that question can be found by simply listening to the thorough and in depth expertise of those trained to work in medical settings and how to properly treat those who suffer from such horrific health scares. 

Or as we typically call them, doctors. 

For instance, Dr. Celine Gounder, a renowned physician, expert in treatment of infectious diseases, and widow of the late soccer journalist Grant Wahl, told CBS This Morning on Wednesday that there can be a multitude of reasons as to what led to Bronny’s cardiac arrest and the COVID-19 vaccine was not one of them. 

One such probability is that Bronny could have suffered from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, which is the unusual thickening of the heart muscle that can make it impossible for the heart to pump blood. It’s a condition that is pretty common among elite athletes. 

According to The National Institutes of Health, HCM is the leading cause of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in athletes under the age of 35. One fifth of athletes between the ages of 14-35 have reported greater thickness in the heart muscle, particularly the left ventricular, which is the part of the heart that allows for the flow of oxygen. 

HCM was what led to the deaths of Hank Gathers in 1990 at the age of 23 and Reggie Lewis in 1993 at the age of 27. The causes of why this is prevalent remains unknown, but there could be further study into the link between strenuous and vigorous athletics and genetic predispositions. 

As it pertains to the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Gounder and others have made it abundantly clear that there is no linkage between the two. 

In fact, the research was available before the SCA of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin in January. An October 2021 study from the Journal of the American Medical Association found now correlation between heart conditions and the vaccine.  

The spreading of this misinformation comes at a time when people like presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., using that title extremely loosely, are making political hay off the idea that not only the vaccine is supposedly detrimental to one’s health, but that COVID-19 itself was somehow ethnically targeted. 

So anyone who tries to champion Bronny James’ well-being under the guise of anti-racism in this regard is ignorant at best and bigoted at worst, because the whole notion of COVID-19 being weaponized for some nefarious purpose is rooted in both Anti-Semitism and Anti-Asian hate. 

(Courtesy: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire Via Getty Images)

Also, Musk conveniently deleted any attempt to fact check on Twitter so that his bogusness and that of others can flow with regularity. He too is culpable in the toxicity of this story that should bring out the best in us. 

At this point in time, Bronny and the entire James family deserve nothing more than our collective support. The fact that he is in stable condition and has been moved out of the ICU is good news. His future prospects pertaining to basketball should be on the back burner and this time should be devoted to his recovery. 

We should also use this time to ensure that athletes are treated with kindness, care, and respect when it comes to their health and safety and do so within the parameters of objective reality instead of warped unscientific fantasticals that serve nobody, but rather to enhance a few political egos. 

Bronny James deserves better.