"Yo Chain Fake" — Bronny James Was Heckled at a Game in Denver and Gave a Succinct Retort

Few deep bench players have received more ire and criticism over the 2024-2025 NBA season than Bronny James. The son of Lebron James was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 55th pick in the draft, and he has played some time with his father but has also spent much of his time developing his skills in the G-League.

The Lakers have been remarkably shorthanded in recent games, which has meant that Bronny has occasionally gotten more playing time as a result. He played 15 minutes during a recent game against Denver, and it was during that game that he got heckled and told his heckler, "Yo chain fake!" in response. Here's what we know about what that retort means, and why it seems to have been so effective.

After a heckler suggested that Bronny was only there because of his father, he looked that heckler dead in the eyes and mouthed "Yo chain fake." The burn has gone viral because it seems to suggest that, regardless of his skill on the court, Bronny has the kind of aura that can make someone a star.

Many were confused by what the burn actually meant, though, and why Bronny's deployment of it was so effective.

The burn is a reference to whether a person's chains are real or fake. Fake chains are made out of some medal besides gold, whereas genuine gold chains are a signifier of status and wealth.

Bronny was essentially telling this heckler that his life will never be as good as Bronny's and further suggested that he was a poser because he was trying to signify a level of status and wealth that he didn't actually have.

Basically, Bronny was calling this guy inauthentic.

Of course, part of the reason so many people have problems with Bronny is because they feel that he has benefited from nepotism, and that's probably true to some extent. He did manage to sink a shot during the game against the Nuggets, though, so it's not like he didn't do anything to silence the haters.

Although Bronny has only played in a handful of games this Lakers season, he has received an outsized amount of attention from both fans and sports commentators because of the fact that he was drafted by the same team his father is currently playing on.

It's undeniable that Bronny may not have been drafted if not for this relationship.

What's also true, though, is that the 55th pick is not typically a super valuable chip, and the players drafted there very rarely turn out to be stars. Bronny has not been lighting it up on the court, but no one would expect the 55th pick to do so.

It's also worth noting that, even though the Nuggets started almost all of their best players, they barely squeezed past the Lakers in a game where Bronny played 15 minutes.