Bronny James' Lakers G League debut draws rave review from coach
11/10/2024 05:21 PM
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Lakers assigned Bronny James to the G League following a five-game road trip. Bronny debuted with the South Bay Lakers on Saturday to a sold-out crowd, which included LeBron James, his entire family, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell, and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.
South Bay hosted the Salt Lake City Stars in their opener and won handily, 110-96.
Doubters and believers in Bronny could still be confident in their stance. Skeptics can point to the five turnovers and 0-of-4 from three. Others can point to the four assists, two steals, and a block. Nonetheless, whichever side you stand on, he should stay in the G League for now.
Bronny got it on the right wing on his first touch and drained a pull-up jumper to put South Bay on the board.
1⃣st bucket of the season pic.twitter.com/mnuEnQ7oip
— South Bay Lakers (@SouthBayLakers) November 10, 2024
The plan was clearly to get him going early, said new head coach Zach Guthrie.
"I drew up the first play for him, but we didn't get to run it. They won the tip, so we got to get CK (Christian Koloko) to win the tip next time.”
The only other basket came on a floater in the lane. Bronny finished 2-of-9 from the field in his 31 minutes. Some nice dimes and lobs to the bigs got him to six points and four assists.
The main flashes were on the defensive end: an athletic block at the rim, a couple of steals, and numerous deflections. Bronny even got into a few mini-scuffles with some Salt Lake City players.
“He played great, he played unselfishly. He played within the flow of the game. I thought like all our guards, he defended at a high level. They weren’t comfortable in their offense. They didn’t have the looks that they wanted." raved Guthrie postgame.
In total, Bronny looks like a player who missed a year of basketball. The offensive rhythm is well behind the defense. The G League should serve as the perfect spot to get his much-needed reps, and postgame, he agreed.
“It’s just an amazing experience, for me to go out and play my game and get some minutes under me. I’m excited for it”.
This was always going to be a long process. The Lakers signed Bronny to a four-year deal over the summer, meaning they are now heavily invested in his development.
Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Bronny will only play in home games for now, putting his next game next Sunday vs. the Stockton Kings.
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