Oct 15, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) warms up with guard Bronny James (9) before the preseason game against the Golden State Warriors at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images The Bronny James hype train may soon end up coming to a stop—for a little while, at least.
James is expected to be with the Lakers for road games against the Detroit Pistons on Monday and Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday before splitting time between Los Angeles and its G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.
South Bay tips off its campaign next Saturday.
James made history in Los Angeles’ season opener back on Oct. 22, sharing the floor with his dad, LeBron, in a 110-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. No father and son had ever played together in an NBA game.
Bronny James once again worked his way into headlines on Wednesday, scoring his first NBA points just 40 miles north of Akron, Ohio, where he was born. Still, the Lakers ended up on the wrong end of a blowout, falling 134-110 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But Bronny James is now about to step out of the shadow of his father, a plan that Los Angeles had all along
“The plan for Bronny to move between the Lakers and South Bay has always been the plan since Day 1,” Los Angeles coach JJ Redick said. “(General manager) Rob (Pelinka) and I have talked about that. LeBron’s talked about that.”
It’s going to be sink or swim for Bronny James out in El Segundo, Calif., where he’ll surely have a target on his back against G League competition that couldn’t care less about what his last name is.
There isn’t a G League player out there who isn’t fighting for minutes at the next level, and what better way to get those than by taking it to LeBron James’ kid? You can bet that there will be South Bay highlights of Bronny James, but if he consistently ends up getting cooked by his matchups, get ready for those lowlights, too.
Without his father, there was no way that Bronny James was going to be taken off the board in this year’s draft. We know he doesn’t stack up well next to NBA-level talent, but surely he’ll fare well in the G League, right?
We don’t think so.
Assuming Bronny James gets plenty of run with South Bay, we think he’ll get exposed for the player he truly is: a guy who averaged 4.8 points on 36.6 percent shooting from the field in one season at college.
Even though Redick and Los Angeles have made it clear that they plan to have Bronny James shifting between the big-boy club and the minors, let’s just hope that the 20-year-old spends most of his time in the G League.
Regardless of who is related to who, we should never be giving so much press to someone who has eight minutes of NBA experience under his belt across two appearances that were damn-near scripted.
Bronny James getting bumped to the G League is truly going to be a breath of fresh air. And if you find yourself missing a guy who provides little to no production, turn on a Houston Rockets game and watch Dillon Brooks play.
