Being LeBron James’s son comes with certain privileges. For one, you never have to worry about your future financially, unlike LeBron growing up. But while that does make life a lot easier, the expectations of being LeBron’s son can hit like a truck … and Bronny James found that out in his rookie year with the LA Lakers.
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In his first taste of the NBA for the Purple and Gold, Bronny averaged just 2.3 points, 0.8 assists, 0.7 rebounds, 0.3 three pointers, and 0.3 steals in a little over 6 minutes per game across 27 contests. Naturally, his next destination was a spot in the G-League.
After a fairly decent few months in the underbelly of American basketball, Bronny has returned to the big boys table recently. Unfortunately, it was far from the comeback stories sports movies are made up of. In a pre-season matchup against the Phoenix Suns, he got the start ahead of his father LeBron and Lakers’ newest star Luka Doncic, going 1-for-12 from the field and 1-for-8 from deep.
Although it wasn’t an ideal performance, the 20-year-old took some comfort in coach JJ Reddick’s words, who said Bronny looked far “more comfortable and confident,” a far cry from who he was just a year ago.
Bronny agreed with Reddick’s assessment, too. In a post-game interview, he was asked what the coach had expected from him. In response, he said, “I feel like he was looking for effort and competitiveness … we haven’t had many practices together, so he was just … ‘go out there and play hard, do the non-negotiables and compete for the whole game.’”
“I feel like we did an okay job at that, kind of died down at the end, but still getting our legs under us,” he added, noting that he felt much more at ease than he did before his G-League experience.
“Definitely feel like I was more comfortable, especially with the ball in my hands and with the defensive and offensive schemes,” he continued, saying that he would keep working on it throughout the season.
And as far as his shooting went, Bronny believes that even though he missed a few, they were good shots. He felt he didn’t have to rush or force anything, even if some of them fell short.
Bronny is also aware of his role in the team and the limited opportunities he will be afforded when the season starts. “Trying to fill it out, trying to get some reps in with the guys … there’s probably not going to be many opportunities in the season, so you know, just coming out and playing hard,” he explained.
