The Los Angeles Lakers had a night to forget in their matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, suffering a tough 118-89 defeat at home—only their eighth home loss of the season. With key players sidelined due to injuries, the team struggled to keep up. However, one bright spot emerged: Bronny James. Coming off the bench, he logged 30 minutes and delivered a career-best performance, scoring 17 points on an impressive 7-of-10 shooting.
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Bronny has had to endure plenty of criticism in his rookie year, and last night was the first time that he was able to really fight back. He looked confident on an NBA court for the first time, even taking it right at Giannis Antetokounmpo a couple of times, and though it wasn’t enough to keep the shorthanded Lakers in the game, it was an encouraging sign nonetheless.
Chandler Parsons spoke about Bronny’s performance on this morning’s Run It Back, and he said that not only did Bronny prove a lot of his haters wrong with his strong showing. “Not anybody can just go into an NBA game and have 17 points, so this kid doesn’t stink. He can play, and he proved that last night.”
Parsons claims Bronny, with his strong showing, “opened up some eyes, even for JJ Redick and that coaching staff.” The former Rocket added how the 17-point outing showed the coaching staff that he can contribute on an NBA floor, and gives them another option to bank on.
Bronny has improved so much over the course of the season, a fact that we’ve mostly seen in his G League performances. This was the first time he’s really gotten a chance to spread his wings in the big leagues though, and he made the most of it.
Could Bronny James play his way into more meaningful NBA minutes?
JJ Redick spoke after the game about Bronny’s performance, and he didn’t seem surprised to see him play so well.
“His confidence is growing… I think the next step is just becoming an elite conditioned athlete, because when he does that, with his physical tools and his burst and his handle, we think he’s going to be an above-average to really good NBA shooter, he’s going to have a chance to really make an impact.”
Redick also praised Bronny for the way he’s persevered through the torrent of unfair criticism and “bulls*** because of who his dad is,” as Redick put it. Whatever you think of Bronny and the fact that he was drafted by the Lakers, even his biggest haters would have to agree that he’s handled the situation extremely well.
Last night’s performance opens the door to more meaningful NBA minutes for Bronny, especially as the Lakers deal with so many injuries to their regular rotation players. We wouldn’t expect him to see the court in the playoffs, but if he can help the Lakers get to the finish line of the regular season, that would be a tremendous contribution to a team with championship hopes.
