Bronny James had a rough start to life as a Los Angeles Laker. He scored only 17 points in his first four Summer League outings. During his terrible outing against the Boston Celtics, Jaylen Brown, who sat courtside alongside girlfriend Kysre Gondrezick and Chicago Sky star Angel Reese, claimed he wouldn’t cut it in the NBA. Analyst Skip Bayless, a staunch supporter of Bronny, couldn’t help but agree with the Celtics superstar. On Undisputed, he said,
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“I get [his comments]. It’s just a flash judgment off a few minutes of Summer League action. But, I must admit. I have gone from trying to evaluate Bronny as ‘how good can he be, how quickly?’, to, ‘Can he play?'”
He clarified that he still believed in Bronny’s talent and hoped he’d get better with time and the young guard came through immediately. After his much-improved display against the Atlanta Hawks, Bayless said,
“He looked like he belonged out there and that he was comfortable in his own skin.”
.@RealSkipBayless praises Bronny for his 12-point performance in the Lakers 1st Summer League win:
“He looked like he belonged out there.” pic.twitter.com/rDFyTKH8g4
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) July 18, 2024
Bronny shot 5-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-5 from beyond the arc in an 87-86 win for the Lakers. Bayless claimed that Bronny looked like a player unbothered by the burden of his father LeBron James’ name and was having fun on the court.
He noted that he looked confident and that translated into a good performance. It’s safe to assume that the analyst is back on the Bronny hype train after temporarily deboarding following his horrendous outings.
Bronny has had a subpar summer so far
Bronny’s first appearance as a Laker this summer came in the California Classic against the Sacramento Kings. The guard had a terrible game, shooting just 2-of-9 from the floor, 0-3 from beyond the arc, and 0-2 from the free throw line. He did not fare any better in the game against the Miami Heat, going 1-of-3 from the floor for three points.
Nothing went Bronny’s way in his first four Summer League outings, but he finally had a notable performance against the Hawks. Nevertheless, it’s still been an underwhelming start to life as a Laker for the 19-year-old guard. However, many, including analyst Rachel Nichols, have pointed out that his performances are acceptable for a player picked 55th in the NBA draft.
She argued that fans and analysts expect Bronny to perform like a lottery pick when he’s from it. She even noted that the second overall pick Alex Sarr shot a horrendous 0-of-15 recently, but received a fraction of the criticism that the Lakers guard has been subjected to.
Nichols is spot on. The 19-year-old is the most talked-about rookie from his draft class despite being a late second-round pick. He has been subjected to unfair criticism, which needs to cease for him to grow.
