Bronny James‘ G League debut in many ways mirrored his first few months with the Los Angeles Lakers.
He’s trying to find his role.
James started and scored six points on Saturday as the South Bay Lakers defeated the Salt Lake City Stars 110-96.
“I haven’t been with the team as much as I would like to figure out what my role is on that team. So I just go out there and play my game and just play basketball,” James said.
James, the 20-year-old son of LeBron James, was 2-for-9 from the field, including 0-for-4 on 3-pointers. The 6-foot-3 guard also had three rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.
He was added to the South Bay roster on Thursday after the Lakers completed a five-game road trip.
Saturday marked the most action Bronny has had in a game since the Lakers’ preseason game against Golden State on Oct. 18, when he played 35 minutes and scored 15 points.
“I think he did a great job dictating on the ball. He made the first basket of the game… He played great, he played selflessly, he played within the flow of the game,” South Bay coach Zach Guthrie said. “And I thought, like all of our point guards, we defended at a high level.”
LeBron watched the game from front-row seats on the opposite side of the main stands with his wife, Savannah, and 10-year-old daughter, Zuri. Gloria James, Bronny’s grandmother, was also in attendance, along with Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.
LeBron and Lakers coach JJ Redick have repeatedly said that Bronny will spend a lot of time this season in the G League as he works on his game.
Bronny has played in five games for the Lakers, scoring four points in a combined 14 minutes of action. He was in the final 1:28 of the Lakers’ 116-106 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
LeBron and Bronny made NBA history on October 22 when they became the first father and son to play together during the Lakers’ season-opening victory against Minnesota.
Saturday started well for Bronny when he scored on his first possession, hitting a jumper 43 seconds into the game.
“I was just getting a basket. It came to me and it just…yeah. “I didn’t fail,” he said.
Bronny’s other basket was a floater in the paint during the second quarter. He also had a free throw in the fourth quarter. The G-League has an experimental free throw rule this season where a free throw could be worth two or three points for any foul other than during the final two minutes and would typically result in two or three free throws.
Bronny showed off his passing ability late in the first quarter with an alley-oop pass to Kylor Kelley.
Midway through the second quarter, Bronny partially blocked Isaiah Wong’s layup before Quincy Olivari grabbed the rebound. Maxwell Lewis finished with a three-pointer at the other end of the court to put the Lakers up 40-28.
Bronny’s debut drew a packed crowd to the Lakers’ training complex, where South Bay plays its games. The capacity of the UCLA Health Training Center is 676 people.
“It felt pretty good to go out there and just play my game. Not much difference. I was just playing basketball. It felt good,” said Bronny, who was the 55th pick in the 2024 draft in June after averaging 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 25 games for Southern California last season. “I’ve seen all the hype about my move to the G. It’s an amazing experience for me to go out and play my game and get some minutes. “I’m excited about it.”
Salt Lake City coach Steve Wojciechowski admitted it was a different atmosphere compared to other G League road games.
“I mean, this doesn’t usually happen after a G League game. Normally I would be on my second slice of pizza by then,” he said of doing a postgame interview. “It’s exciting for the G League and brings attention to our league. And we have one of the best leagues in the world. Perhaps the third best league in the world after the NBA and the EuroLeague.
“His story is bringing attention not only to the South Bay, but to the league in general and to the kids who play in the league. And so, the more looks at those stories, even if it’s generated by this one-off story, is great for the league.”
