Bronny James made his NBA debut this week with the Los Angeles Lakers as he and his father LeBron James made history as the first father-son duo to appear in an NBA game together. But now, it sounds like he’ll be headed to the G League in the coming weeks.
On Friday afternoon, ESPN reported that Bronny James is expected to be sent to the Lakers’ South Bay G League affiliate team in the coming weeks after a brief stint on the Lakers’ roster with his father.
During his press conference ahead of Friday’s game, head coach JJ Redick confirmed the plan and explained this decision a little bit.
“Our plans are always fluid based on real time,” Redick said before the game Friday. “I believe we have two guys dressing today that as of yesterday we’re not dressing out.
“The plan for Bronny to move between the Lakers and South Bay has always been the plan since day one. [General manager] Rob [Pelinka] and I have talked about that. LeBron’s talked about that.”
During the team’s media day last month, LeBron did address the possibility that Bronny would spend some time in the G League.
“Just [looking forward to] seeing him continue to grow as a basketball player no matter if it’s here with us or if it’s down with the G League team and him continuing to get better and better and better,” LeBron said.
“His job is to put the work in and get better and better, just like the rest of us. And we want to hold him accountable, and he’s going to hold us accountable. And if we all do that, we all get better, because we’re all one team. We’re a reflection of South Bay; South Bay is a reflection of us.”
Bronny played three minutes for the team during their season-opening win over the Timberwolves. He did not score, missing two two-point attempts and one three-point attempt, but he did pull down one rebound.
We’ll have to see how Bronny’s development continues this year and beyond.
