Bronny James made his G League road debut on Thursday night for the South Bay Lakers, and it seems that all he needed was a little time away from home. James poured in 30 points and added three rebounds and two assists in by far the best performance of his young professional career.
Despite James' big night, the Lakers fell to the Valley Suns, 106-100.
It didn't take James, 20, long to get going, as he showed off his outside shot with a pair of pull-up 3-pointers in the opening minutes. All told, he displayed an impressive offensive arsenal that included soaring for an alley-oop. For the season he is now averaging 14 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in the G League.
After an abbreviated freshman season at USC, in which he never really got up to speed following his return from a heart issue, James declared for the 2024 NBA Draft. As expected, he was selected by the Lakers with the No. 55 overall pick in the second round, and signed a four-year, $7.9 million contract.
On opening night, he checked into the Lakers' matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves alongside his dad, LeBron James, and in doing so they became the first father-son duo to play in an NBA game together. They later played together in Cleveland when the Lakers took on the Cavaliers and Bronny scored his first career points on a fourth-quarter jumper. Otherwise, though, Bronny has received only garbage time minutes in the NBA. There's no expectation that will change this season.
Bronny, who was recently sidelined with a heel issue, will see most of his playing time in the G League, though there's no definitive plan in place.
"That's going to be fluid," South Bay Lakers president Joey Buss told ESPN. "We're going to do what's best for his development. There's going to be a lot of things that we do for all the assignment players, and decisions are made based off where they are, based off the injury status, based off how many bodies they need for practice. There's a lot of variables. So nothing unique for Bronny. He's just kind of in that system."
Early in the season, reports indicated that Bronny would only play in home games with the South Bay Lakers, whose home arena doubles as the NBA team's practice facility. The organization has obviously reversed course on that decision, though it remains unclear when or if Bronny will hit the road again.
