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New York Times
10-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Bronny James enters second Las Vegas Summer League free of the hype — and in his element
LAS VEGAS — This wasn't the biggest part of the job Zach Guthrie had been hired for, but it was the most inevitable, the elephant in the room that needed to be dealt with. The South Bay Lakers were about to play the G League season opener in front of a sellout crowd with the most famous 55th selection of all time in the middle of it all. Bronny James' path to the court might have seemed like it was destined, a favor to the league's all-time leading scorer. But for the Los Angeles Lakers and for the rookie in the locker room, this was just supposed to all be one step in the developmental process, another deposit into the team's investment into a second-round pick it believed in. Advertisement But Guthrie, as South Bay's head coach, had to acknowledge that this wasn't just any regular game, that the hype and the attention and the spotlight and the circus and the other stuff had to be addressed. So Guthrie hatched a plan. He had a staffer smuggle a balloon into the locker room beforehand. He hid a needle up his sleeve. And after he laid it all out, the attention, the 'Bronny' chants, the unavoidable distractions, Guthrie popped the balloon. (He even tested the needle beforehand to avoid a credibility-shattering mishap.) 'I let that sit there and I just popped the balloon,' Guthrie remembered last season. 'And I was like, 'We can let that s— go right now. This is just basketball, right? … Not to go full Hoosiers on you, but it's still 10 feet (high), it's still 94 feet (long).' The message to the players had been delivered — the only one who didn't need to hear it? Bronny James. It's always felt bigger when James took the court, the stakes feeling so high like he needed to justify his place in the public's attention with immediate results, when it was always so clear that this was going to require some patience. But the calluses from dealing with a lifetime of being LeBron James' eldest son have made him proficient, if not totally comfortable, with all of it. Thursday night in Las Vegas, one year after his face was on the banners despite being picked near the end of the second round, Bronny James opens his second NBA Summer League as not even the 'star' in his first game. The eyes, for a change, will be more focused on someone else — No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg. Don't expect the eyes to stay shifted. They always have swung back. James has lived in this as long as he can remember. It's the kind of attention that comes from being the main event his whole basketball-playing life, getting tested by players who want to prove themselves against his bloodline, getting praised by fans who feel like they've known him since birth, dodging critics eager to transfer feelings about LeBron James onto him as he tried to carve an NBA career out for himself. Advertisement Last week before Bronny James began his second summer as a professional, he admitted that some of his successes as a rookie — a 17-point game against the Milwaukee Bucks in March, nearly 22 points per game in the final 11 G League games he appeared — have given him confidence that he can impact games offensively. But it hasn't pushed him from the path he wants to walk. 'It's definitely made me think about being more aggressive on that end of the floor. But I can't lose that defensive drive that will get me on the floor,' he said. ''Cause there's gonna be guys that can go out and score 15, 20 a game. … I'm most likely not gonna be that guy right now, but to get myself on the floor, I have to be a defensive menace. And that's my main focus – getting in condition this year. It's been shown that I know how to score the ball a little bit. So understand, stand true to that, but also focus in on the defensive end.' Video of James' quote went viral, the response almost universally positive, fans seeing the attitude Lakers coaches loved so much since they drafted him last year. 'Credit to him,' Guthrie said. 'With all the things swirling around him and all the things that have been, like, outside noise or like a mixing of rat poison, all this stuff, I think he's been able to block it out and focus on himself and his development.' The issue is, and will be for awhile anyway, is that it's simply too hard for other people to block all of that out and view James in isolation. While the Lakers picked him last year to make LeBron James happy, they also picked Bronny James because of the safe-ish bet on an athletic guard with a plus wingspan, a high character and a willingness to work. Whether with Guthrie in the G League or with development coach Ty Abbott and the main roster, James has earned big fans by his work behind the scenes. The trajectory a year ago, from a manufactured opening night moment to James starting off the Lakers' summer with a steal and a spiked one-hand dunk in transition, has validated some of that gamble. Bronny's first bucket of Summer League 🔥 — NBA (@NBA) July 6, 2024 'Bronny's work with South Bay Lakers was – you can look at the numbers and see his trajectory and growth and maturity,' Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said after South Bay's season ended. 'Super impressed with the way our coaching staff wrapped around him, led by (Lakers assistant) Coach Ty and Bronny having a great relationship. Seeing how they worked, seeing how they broke down film. He's a guy that shows up every day trying to get better. We appreciate that quality about him, and it played out.' Advertisement In his first game of the summer Sunday, James played 10 minutes and scored 10 points, looking like the most comfortable and in-command player on the court in short shifts as the team eases him to more action in Vegas. He faded in light minutes during his second game on Tuesday, but inside the Lakers' building, there's real optimism about Bronny James' future. It'll still be plenty of spectacle Thursday night — Day 1 passes with reserved seats are selling for nearly $500 or more on the secondary market. But this is different. A year ago, Bronny James was the story in Las Vegas, snap judgments being made with every promising player and with every brutal turnover. There's more evidence now and less curiosity. There's also going to be less pressure. 'Yeah, it's definitely some more excitement than nervousness for sure,' he said. 'I'm just ready to go out there and play and be better than I was the last time I was playing.' It'll never be just basketball, not for Bronny James. No balloon pop will ease that tension. But as he's gotten more comfortable, as he's gotten more confident and as people have gotten more used to seeing him on the court, James is starting to feel more like himself. And maybe, people will get more comfortable seeing that. (Illustration: Kelsea Petersen / The Athletic; Luke Hales / Getty, Garrett Ellwood / Getty, Noah Graham / Getty)
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bronny James scores 10 points in 2025 Summer League debut, throws down thundering dunk
Bronny James saw an opportunity and seized it less than 30 seconds into his 2025 NBA Summer League debut Sunday in the Chase Center's "California Classic." The second-year Los Angeles Lakers guard rocketed forward and picked the pocket of Miami Heat guard Kasparas Jakučionis. James scurried to corral the loose ball before seamlessly transitioning to a fastbreak runway, where the 20-year-old elevated a few feet past the free throw line for a thundering, one-handed dunk. Advertisement Like father, like son. Just as LeBron James so often does, Bronny gathered and flushed in a fluid, sweeping motion, complete with an emphatic dismount, which he followed with a slow walk and stare down past the baseline. What a 6-foot-2 Bronny lacks in height, he makes up for with bounce. A minute and a half later, James drained the first of his two 3-pointers on the day. He scored 10 first-half points but didn't play in the second half, clocking out with only 11 minutes in a 103-83 Lakers victory. Of Los Angeles' five starters, James played the fewest minutes. He's coming off a rookie season in which he appeared in 27 games for the Lakers, averaging 2.3 points in 6.7 minutes per contest while posting a 31.3% field goal percentage. In the G League, however, the second-round pick shined for the South Bay Lakers, averaging 21.9 points, 5.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds on 44% shooting in the 11 games he played with the club. Advertisement James' best NBA performance this past season arrived on March 20 when he shot 7 of 10 and recorded 17 points and five assists, albeit in a blowout loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. After starting 2 for 2 on Sunday, the USC product missed his next three shots: a sidestep 3, a second-chance floater later on and then a catch-and-shoot 3 from the right wing. But he knocked down his second triple before intermission, courtesy of an assist from fellow 2024 draftee Dalton Knecht. James also added a pair of free throws before halftime. James finished with a plus/minus of +4 and shot 3 of 7, including 2 of 5 from deep. He snagged two rebounds to go along with the steal that created his highlight-reel dunk. Advertisement Knecht, notably, struggled for the second game in a row. A day after he shot a mere 3 of 13 from the field, and 0 of 6 from 3, he again failed to connect from long range. Last year's No. 17 overall pick had as many points as turnovers Sunday against the Heat: four. He shot 2 of 7 and missed all three of his 3-point attempts. Knecht, who averaged 9.1. points per game with a 37.6% clip from 3 with the Lakers in 2024-25, even took an elbow to the face from Heat rookie big man Dain Dainja, whom Knecht fouled on a layup attempt. Former Villanova and Syracuse forward Cole Swider led the Lakers with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Advertisement James, though, made a bigger impression with one all-too-familiar sequence in the first minute of play.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bronny James scores 10 points in 2025 Summer League debut, throws down thundering dunk
Bronny James saw an opportunity and seized it less than 30 seconds into his 2025 NBA Summer League debut Sunday in the Chase Center's "California Classic." The second-year Los Angeles Lakers guard rocketed forward and picked the pocket of Miami Heat guard Kasparas Jakučionis. James scurried to corral the loose ball before seamlessly transitioning to a fastbreak runway, where the 20-year-old elevated a few feet past the free throw line for a thundering, one-handed dunk. Advertisement Like father, like son. Just as LeBron James so often does, Bronny gathered and flushed in a fluid, sweeping motion, complete with an emphatic dismount, which he followed with a slow walk and stare down past the baseline. What a 6-foot-2 Bronny lacks in height, he makes up for with bounce. A minute and a half later, James drained the first of his two 3-pointers on the day. He scored 10 first-half points but didn't play in the second half, clocking out with only 11 minutes in a 103-83 Lakers victory. Of Los Angeles' five starters, James played the fewest minutes. He's coming off a rookie season in which he appeared in 27 games for the Lakers, averaging 2.3 points in 6.7 minutes per contest while posting a 31.3% field goal percentage. In the G League, however, the second-round pick shined for the South Bay Lakers, averaging 21.9 points, 5.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds on 44% shooting in the 11 games he played with the club. Advertisement James' best NBA performance this past season arrived on March 20 when he shot 7 of 10 and recorded 17 points and five assists, albeit in a blowout loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. After starting 2 for 2 Sunday, the USC product missed his next three shots: a sidestep 3, a second-chance floater later on and then a catch-and-shoot 3 from the right wing. But he knocked down his second triple before intermission, courtesy of an assist from fellow 2024 draftee Dalton Knecht. James also added a pair of free throws before halftime. James finished with a plus/minus of +4 and shot 3 of 7, including 2 of 5 from deep. He snagged two rebounds to go along with the steal that created his highlight-reel dunk. Advertisement Knecht, notably, struggled for the second game in a row. A day after he shot a mere 3 of 13 from the field, and 0 of 6 from 3, he again failed to connect from long range. Last year's No. 17 overall pick had as many points as turnovers Sunday against the Heat: four. He shot 2 of 7 and missed all three of his 3-point attempts. Knecht, who averaged 9.1. points per game with a 37.6% clip from 3 with the Lakers in 2024-25, even took an elbow to the face from Heat rookie big man Dain Dainja, whom Knecht fouled on a layup attempt. Former Villanova and Syracuse forward Cole Swider led the Lakers with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting Sunday. Advertisement James, though, made a bigger impression with one all-too-familiar sequence in the first minute of play.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lakers make shocking Bronny James Summer League decision days before Cooper Flagg matchup
The Los Angeles Lakers will compete in the California Classic before heading to Las Vegas to take part in the NBA 2K26 Summer League. Before the Lakers' Saturday night contest against the Golden State Warriors, the organization made a shocking decision involving their 20-year-old guard, Bronny James. Advertisement 'Warriors vs Lakers California Classic Starting Lineups: Lakers: Dalton Knecht, Cole Swider, Trey Jamison III, Dajaun Gordon, and DJ Steward,' Sports Illustrated's Liam Willerup reported on X/Twitter. 'Warriors: Chris Manon, Jackson Rowe, Marques Bolden, Taran Armstrong, and Jaden Shackelford. No Bronny James, as he will not suit up for today's game.' Entering the day, there was no indication that Los Angeles would sideline James to begin Summer League action. While many are looking ahead to the USC product's highly anticipated matchup against Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg next Thursday, it's unlikely they expected to watch a James-less Lakers squad during either event. Advertisement Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp James, whom the Lakers unsurprisingly selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA draft, recently finished his rookie campaign in the big leagues. While still a work in progress, the 6-foot-2 guard was a standout contributor in the NBA G-League, averaging 21.9 points, 5.4 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per game with the South Bay Lakers. James' efficiency is also noteworthy, as the former McDonald's All-American connected on 44.0% of his field goals and 38.0% from the three. Hopefully, James will suit up for the Summer League soon and receive valuable reps heading into his second NBA season. More NBA: Lakers get crushing update on historic seven-team trade following blockbuster Luka Doncic deal
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Did Bronny James retire? Explaining post about 20-year-old Lakers guard's NBA future
The Los Angeles Lakers' 20-year-old guard, Bronny James, didn't experience the most action-packed rookie campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers this past season. In 27 games with the Lakers in 2024-25, James contributed 2.3 points, 0.8 assists, and 0.7 rebounds per game, connecting on 31.3% of his field goals and 28.1% of his three-point jumpers. Advertisement However, the Cleveland, Ohio native performed well with the South Bay Lakers in the NBA G League, averaging 21.9 points, 5.4 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per contest, shooting 44.0% from the field and 38.0% from beyond the arc. James, who suffered a cardiac arrest before the start of his freshman campaign at USC, declared for the 2024 NBA draft in controversial fashion. The son of arguably the greatest player of all time, LeBron, averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game during his lone season with the Trojans, shooting 36.6% from the field and 26.7% from three-point land. Still, the Lakers selected James with the No. 55 overall pick, enabling him to compete with his role model at the highest level of basketball. Advertisement Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp According to the popular X/Twitter account NBA Centel, however, James surprisingly announced his retirement from basketball after just one season. Did Bronny James retire? No, James did not retire following his first campaign in the big leagues. The former McDonald's All-American still has a ways to go before he reaches his full potential, but he's expected to make a significant leap with the Lakers in Year 2. Starting July. 5, James will receive valuable Summer League reps with the Lakers as he prepares for his sophomore season. While it's unclear how long James will last in the NBA, it's safe to say the journey hasn't ended yet. More NBA: Lakers predicted to part with $109 million father-son duo via trade to title-winning Thunder
