Bronny James made his preseason debut with the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night at Acrisure Arena. It wasn’t the best performance you’ll see from a rookie, but he certainly flashed his skills on defense.
Bronny, the son of Lakers star LeBron James, only shot 1-of-6 from the field in 16 minutes of action. He did, however, lead the team with three blocks. There was one particular play where he had a chase-down block on Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Minnesota Timberwolves. That rejection had the crowd buzzing for a brief moment.
Overall, it was an inconsistent debut for Bronny. That’s not a huge surprise considering his game needs a decent amount of work.
On the bright side, Bronny proved that he can hold his own on the defensive side of the floor. Scouts raved about his perimeter defense well before the Lakers selected him with the 55th pick.
BRONNY JAMES CHASEDOWN BLOCK 😳 pic.twitter.com/7FwjUpNXfU
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 5, 2024
Lakers head coach JJ Redick was asked about the rookie’s performance during his postgame press conference. The former NBA guard raved about Bronny’s defending.
“He can do some things defensively at his size that are really unique, and I think can turn into a really disruptive defender,” Redick said. “That manifested itself. On the offensive end, he’s still figuring out who he is. That’s our job as a player development program just to build him in. But truthfully, he’s so easy to coach. He’s got a great soul and just a great energy about him. I like being around him. I’m rooting for him. He’s a good player that we’re happy to have in our program.”
The Lakers will be back in action on Sunday night against the Phoenix Suns.
We’ll see if Bronny can make a bigger impact in his second preseason game.
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