Not many people expected Bronny James to light it up in the preseason for the Los Angeles Lakers. That being said, his struggles on the hardwood have left fans feeling pretty down about his future.
James started off his preseason with a really impressive defensive performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite being undersized, he led the team in blocks. There was a moment where he had an epic chase-down block on Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Unfortunately, the past two games haven’t been so kind to the 55th pick from this year’s draft.
Although the Lakers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night, Bronny struggled to find the range. He went 0-for-4 from the field while failing to record a single block, rebound, steal or assist. Earlier this week, he had an even more concerning performance against the Phoenix Suns. Not only did he go scoreless, he had four turnovers in just 13 minutes of action.
Sporting News revealed that Bronny has the worst plus/minus of all 494 players who have played this preseason. That’s not what you want to hear if you’re a fan of the Lakers.
Last week, Lakers coach JJ Redick spoke highly of Bronny’s willingness to be coached. The hope is that he can eventually develop into a solid role player.
“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,” Redick said. “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 Oct. 15 against the Golden State Warriors. That game will be televised on NBA TV.
We’ll see if Bronny can snap out of his shooting slump and finish the preseason on a high note.
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