Bronny James made his NBA debut on Tuesday night, stepping onto the hardwood with his father, LeBron James. They became the first father-son duo in NBA history to share the court together.
Unfortunately for Bronny, he didn’t make much of an impact for the Lakers. He went 0-for-2 from the field and grabbed one rebound. The Lakers were outscored by five points during the brief stretch that he was in.
When the Lakers selected Bronny with the 55th pick in this year’s draft, many people know it would take time for him to develop. That being said, the coaching staff and front office in Los Angeles have a plan to help speed up that process.
According to ESPN insider Shams Charania, the Lakers will take Bronny with them for their upcoming road trip. They’ll be on the road from Oct. 28 through Nov. 6. Once they return to Los Angeles, the team will have Bronny shuttle between the main roster and the team’s South Bay G League affiliate.
LeBron has not yet commented on this report. He’ll probably be OK with it considering he talked about Bronny potentially playing in the G League back in September.
“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, via ESPN. “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 will get way more playing time on South Bay than he would staying on the active roster. And if he works his way up the ladder, that’ll mean he’s ready to make a true impact for JJ Redick’s squad.
Only time will tell if Bronny can develop into a difference-maker for the Lakers.