Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson has strongly opposed LeBron's son, Bronny James, playing for the Purple and Gold. Bronny James has drawn a lot of attention after the Lakers drafted him with the 55th overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft despite having limited basketball experience while in college. Now, the talk is about Bronny and LeBron making history by becoming the first father-son tandem to play together in the same NBA team.
However, according to Johnson, if he were LeBron Jr., he would ask his powerful father to send him to the Lakers' G League affiliate so he could hone his skills.
"If I'm Bronny, I would tell my dad to just let me play in the G League all season so that I can develop," said Magic on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. "He needs playing time. He doesn't need to be sitting on the Lakers bench and not playing. That's not a knock against him." He's just not ready. He needs to develop more, and then he will be ready because he has some great talent and skills, but he needs to develop those skills at a much better clip if he wants to play 15-20 minutes a night in the NBA or more."
Bronny needs time to develop
Although Bronny was a McDonald's All-American All-Star in High School, he did not play much during his lone season at USC in 2023-24 after suffering a cardiac arrest during practice before the season. LeBron Jr. appeared in only 25 total games and averaged 19.3 minutes per game.
Bronny played just 25 games and averaged 19.3 minutes of playing time per game. That's a total of 483 playing minutes, which is equivalent to only 10 full four-quarter games played. He impressed somewhat during the Draft Combine but could not put it together when he played for the Lakers in the Summer League.
"But if I'm his father, he needs to develop, " added Magic. "It's just that simple. The Lakers have done a wonderful job of developing players - Caruso, and so all these guys have developed under the Lakers' G League coach. They've done a good job of bringing guys up and playing them in the NBA."
Redick hints that he wants to get the LeBron-Bronny together moment done ASAP
Well, it appears that Magic's wish won't be granted. The Lakers are keen on allowing Bron and Bronny to make history and play together in an NBA game. In a recent interview, newly appointed head coach JJ Redick said that it will happen, and it is likely happening sooner rather than later .
" People ask obviously about Bronny and what he's like as a player and all of that stuff," Redick said . "In terms of that moment, we've talked about it, we've thought about it, and we'll get it done. I don't want to commit to anything right now, but that's gonna happen, and it's gonna happen sooner rather than later."
While JJ admitted they would play Bronny at some point, he seemed to say that he wouldn't do so a lot. In fact, he sounded like he wanted to get it over with ASAP so they could focus on winning. It's unclear, however, if he intends to sit Bronny on the bench or send him to the G League. But if Redick is as smart as everyone thinks he is, he'll agree with Magic and let Bronny develop in their farm team rather than warm his a** on the Lakers bench, cheering for his dad.
Related: "100% playing in the opening game" - Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe think Bronny James will be on the Lakers' main roster
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