It may have only been his first NBA Summer League game but Bronny James did a bit of everything on Saturday.
The No. 55 overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers took the floor for his debut against the Sacramento Kings, getting his first career start. He didn't light up the scoreboard by any means, but did have a couple of positive moments to look back on. As one could imagine, being that he is the son of LeBron James, fans were tuned in ready to see him make highlight plays or fail.
His first "highlight" of the game came after he appeared to stumble on defense following a push-off-/crossover from a Kings player who drilled the jumper after. James then had his first positive highlight later in the first half when he was able to jump into the passing lane to intercept a pass, and take down the floor where he dished it to a teammate who was able to finish with a layup.
After scoring his first career summer league points on a layup of his own a few plays later, James seemed to be getting a bit more comfortable. He also was able to show off his step-back later in the game as well in a clip that has many fans praising his ball handling.
James was able to create some separation and drill the shot after, which must have been a great feeling for him considering his shot wasn't falling throughout the game. He finished with just four points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field while going 0-of-3 from deep. He did show his versatility by grabbing a couple of boards and dishing out a couple of assists as well, but wound up accumulating the worst +/- of the game with a -15. Fellow draft pick Dalton Knecht also had a -15 on the day. Not surprising that there will be growing pains for the duo.
While many fans were upset that James was drafted and signed to a guaranteed contract, ESPN's ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that he will likely be in the G League for the majority of the year.
"What the Lakers' expectations are is that he'll largely be a G League player like almost any 19-year-old player coming into the league drafted in the second round," Wojnarowski said on SportsCenter. "I think ultimately what you'll probably see is Bronny James in the first week of the season on the court with his father in a very...I don't want to call it ceremonial but the eyes of the world will be on that.
"They'll do that the first week of the season but there's no expectation Bronny James is going to be in the Lakers rotation. He'll spend a lot of his time playing with their G League team which shares a practice facility with the Lakers."
Related: NBA Star Says Former Teammate Is 'Dead' To Him And The Team
Regardless, James will still get some valuable reps in both the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer League. If he can hit his open shots at a higher clip, some of the noise from the doubters would disappear.
Related: Bronny James' First NBA Summer League Points Has The Internet Buzzing
Local Los Angeles, CA
Most Popular
Comments / 0