South Bay Lakers guard Bronny James dribbles against Salt Lake City Stars forward Jason Preston during the first half of an NBA G League basketball game on Saturday, November 9, 2024 in El Segundo, California. (9 years old) (AP Photo/) Eric Thayer)
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — In many ways, Bronny James’ G League debut mirrored his first few months with the Los Angeles Lakers.
He’s trying to find his role.
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James started and scored six points in the South Bay Lakers’ 110-96 victory over the Salt Lake City Stars on Saturday.
Read: Bronny James named to Lakers’ G League affiliate
first bucket of the season pic.twitter.com/mnuEnQ7oip
— South Bay Lakers (@SouthBayLakers) November 10, 2024
“I haven’t been on the team as much as I could to figure out my role on the team. So I’m just going out there and playing my game and just hooping,” James said. said.
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James, the 20-year-old son of LeBron James, made 2 of 9 field goals, including 0 of 4 from 3-point range. The 6-foot-3 guard also had three rebounds, four assists, two steals and one blocked shot.
He was added to the South Bay roster Thursday after the Lakers completed a five-game road trip.
Saturday was Bronny’s most action in a game since Oct. 18, the Lakers’ final preseason game against Golden State, when he played 35 minutes and scored 15 points.
“I thought he did a great job controlling the ball. He got the first bucket of the game… He made a great play, he made an unselfish play, he played in the flow of the game. “We did,” South Bay coach Zach Guthrie said. “And I thought, like all the guards, we defended at a high level.”
Read: Bronny James feels love from Cleveland while scoring first NBA points
LeBron watched the game with his wife, Savannah, and 10-year-old daughter, Zuri, from courtside seats on the opposite side of the main stand. Bronny’s grandmother, Gloria James, was also in attendance, as were Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.
LeBron and Lakers coach JJ Redick have repeatedly stated that Bronny will spend plenty of time in the G League this season working on his game.
Bronny played in five games for the Lakers, playing a total of 14 minutes and scoring four points. He appeared in the final 1:28 of the Lakers’ 116-106 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
LeBron and Bronny made NBA history on October 22 when they became the first father and son to play together in the Lakers’ season-opening win over Minnesota.
Bronny got off to a good start Saturday by scoring on his first possession and hitting a pull-up jumper 43 seconds into the game.
“I just got a bucket and it got to me and I was just…yeah. I didn’t miss it,” he said.
Bronny’s other basket was a floater in the lane during the second quarter. He also made a free throw in the fourth quarter. The G League has introduced an experimental free throw rule this season, meaning that for fouls outside of the remaining two minutes, when two or three free throws are normally taken, one foul shot can result in two or three points. It’s worth the points.
Read: NBA: LeBron, Bronny James make history in Lakers’ season opener
Bronny showed off his passing ability late in the first quarter with a nifty lob to Kyler Kelly for an alley-oop.
Midway through the second quarter, Bronny partially blocked Isiah Wong’s layup, but Quincy Olivari grabbed the rebound. Maxwell Lewis hit a 3-pointer on the other side of the court to give the Lakers a 40-28 lead.
Bronny’s debut drew a packed crowd to the Lakers’ training facility, where South Bay plays. UCLA Health Training Center has a capacity of 676 students.
“It felt really good to go out there and play my game. It’s not much different. I was just playing basketball. It felt good,” said Scott, who played in 25 games for Southern California last season and averaged 4.8 points. said Bronny, who was drafted 55th overall in the 2024 draft in June after scoring and grabbing 2.8 rebounds. “I’ve seen the buzz for going to the G. It’s a great experience for me to go out and play my game and get a few minutes under my belt.” Just excited. Masu. ”
Salt Lake City coach Steve Wojciechowski acknowledged the atmosphere was different compared to other G League road games.
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“I mean, this doesn’t usually happen after a G League game. I feel like I’m already on my second pizza,” he said in the postgame interview. “It’s exciting for the G League and it’s going to bring attention to our league. And we have one of the best leagues in the world, probably third in the world after the NBA and the EuroLeague. It would be a good league.
“His story has brought attention not just to the South Bay, but to the entire league and the players who play in the league. So even if it’s brought to you by this exceptional story, those stories The attention is great for the league.”
