LAS VEGAS , NV — The highly anticipated debut of LeBron James' son, Bronny James, has come and gone at the NBA's annual Summer League tournament. James played in four of the Los Angeles Lakers' five games at the Las Vegas Summer League in addition to the two he played in as part of the California Classic Summer League.
In those six Summer League games in Las Vegas, Bronny James averaged 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steal, and 0.8 blocks per game on just 32.7 percent shooting. By no stretch of the imagination did James blow anyone away with his play. After all, he was the 55th pick in the NBA Draft, and those guys usually don't have many expectations for turning into legitimate NBA players. James, however, did work his way into better performances towards the end of the Vegas Summer League.
Here's a breakdown of everything we learned about Bronny James through his Summer League experience with the Los Angeles Lakers.
4. Defense Will Be His Calling Card
Bronny James shows his ability to read passing lanes well at USC and a lot of that translated during his play with the Lakers at Summer League. He averaged 1.0 steal and 0.8 blocks per game, but if you watch him, he's oftentimes in the right place defensively and does a decent job reading offenses.
As a glue guy both at the college level and throughout NBA Summer League, Bronny showed that he's going to get on the floor and make a name for himself on the defensive end, first and foremost. He's not as physically gifted like his father, so he's going to need to hang his hat on that end of the floor. For a good portion of Summer League, he did just that. Most people just prefer to focus on the offensive side of the ball.
Of his six Summer League appearances, he had one game with two blocked shots, one game with two steals, and then a third game with two steals and three blocked shots.
If James can continue to develop into a disruptor defensively, he'll make for a solid ‘3-and-D' type of player. At this stage in the NBA, those players are valuable. And at age 19, there's tremendous room for growth on both ends of the floor for him.
3. Balance Aggressiveness with Passiveness
If there's anything that Bronny James showed us throughout his college and NBA Summer League tenure, it's that he's a team-first player. James is not interested in chasing his own stats at the detriment of the team, which is why he'll always try to involve his teammates, sometimes to a fault. Sounds a bit like the criticism his father used to take early in his career, right?
James showed throughout Summer League that he can be the ultimate glue guy. He repeatedly tries to get teammates good looks while causing havoc defensively with his deflections, steals, and blocks. His offensive game is a work in progress, as it took him five games and 17 straight misses before making a three-pointer. That, however, was also a product of a 19-year old being placed in immense moments.
Bronny James also showed that he's capable of hitting big shots as well. He had a couple of clutch buckets in fourth quarters of tight wins and even helped jumpstart the Lakers' offense in moments they felt sluggish.
Balancing his aggressiveness with his willingness to get teammates involved is a skill in itself. He showed bits and pieces of that in Summer League, but more is needed. Luckily for him, his father is legitimately the greatest player of all time at balancing the scoring and playmaking, so he has a good mentor in his corner.
2. Get Ready To Learn G League Your Rookie Year
Bronny James should get a look at the NBA level — whether it be games or practices — but in all likelihood, he'll spend much of his time in South Bay with the G League Lakers. Summer League was a good start for the young guard out of USC, but there are a lot of areas of improvement for James.
Additionally, James just needs to play. Think about it this way: We're only one year removed from the cardiac arrest that Bronny James suffered during a July 2023 practice at USC.
Thankfully, he was able to make a return to basketball, but that set him back quite a bit. He only played 25 games in college at 19.3 minutes per game, and folks wondered if he was truly past the episode. He averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 0.8 steals per game on 36.6 percent shooting from the field and 26.7 percent from three over the course of the season.
Even during the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer Leagues, James got off to a rough start. He scored a combined 17 points in his first four games on just 7-of-31 shooting from the field and 0-of-15 from three.
He was able to close it out strong, however, scoring 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the field and 3-of-8 from three over his final two games.
Bronny James will be fine, but it is the belief of this writer, and many others, that he'll need a ton of reps in the G League before he's able to legitimately help the Lakers varsity team.
1. Block Out The Noise
Bronny James is only 19 years old, but the experience he has being LeBron James' son alone is invaluable. If he wants to have a long and fruitful NBA career, blocking out the noise will be important.
Whether it's the media, fans and haters on social media, or sports gambling addicts, Bronny is going to have a lot of noise coming his way. Summer League alone showed that, with every one of his games packed with capacity crowds and his postgame media availabilities looking similar to the crowd LeBron James saw his rookie year.
Throughout Summer League, Bronny James did a good job of that, citing his parents' assistance in getting him through the rough shooting slumps and the outside noise.
“Just having the support system behind you [has helped],” Bronny told ClutchPoints during Summer League. “My mom, my dad really helped me, encouraging me to stay focused, and keep being myself so I feel like a big part of keeping my mind right.
“It's… something. But it's something I've got to deal with to play at this level.”
At just 19 years of age, Bronny James is already ahead of his age as far as professionalism goes. LeBron James has been the most scrutinized player, likely ever, and that's who Bronny has been watching and learning from. He'll turn 20 years old during Lakers training camp, and that's important to remember for a guy who will need time to grow up and develop both on and off the court.
Overall, Bronny James had a solid Summer League. He'll look to build on that this offseason and into training camp in October alongside father LeBron James.
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