Since making his Los Angeles Lakers debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the NBA's opening night of the regular season, Bronny James hasn't played again. He went in for just shy of three minutes during Los Angeles' 110-103 win over Minnesota and got all those first-ever father-son duo headlines out of the way with LeBron James.
Now it's time for Bronny James to start transitioning to the G League, and one NBA assistant coach is nervous about how young James will fare when venturing out on his own, as cited by ClutchPoints' Anthony Irwin.
“What I'd be nervous about is how G League guys are going to go at Bronny,” an assistant coach with experience in the G League said. “It's one thing for LeBron's teammates to welcome Bronny while they're all on their guaranteed contracts. It's going to be another thing entirely when guys are competing with him for playing time, let alone playing against him in games.
“Every single player in the G League knows they'll be able to have their viral moment by making Bronny look bad. He'd better be ready for that every time he steps on the court against guys who are fighting to get into the league.”
The Lakers suffered their first loss of the season against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, 109-105.
Bronny James' future with the Lakers
The life of a role player in the NBA is far from glamorous. Just ask Garrett Temple, the star of the Charles Barkley TNT segment “Who He Play For?”
Every year, Barkley is given a random selection of bench players and asked, “Who He Play For?” Temple has been featured on the segment in each of the last seven seasons, and Barkley is never able to correctly guess the team he is on. The 38-year-old has played for 12 teams over his 15-year career.
The South Bay Lakers, Los Angeles' G League team, begins their season on November 9.
Bronny is expected to play with LeBron against the Cleveland Cavaliers when the Lakers play them on Wednesday, October 30, per ClutchPoints' Anthony Irwin.
“The South Bay Lakers tip off their season Nov. 9, and sources confirm reports that Bronny will be there for that and spend the bulk of this season focusing on growing his game,” said Irwin. “Sources have indicated the likelihood is pretty high that he'll play alongside his father in Cleveland.”
For what it's worth, the team has expressed that they enjoy having Bronny around.
“The guys love having him around,” said a source close to the team. “He comes in, puts his work in, competes, and does everything he can to improve. It's all you can ask of a 55th pick.”
The 3-1 Lakers are tied for the early Pacific division lead with the Suns and are ranked No. 9 in the NBA Power Rankings recently released by ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel.