Bronny James had his most impressive game of the Summer League on Wednesday evening against the Atlanta Hawks, scoring relatively efficiently and hitting a late three pointer to give Los Angeles the lead in a game they ultimately won. It had to feel good for Bronny, son of Lakers star and NBA legend LeBron James, who has been under intense media scrutiny ever since he threw his name into the NBA Draft ring a few months ago and was then selected by Los Angeles with the 55th overall pick.
Prior to Wednesday, things had unfortunately been a major struggle for Bronny, as the former USC Trojan had yet to hit a three pointer on double digit attempts and was also showing that his defensive prowess may not have been quite as good as advertised. During a recent summer league game against the Celtics, Boston star Jaylen Brown–who was in attendance courtside–was caught by ESPN cameras apparently saying that he didn't think Bronny was “a pro,” to which the people around him agreed.
However, now, an old statistic has emerged from the start of Brown's summer league stint with the Celtics in 2016, revealing that he actually got off to an even worse start than Bronny has so far this year.
According to Basketball Forever on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter, Bronny started the Summer League six for his first 26 attempts from the field. Brown, meanwhile, made just five of his 26 attempts from the field to open up his stint, meaning he actually shot worse from the field.
Does this mean that Bronny James will one day become the Final MVP and lead his team to a championship like Brown just did with the Celtics? Not at all. But it does mean that taking too much stock in summer league isn't necessarily the wisest thing to do if recent history is any indication. Many current NBA stars, including Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, as well as Brown, struggled mightily to open up summer league play and ended up transitioning just fine to the next level.
Will Bronny James see the floor in year one?
Probably not a whole lot. At the present moment, Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell, Max Christie, Cam Reddish, Maxwell Lewis, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and Gabe Vincent would all appear to be ahead of Bronny James on JJ Redick's depth chart, and as the summer league struggles continue to mount, it would be more and more difficult for Redick to justify letting him play, despite the constant pressures that are undoubtedly going to be put on him by the media, fans, and perhaps even LeBron James himself to do so.
The more likely scenario is that Bronny spends most of the season in the G League to hone his skills before perhaps becoming ready to contribute at the NBA level in the next two or three years if he is able to show improvement.
In any case, the 2024-25 season is set to get underway in October.
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