Bronny James and his father, LeBron James, made history on opening night as the first-ever father/son duo to play together in an NBA game. Since then, JJ Redick has managed to find more unnecessary minutes for Bronny in three more games, he even scored a bucket (where he was born, in Cleveland).
However, the game was always for him to spend most of this season in the G-League — Bronny is a developmental project and needs the amount of time on the field and attention he can get at this level. It will begin this weekend when the Lakers assign Bronny to the South Bay Lakers, the team’s G-League affiliate, a story first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania. Bronny will be on the bench for the Lakers Friday night at home against the 76ers then will play for the South Bay Lakers on Saturday.
At least through the start of the G-League season, Bronny will only play for the South Bay Lakers when they are at home, and will not travel with the team. according to Charania. He will likely move back and forth between teams, training more with the G-League team in the coming weeks. After Saturday’s game, South Bay won’t play at home again until the following Sunday (November 17), but the Lakers will host the Grizzlies at that time (November 13) – in a somewhat spiteful match – and Bronny could be on the Laker bench for this game. He will shuttle up and down.
This is what Bronny needs. It was no secret when the Lakers drafted him that Bronny is not an NBA level player right now, he is a developmental project who needs to work on his shooting (1 of 6 during his NBA minutes , for example), his handle, and even the defensive end of the court which is considered his strength – guarding the biggest and fastest players in the NBA has been a challenge for him thus far. He has NBA potential, it will always take time for him to manifest, it is part of this process and it will be for this season and, most likely, for next season as well.
Lakers Nation isn’t exactly known for its patience, but they’ll have to find it with Bronny. His time in the G-League is good for him and for the Lakers.
