Bronny James played his first NBA preseason game Friday, but LeBron James didn’t even suit up to accompany his son when the Lakers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first of two games Los Angeles will play in the Coachella Valley.
Lakers coach JJ Redick decided to hold LeBron James out against the Timberwolves after three days of intense training camp. But LeBron, 39 and the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, will likely play Sunday against Phoenix, Bronny’s 20th birthday.
Bronny’s journey will not be the easiest for a rookie. In fact, no professional start is easy for a debutant, however, the weight that young James carries is greater than that of any player. The shadow of what his father did, does, or will do is almost impossible to match.
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Bronny LeBron scored his first basket with 56 seconds left in the game when he drove past his defender to make a left-footed layup. The move drew cheers from the fans, but his father, dressed in street clothes on the bench, didn’t even applaud.
Bronny finished with two points in a 124-107 loss to the Lakers. He missed his first five shots before converting a layup with 56.9 seconds left.
He had three blocks, a rebound, and an assist while playing the first half of the second quarter and a good part of the fourth.
Before they become the first father-son duo to play in the same NBA, Bronny got his first chance to play in the Lakers’ gold uniform in the second quarter when he stepped onto the court at Acrisure Arena outside Palm Springs.
Along with starting point guard D’Angelo Russell, Bronny was caught out on his first defensive possession, allowing Rob Dillingham to hit a three-pointer
Bronny’s pass was then intercepted by Nickeil Alexander-Walker at the other end, but the youngster stepped up and blocked the layup attempt.
” I liked what I saw from Bronny. He can do some things defensively with his size that are really identical, and I think he can become a very disturbing defender. Up front, he’s a different thing: He’s still trying to figure out who he is and that’s our job as a player development program: to develop him,” said the Lakers’ head coach at the end of the first preseason game.
Lots of work ahead for LeBron James’ son
Bronny James was a second-round draft pick of the Lakers and played with the team in the summer league in Las Vegas.
Bronny’s numbers and his role on the team will feed a large group of critics who believe that LeBron’s son has no place in the NBA and that he is only on the team because he is the son of the Lakers’ biggest star. He simply tries to isolate himself from all those negative comments. “I try to be myself every day, doing the things I love,” he says. “Since I was a kid, I try to keep up that routine of being myself and also taking time to disconnect from all the noise and everyone who thinks I shouldn’t be here while also going to the gym, working out, and showing what I’m capable of,” he says.
The 6-foot-2 guard is expected to play for the Lakers in the preseason before spending a significant portion of next season with the G League’s South Bay Lakers.
