NBA legend Dwyane Wade did not mince words when discussing the Los Angeles Lakers‘ championship chances and their G League experiment with Bronny James, the son of his former teammate, LeBron James.
“I would love to see LeBron continue to play at the level he wants to play at and I actually want to see him and Bronny do their thing,” Wade said on his podcast “The Why with Dwyane Wade,” which dropped on December 20. “Like honestly, bring Bronny up like we want to see that.
“I think Paul Pierce said recently, like I want to see Bron and Bronny like a lob. I tune in to the Lakers to see that this season. As a fan of the game, I’m not looking at the Lakers, saying they’re going to win a championship.”
After Wade’s comments, the Lakers won their third straight game and second straight against the Sacramento Kings to climb up to fifth place in the Western Conference with their 16-12 record.
They did this while Bronny exploded in the G League with the South Bay Lakers.
Bronny had three straight double-digit scoring, including a career-high 30-point performance last week, before he was held to six points in his final game in the G League Winter Showcase in Orlando.
“We want to see Bronny like this this is not a championship team,” Wade reiterated. “It’s not a championship roster at this point.”
JJ Redick’s Message to Bronny James on G League Assignment
It appears Bronny would remain in the G League for most of his rookie year after the Lakers initially planned to let him play only during South Bay’s home games.
Since he returned from a heel contusion that sidelined him for several weeks, Bronny has been allowed to play in South Bay’s road games and in the G League Winter Showcase in front of NBA executives and scouts.
Bronny has shown aggressiveness that wasn’t there during his tentative start in the G League. His strong showing lately has been encouraging as Lakers coach JJ Redick continued to challenge their 55th overall pick.
“He’s got to get to the point where it’s okay to fail,” Redick told reporters after the Lakers’ December 17 practice. “I think he has a real reservation to fail.
“And I think a lot of that is, he’s had a camera on him since he was eight years old… He’s had attention on him. I’m cognizant of that. I think once he develops that, he’s going to take off.”
Bronny’s progression isn’t linear. He crashed back to earth in South Bay’s 120-104 win over the Osceola Magic with an uneven performance: six points, four rebounds, seven assists against six turnovers.
“Part of player development is not just the physical skills, and the physical development, but it is the mental development as well,” Redick continued.
Lakers’ Defense Rises to the Top With Max Christie
Wade may not see a championship contender in this current Lakers roster, but they have shown some signs of life that they may have a puncher’s chance to contend following Redick’s recent key decision.
The Lakers have won four of their last five games to get back on their feet after a three-game skid. They did it with a strong defense, which coincided with Max Christie becoming their fifth starter.
The defensive-minded Christie’s size helped address the Lakers’ most glaring issue earlier in the season — their point-of-attack defense.
With the 6-foot-5 Christie, who boasts a 6-foot-9 wingspan as a starter next to Austin Reaves in the backcourt, the Lakers owned the best defensive rating in the league, allowing only 99.2 points per 100 possessions, per NBA advanced stats.
The 21-year-old Christie is averaging 7.8 points while shooting 42.9% from the 3-point line with 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals since he became a starter five games ago. He’s becoming the 3-and-D wing the Lakers have covet in the trade market.
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