In case you haven’t heard, Lakers guard Bronny James has been lighting up the G League. On February 22, Bronny finished with 24 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block in the South Bay Lakers’ 118-98 win over the Valley Suns. More impressively, he shot 10-of-16 from the floor, including four made threes.
It was the latest example of Bronny putting forth an impressive performance in the NBA’s developmental league, following a 28-point effort on February 7, and a career-high 31-point outburst against the Rip City Remix on January 25. Overall, Bronny is averaging 22.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists from six G League starts (not including the tip-off tournament) at respectable 45/42/78 shooting splits.
So, who does Bronny credit for his turnaround? The obvious answer would be his father, LeBron James. However, Bronny has credited Luka Doncic, the newest Laker, for teaching him how to be patient with his in-game decision-making.
The Luka Doncic Effect
“Just his patience and being able to be, like, unpredictable,” Bronny told Raj Chipalu of ClutchPoints on lessons he’s learned from Doncic. “That’s the thing I’ve watched the most about him. You never know what he’s going to do. I think that’s the best thing I’ve seen so far from him. I keep trying to pick up stuff from him.”
While Bronny has yet to enjoy a breakout game in the NBA, he’s making gradual strides. In the final game before the All-Star break, the 20-year-old scored a career-high nine points in just eight minutes of action against the Jazz. After the game, LeBron said he was very pleased with his son’s rapid development.
“As parents, you say all these things and sometimes it can become annoying to your kids,” James said. “I’m still going to give him words of advice but also show him by example.”
Bronny James Proving Doubters Wrong
Through his G League performances, Bronny has seemingly shut down a lot of the naysayers who said he wasn’t good enough to turn pro. Among those critics was University of Wisconsin–Green Bay head coach Doug Gottlieb.
Through a social media post in July 2021, Gottlieb said Bronny would struggle to start on a team of high-schoolers and seniors at Green Bay, let alone an NBA team.
“He would compete to start, but while I like how he moves the ball and defends, he wouldn’t be my point, and my wings are bigger and without seeing him w/us, I think it would be hard for him to start TBH,” he wrote on X.
Speaking on “The Doug Gottlieb Show” in July 2024, the Fox Sports analyst ripped the Lakers for wasting the No. 55 pick on Bronny.
Once again in November 2024, Gottlieb criticized the Lakers for holding Bronny out of G League away games.
“How is he supposed to develop this way? Congrats on the photo opp in game 1, but this goes counter to any legitimate plan on development,” Gottlieb said.
James recently fired back at Gottlieb by mocking the latter’s coaching record at Green Bay.
https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1891540489859420610
In response, Gottlieb blasted James for “punching down” to him.
“I don’t think it speaks well for somebody who — like, don’t you have the day off?” Gottlieb said of James, via USA Today. “Don’t you have better things to do? My response is: Colin [Cowherd] told me a long time ago, ‘Don’t punch down. Always punch up.’ So me talking trash to him would technically be punching up. And him, it’s punching down. So I don’t know. I guess pettiness and insecurity aren’t limited to just people who aren’t super successful in their field. I guess that would be my response.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Bronny James Credits Lakers Star (Not LeBron) For G League Success appeared first on Heavy Sports.