The Lakers are starting to look like geniuses for selecting Bronny James with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. After a sluggish start to both his NBA and G League careers, the son of LeBron James is starting to hit his stride, proving why he was one of the top-scouted players in high school before going to USC.
On March 24, Bronny scored a career-high 39 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block in the South Bay Lakers’ 122-118 victory over the Santa Cruz Warriors. The game marked the third time Bronny scored at least 30 points in his rookie campaign. In the process, he made history by becoming the youngest player in the G League to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Bronny James Proving He Belongs
The 39-point outburst came less than a week after Bronny scored an NBA career-high 17 points against the Milwaukee Bucks. During that game, Bronny made more history by equalling the legendary Magic Johnson as the first Lakers rookie to notch 17 points and five assists at 70% shooting.
After that outing, the son of LeBron James said that he was starting to regain his confidence for the first time since enduring a cardiac arrest in college.
When asked how he had dealt with the constant scrutiny from the media due to his famous last time, Bronny credited his Lakers coaches and mentors for keeping him levelheaded.
Lakers Guard Blocked Out The Critics
“Just putting my head down and working. I feel like that’s the only thing that I can control right now is going in every day and staying ready to play, staying ready to learn, getting the work in after hours, early mornings, stuff like that. Just all the controllables that I can do myself,” Bronny said after his 17-point outing against the Bucks.
“There’s not really much I can do [about] people, random people, talking about me every day. Can’t really do much about that, so I just go in the gym and work, put my head down and try to get better.”
Elsewhere, Lakers head coach JJ Redick said he’s not surprised to see his rookie starting to turn his career around in real time. Redick labeled Bronny as a “developmental player” shortly after the Lakers drafted him, but always believed that James Jr. could turn into a quality player on the pros.
“Since Day 1, I’ve just been impressed with the person that he is,” Redick said of Bronny, via LA Times. “And to deal with, frankly bull—, because of who his dad is and just keep a level head about it and be a class act says a lot about him, says a lot about that family. And the way LeBron and Savannah have raised him was obvious to me from the moment I started spending time with him on the court this summer.”
Bronny James has logged 22.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 10 games for South Bay. Those are impressive numbers for a 20-year-old developmental player.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Bronny James Makes History With 39-Point Outburst appeared first on Heavy Sports.