Bronny James has been turning heads ever since the public spat between his father, LeBron James, and ESPN’s “First Take” host Stephen A. Smith.
On Monday night, as the Los Angeles Lakers were hammered by the Orlando Magic, Bronny continued his stellar play in the G League, scoring a new career-high 39 points in South Bay’s 122-118 win over the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Fox Sports’ “First Things First” analyst Nick Wright is impressed not only by Bronny’s career game but how he responded to having a target on his back because of who his father is.
“He has had now close to 10 professional games better than any college game he had,” Wright said on “First Things First” on Tuesday. “I had been kind of harping on it you then crystallized it to chalking up his freshman year to the cardiac arrest. And I think that is exactly right. I also think it is incredibly impressive and noteworthy that LeBron’s interaction with Stephen A. [Smith] did put another target on Bronny.
“It wasn’t the reason for it, and I defended LeBron vociferously on the right to do that, but in that moment, Bronny was kind of flying under the radar for the first time in a while, and then he wasn’t. And the fact that Bronny responded to that by his best pro game and then trumped his best G league game with a legitimately excellent G league game is really impressive.”
Bronny’s Historic Run in G League
Last week, Bronny had his best NBA game with nearly half of the Lakers’ roster unavailable, including his father. The 20-year-old guard co-led the Lakers in scoring with his fellow rookie Dalton Knecht with a season-high 17 points against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Bronny also dished out a career-high five assists against the Bucks, who at some point had two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo defending him. He followed that up with his best game in the G League on an efficient 14-of-21 shooting with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals and a block in 38 minutes.
Bronny was also clutch, drilling two stepback 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that gave South Bay the lead and sparked their strong finish.
“I would just remind the audience of this. He is really young for the G League,” Wright continued. “Like the the NBA has more 19 and 20 year olds, then the G League, [Chris Broussard: with grown men trying to make a name for themselves] and so amongst the kids 20 or younger, he’s averaging the most points and it’s not on like, ‘Oh, he’s just chucking his his numbers and his efficiency.’ He’s [averaging] 22 five and five on 46/38/80 [shooting splits].”
‘Validating’ Lakers’ Decision
Bronny drew a lot of flak when the Lakers used their 55th selection on him despite his underwhelming one-and-done season at USC.
His college numbers (4.8 points on 36.6% shooting, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists) did not warrant a selection in the draft that prompted the nepotism criticism. But his rapid development in the pro level has silenced his earlier critics.
“He is 100%, validating the pick, and he is answering every call,” Wright said. “And I do think for the most scrutinized second round pick, ever. I don’t know you know what I mean, of my lifetime. I think it’s really impressive.”
At the rate he’s developing, Bronny is giving the Lakers great value out of the backend of the draft.
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