Heading into this year’s playoffs, Bronny James became an unexpected rotation player for the Los Angeles Lakers. Given the injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, head coach JJ Redick needed a reserve guard to step up.
James only played spot minutes, but in Game 3 against the Houston Rockets, he recorded his first playoff points. Playing in a postseason setting is a massive morale boost for a young player and he discussed what he learned by doing so.
“That I can play at a higher level,” James said after the Lakers were eliminated. “That’s what I wanted to prove over the past couple years and I as able to do that this year more than I was last year. It was a good year for me and I felt good about it.”
Additionally, his father, LeBron James, threw him an alley-oop in transition and it was in the midst of a Lakers run. After another historic father-son moment, this time in the playoffs, Bronny talked about how much he enjoyed sharing that moment with LeBron.
“It was great,” the former USC Trojan said. “Playoff experience in general, I wasn’t able to play in March in college, so it’s a step ahead of that and to be able to contribute and produce while doing it is amazing for me. It’s what I’ve always wanted.”
As he prepares for his third season, it will be a pivotal moment in Bronny’s young career as his fourth year is a team option. Unfortunately, the Lakers have struggled to find productive draft picks as of late, with Dalton Knecht as a recent example.
There remain areas of improvement for the 21-year-old as a ball handler and 3-point shooter. If Redick were to play him more substantial minutes next season, there needs to be significant growth in those departments.
By playing in the playoffs, he got a taste of what it takes to compete at that level and presumably will motivate him to improve. Cost-controlled assets like draft picks are extremely valuable in today’s CBA and no one would complain if Bronny materializes into a rotation player at $2.2 million.
Bronny James has ‘no clue’ about future of LeBron James
An important offseason looms for the Lakers with one of those decisions being LeBron as an unrestricted free agent. During these latter stages of his career, LeBron likes to take a considerable amount of time away to ponder his basketball future.
Conversations with family play a vital role and Bronny was blunt in saying he has ‘no clue’ about what his father will do, whether he remains a Laker, plays elsewhere, or retires.
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