When the Los Angeles Lakers spent a second round draft pick on Bronny James, the eldest son of LeBron James, the selection was met with a lot of criticism.
Many people felt Bronny wasn’t ready for the NBA after playing minimal minutes in his lone season at USC after suffering cardiac arrest.
During his rookie season though, James proved a lot of those doubters wrong as he has made steady improvements to the point where a future in the NBA as a rotation player is a legitimate possibility.
Bronny didn’t play much with the Lakers outside of garbage time but made huge strides in the G League. After the team’s regular season finale in which James made his first start, he discussed those strides he made during his rookie season, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I thought I got better. I thought I grew as a player and a person. More work to be done. I feel like my progression has been slow, but getting better every day.”
Considering he didn’t get many reps in the NBA, the G League served as a valuable resource for Bronny and he talked about how the time he spent with the South Bay Lakers benefitted him:
“The reps. Just getting some games under my belt and not just sitting and watching. Just being able to go out there and play my game.”
Even though the regular season has come to a close, James has not yet reflected on his rookie season and everything he went through on and off the court:
“Not really. Like you said, I’ve been in the mix of it. But I feel like I have taken some steps in the right direction and I’m looking forward to doing that in the years to come. I feel like I’ve been doing better.”
For a late second round pick like Bronny, teams are just hoping they can show flashes to prove they are on their way to being an NBA player. That’s exactly what James displayed during his rookie season, and now he will have a big offseason coming up as he looks to continue getting better.
Markieff Morris believes Bronny James has bright future
Lakers veteran Markieff Morris has had the chance to be around Bronny James since joining the team and believes the rookie has a bright future in the NBA.
“He’s a hard worker,” Morris recently said of Bronny. “We play stay-ready a lot and he shows that he’s working on his game. He’s getting better day by day. Proud of him just to go out there and make a name for himself. I think he’s a great player and he’s got a great future.”
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