The last couple of weeks have been a bright spot in the progression of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James. With a spotlight on him like no other, the son of LeBron James has faced a ton of scrutiny so far this season, but has shown some serious flashes in his recent performances for the South Bay Lakers of the G League.
The highlight was a 30-point performance in his first road game for South Bay and overall Bronny is showing some of that potential that head coach JJ Redick and the Lakers spoke of when he was drafted. And Redick recently spoke about what he is seeing in terms of Bronny’s development.
“I think where I see on-court progress is his decision-making with the basketball, the on-ball decisions both as a scorer and a playmaker,” Redick said after Lakers practice on Tuesday. “We’re continuing to see the flashes of what we’re really excited about.
“I think what we’ve kind of stressed with him throughout the summer, preseason and early in the season is getting himself into elite shape so he can be a high-level impact player on the defensive end. And then he has the heel injury and has to lose some of that momentum. [But] we’re excited about what he’s done over the last two games and looking forward to see what he does in the lineup.”
An injury can always throw a wrench into anything, but Bronny has bounced back with his best performances of the year and now the hope is that he can continue to build off it. Redick also wants to see Bronny continue to play more aggressive and broke down how he plans to teach that to the young guard.
“There’s got to be a care. Something that we’ve talked about with the group in Atlanta,” Redick added. “Being in a tough situation where a lot of guys are hurt, some guys are away from the team, it’s hard to, it’s not a punishment, you’re either gonna do the things we’re asking you to do and you’re gonna play, or you’re not gonna do those things and you’re not gonna play. It’s very simple and that’s just the way I’m gonna coach the basketball team going forward.
“So I think with Bronny, we envision for him to be able to play and impact winning, he’s gotta be able to do those baseline things. No different than Max Christie or Dalton (Knecht). And if you do those things, you will be rewarded with playing time… The development process, if you’re clear with what you want and you’re doing those things that we ask, you’re going to get rewarded. So that’s in some ways how you teach him, if that makes sense.”
Communication is key and as Redick noted, if you are clear in what you expect then a player can be rewarded for following through. Keeping up that aggression is easier said than done, however, and Redick added that Bronny is still too afraid to fail right now and needs to get past that mental hurdle.
“He’s got to get to the point where it’s OK to fail,” Redick said. “I think he has a real reservation to fail. I think a lot of that is he’s had a camera on him since when he was 8 years old. I can’t, I can’t imagine [my sons] Knox and Kai having cameras at their rec league games. I think once he develops that, he’s gonna take off, like literally take off. He will do anything he’s asked to do. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. It’s just really part of player development, not just the physical skills and the physical development, but it’s the mental development as well.”
It is these things that are not often thought about but can have such an effect. Bronny is still so young, but there are tools there and he is beginning to show them.
Bronny James to play for South Bay Lakers in G League Showcase
Bronny James will have the opportunity to show off his development on the biggest stage the G League has to offer as he will be playing for the South Bay Lakers in the upcoming G League Showcase.
The decision was a joint one between the Lakers organization and Bronny’s representatives, but the stage is set for him to silence a lot of his doubters with more strong performances.
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