There was a lot of attention given to Bronny James, son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, as he navigated his rookie season in the NBA. Of course, they were the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA, though not the first in sports as Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. teamed together in MLB for the Seattle Mariners.
In fact, the Griffeys were at Crypto.com Arena on Opening Night to witness NBA history being made and even took some time prior to the contest to talk with LeBron and Bronny. Though the situations aren’t quite equal, Ken Griffey Jr. does have some insight into what Bronny is experiencing.
Griffey also has thoughts on the best way for Bronny to grow and develop in his basketball career. In an interview on Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson, Griffey revealed what he told Bronny prior to Opening Night, while also adding that he learned more from just watching his father and thinks the same could be the case for James watching LeBron on the Lakers:
“I did tell Bronny to just relax, enjoy it, be you. You are not gonna be him. Nobody is him. When I got there, my dad told me that this is your team, I am just here. And he was dad at the house and teammate at the ballpark. But like I said, there were times that I rode home with Mom. It was much safer… You’re gonna learn a lot by being able to sit there and be on the bench watching him. People say he needs to be in the G League and he needs this and that. I’ll tell you what, I learned more sitting there watching my dad than anything.”
There is certainly a lot that can be gained from being with the main Lakers roster, practicing with and watching arguably the greatest basketball player ever. Bronny also gained valuable in-game experience while playing in the G League during his rookie season, developing his game to prove he is worthy of being a second round draft pick.
Bronny James working on on-ball game since Summer League
Bronny James showed that development when he has a very strong Summer League for the Lakers. Coming out of that, he revealed what aspect of his game he would continue to work on to earn a rotation spot in his second season.
“Keeping working on my game on ball, all the stuff off ball will just flow,” he said. “But if I’m consistently confident in bringing the ball up, knowing my role and being able to play the 1 when it’s needed, I think I’ll be good. Because I don’t really have any problem playing off the ball if I need to. So just getting those reps over and over again of me having the ball in my hand most of the time is really good for my development.”
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