Lakers Rumors: G League Plan For Bronny James

Daniel Starkand
4 Min Read
Oct 22, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) warms up before a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers announced that they have assigned Bronny James to the South Bay Lakers ahead of the G League season opener on Saturday.

This has been the plan all along as James is expected to split time between the Lakers and G League this season in order to get reps to develop his game.

Considering Bronny hardly played at USC last year and is not part of the Lakers’ rotation, the main way for him to work on things and develop during his rookie season will be with South Bay. Everyone is on board with this plan and it appears that it will start on Saturday when South Bay hosts the Salt Lake City Stars.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN though, James is likely to only play in South Bay’s home games this season in order to spend time with the parent team as well:

This is similar to how the Lakers handled Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis last season as they split time between the G League and parent team. Those two will likely do the same again this year, giving Bronny some valuable resources to get advice from as he navigates his rookie season.

South Bay Lakers head coach Zach Guthrie on conversations with Bronny James

Speaking at South Bay Lakers Media Day on Thursday, head coach Zach Guthrie gave some insight into his talk with Bronny about what this year will look like.

“The conversations with Bronny have been just like conversations with Maxwell and Jalen and Quincy, Armel and Christian. It’s the same thing. We’re a process-oriented group. So whenever that time comes for Bronny to be on the team, just like it is with Maxwell and Jalen, we want to be process-oriented and really focus on don’t worry about the results, don’t worry about what happens, can you do the things that I was just talking about that Jalen and Maxwell are doing? You have the institutional knowledge, you’ve been here all summer, you’ve been working your tail off, so let’s just lead, be a leader by example, play hard, play within the system, and do what you’ve done your whole career,” Guthrie said.

“Let’s just have fun and play basketball, that’s what all of these guys are doing. Embrace the process and enjoy the bigger opportunity you’ll have, but let’s not get lost in the results. Let’s just focus on the process. That’s what I’ve been talking to all of these guys about.”

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Daniel Starkand is a graduate from Chapman University with a degree in journalism and broadcast journalism. He grew up in Burbank, Calif. and played baseball at Burbank High and his first two years at Chapman. Along with serving as the managing editor for LakersNation.com, Daniel also serves as a senior writer, editor and social media manager for DodgerBlue.com Contact: daniel@mediumlargela.com
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