The Los Angeles Lakers took a ton of heat for draft Bronny James with the No. 55 pick in this past year’s NBA draft.
While many tabbed it as nothing more than a favor to LeBron James that would fail miserably, the former USC standout has begun to silence the doubters. The oldest son of LeBron James has been averaging over 20 points with the G League affiliate South Bay Lakers, and has also found some confidence with the Lakers.
However, the last couple of times we have seen Bronny, he has been nothing short of outstanding. He dropped an NBA career-high 17 points in 30 minutes of action against the Milwaukee Bucks last Thursday and exploded for 39 points with South Bay on Monday evening.
Even with his strong scoring outings, the Lakers opted to not have him join them on the first leg of their three-game road trip.
As revealed by The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, James will remain with the G League team while the Lakers head to Indiana to take on the Pacers.
While the Lakers likely won’t have him in the rotation anytime soon as they look to stay near the top of the standings, it is a bit shocking that he didn’t at least get rewarded with another chance to travel with the team.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James.
Brad Penner-Imagn Images
After a meeting with the Pacers on Wednesday, the Lakers will head to Chicago the next day, and then finish off the road trip in Memphis on Saturday.
As for South Bay, their next game is Tuesday evening against the Santa Cruz Warriors.