Bronny James' first NBA start went exactly how anyone with common sense expected

Bronny James finally started his first NBA game on the last day of the regular season and it went about as well as could be expected. The Los Angeles Lakers closed out the regular season against the lottery bound Portland Trail Blazers, falling in defeat, 109-81.

In a game where LeBron James and Luka Dončić sat in preparation for the postseason, Bronny stepped into a starting role and logged 38 minutes.

Bronny James struggled but had some bright spots in his first NBA start

That dunk was one of the few highlights of the game for Bronny as he scored just four points on 2 of 10 from the field, although he did have six assists and four steals on the flip side. So, while it wasn’t all bad for the junior James on Sunday, it’s hard to say what we saw was good. This isn’t meant to bash James (we saw what happened to Stephen A. Smith) but his first start for the Lakers was pretty much by the numbers.

Other than his pappy, you probably won’t find too many people who thought Bronny would do much more than what he did against the Blazers. The Lakers basically phoned this one in, as they’d already wrapped up the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. LA will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round this year.

Bronny finished the regular season having appeared in 27 games for a grand total of 121 minutes. His numbers were decent if prorated to per-36 minutes — 12.3 points, 4.4 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals — but he played almost exclusively in garbage time and shot just 31.3 percent from the floor and 28.1 percent from beyond the arc. He was much more impactful in his G League experience, appearing in 11 games and averaging 21.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.9 steals, shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 38.0 percent from beyond the arc.

Regardless of the outcome, it was the perfect time for James to get some run, as the season ended in a game that meant nothing to the Lakers. Knowing this, it’s likely the last time we’ll see Bronny on the court until next season. Playoff minutes are too valuable unless it’s garbage time in a blowout scenario. It’s hard to picture Bronny on the court in the postseason when games matter most.