Lakers news: Bronny's rough night, Magic's relief efforts, All-Star reserves announced

You have to give the Los Angeles Lakers credit, because whatever you want to say about them, they're almost never boring. This week is no exception. Trade rumors are heating up with less than a week until the deadline, the Western Conference playoff race is tighter than ever, and to top it all off, the Lakers are dealing with an injury to All-Star center Anthony Davis, who is set to miss at least a week of action after suffering an abdominal strain early in Tuesday's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

We wrote on Wednesday about how L.A. can survive without their MVP candidate, and they got off to a good start by walloping the Washington Generals, er, Wizards, on Thursday night by a score of 134-96 that somehow wasn't even that close.

In this week's edition of Lakers news, we're covering Bronny James letting his first real NBA shot slip away, Magic Johnson's new job, and what Lakers made the All-Star Game.

Bronny James falls flat in his first extended run

Bronny James has been shuttling back and forth from the G League to the big leagues this year, but before this week, he hadn't gotten much of a chance to show his stuff on the big stage. That all changed on Tuesday night, though it didn't exactly go well for the rookie.

Bronny failed to score a point in 15 minutes as he went 0-5 from the field and 0-3 from three. He also turned the ball over three times and got beaten repeatedly by Tyrese Maxey, who in all fairness played so well in his 43-point effort that nobody else on the Lakers was able to stop him, either.

Bronny's dad did his best to keep the Lakers in the game, but even LeBron's 31 points weren't enough to make this game close. Philly actually led by 23 going into the fourth quarter, which allowed JJ Redick to put Bronny back in without fear that his rough night could hurt the team any further.

Redick admitted after the game that he may have put too much on Bronny's plate given that he had just been called up and this was a nationally televised game.

Thursday night's game was the perfect opportunity for Bronny to bounce back, as he was playing the Washington Wizards, who would struggle to make the NIT if they were a college team, and most of his minutes came when the game was well in hand.

Unfortunately for Bronny, this time didn't go much better than Tuesday. He did get in the scoring column with five points, but that was on one-for-six shooting. In better news, he also added two rebounds and two assists, and he didn't turn the ball over at all.

If there's anything good that can come out of Bronny's week, it's that maybe now he can settle more permanently in the G League for the rest of the season, where he's actually shown major improvement in the last couple of months. The Lakers don't need to force it anymore.

Magic Johnson to co-lead wildfire recovery efforts

It's a credit to Redick and the players that the Lakers have been playing well in the aftermath of the devastating California wildfires. Redick himself was among those who lost their homes in the blaze, and he's been very open about wanting his team to be a beacon to the community in these difficult times.

Redick's sons had an extensive memorabilia collection, and stars around the league have sought to replenish it in the past few weeks, with Victor Wembanyama and Steph Curry among those who gifted game-worn jerseys to the boys.

So many people have been displaced, and so much damage was done from the fires, that it will be years until Los Angeles is returned to any sense of normalcy. It will take strong leaders to direct such a massive effort, and on Wednesday, California governor Gavin Newsom appointed Lakers legend Magic Johnson, Dodgers chairman Mark Walter and Olympics organizer Casey Wasserman to lead the recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Johnson will be focusing on the Altadena neighborhood, which was one of the most heavily affected areas. Altadena is less than 20 miles from Crypto.com Arena and is, according to ESPN, a neighborhood that "has been a haven of Black families avoiding discriminatory housing practices elsewhere."

The Lakers organization has already done much to contribute to the recovery, as it has been holding donation drives for families in need at home games, while also using its practice center in El Segundo as a drive-thru donation center. The Lakers also joined a group of other L.A.-based sports teams to donate more than $8 million to relief efforts.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Dalton Knecht to represent the Lakers at All-Star weekend

The NBA has slowly been rolling out the list of players that will be playing in the newly revamped All-Star Game. Last week the starters were announced, with LeBron James joining Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic as starters in the West.

On Tuesday, the player pool for the Rising Stars game was announced, and again the purple and gold was accounted for as Dalton Knecht was announced as part of the rookie team.

The final pieces of the puzzle were announced on Thursday, and this time it was Anthony Davis holding it down for L.A., as he was announced as one of the West reserves. This gives the Lakers three participants in the festivities, which is tied with the Cavs, Celtics, Thunder, and Grizzlies for the most by any team.

This year's All-Star weekend will begin on February 14th and will look much different than in years past. In response to harsh criticism over the level of effort in recent years, this time the All-Stars will be divided into three teams of eight and will play a tournament to determine the winner. The fourth team will be the champion of the Rising Stars tournament.

NBA fans are split on whether this change will lead to a better product or not, but one thing is for sure — this can't be worse than the unwatchable mess we've watched lately.