Bronny James' Los Angeles Lakers journey has been rather uneventful so far, if we're being honest. There's a bright spot on the 20-year-old out of USC because he is LeBron James Jr.™, but he's not doing much. The G League results are steadily improving, but Bronny's exposure with the big-league squad has been limited.
He's averaging 1.4 points on .250/.231/.667 splits in 4.2 minutes. There's not much to talk about. He's a second-round pick on a patient development track with an established contender, so minutes are naturally hard to come by. Much has been made of whether James 'deserved' his draft position or is an 'actual NBA player.' He's averaging 13.4 points on 14.4 shots in the G League, which is not great, but we should probably table the hand-wringing about nepotism and whatnot for a couple years, until we know more about his career arc apart from his soon-to-retire father.
That won't happen, though. Bronny is an easy target for scrutiny and there's no way for him to avoid it, for reasons he cannot personally control. So, rather than being happy about a 20-year-old living his NBA dream a little more than a year removed from a life-threatening heart attack, we need to pick through his muted accomplishments with a fine-tooth comb.
On that front, the best thing Bronny can do right now is absorb knowledge from the stars and longtime NBA vets around him. Obviously, James has learned a thing or two from his dad over the years, but Luka Doncic's arrival presents an entirely new opportunity for Bronny to learn from a star guard. It seems like James Jr. is taking the right approach to that relationship.
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Bronny James praises Luka Doncic for being 'unpredictable' on the court
Some of us are are auditory learners. Some of us are visual learners. This goes all the way back to elementary school. It sure sounds like Bronny is the latter. When discussing what he has learned from Doncic's brief tenure to date, the rookie two-guard spoke glowingly about Doncic's singular skill level and "patience" on the court.
Asked Bronny post game about what he’s taken from his short time with Luka so far:
— Raj C. (@RajChipalu) February 23, 2025
“Just his patience. Just being able to be unpredictable. You never know what he’s going to do. That’s the best thing I’ve seen so far from. I just keep trying to pick up stuff from him” pic.twitter.com/6lUaob6mEs
James noted Doncic's knack for being "unpredictable," which has long been a calling card for the Slovenian superstar. What Doncic lacks in outlier athleticism, he makes up for with incredible creativity and body control.
Doncic is built like a snowplow — 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, with an ability to drive right through the chest of smaller defenders. He's a complete handful to defend, even without blowing by folks or jumping over them. In addition to his strength, Doncic can change speed and direction seemingly at random. That allows him to get his defenders off-balance. Once Doncic has the advantage, he can leverage his strength and finesse as a driver, or flow effortlessly into his pull-up jumper.
It's fair to say Bronny will never operate on Doncic's level. He's not really a point guard by trade, and the natural touch that makes Doncic such a deadly scorer is absent from Bronny's repertoire. Still, as a 6-foot-3 guard who probably needs to become more of an on-ball threat to stick in the NBA, James can learn a lot from Doncic's off-beat, at times dizzying ball-handling cadences. If you aren't winning with sheer quickness or size, you need to find other ways to negate the defense and create advantages. Doncic does so with sheer craft.
If Bronny can siphon even a fraction of Doncic's game onto his own, the chances of him sticking around the NBA for a while skyrocket.