Bronny James may never be able to escape accusations of nepotism after the Los Angeles Lakers took him with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. He was a 6-foot-2, 19-year-old guard who had played just 483 minutes of college basketball, averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. But he was the son of LeBron James and so, naturally, he became a member of the Lakers.
His rookie season didn't do much to change the narrative. Bronny clearly wasn't ready to make an impact in the NBA, playing just 181 minutes and shooting 31.3 percent from the field and 28.1 percent from beyond the arc in garbage time.
But if those data points were all you used to project the arc of his career onto his second season, you're missing a big part of the picture.
Bronny's college numbers were modest because he suffered a cardiac event before his freshman year began, causing him to miss a good portion of the season. He was projected as a late first-round pick going into that year based on his physical abilities and high school performance. And while he struggled in his limited NBA minutes last season, he looked fantastic in the G League — 21.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game, shooting 38.0 percent from beyond the arc.
And now he's carrying that momentum forward, making plays in Summer League.
Bronny James looks like an actual NBA player
He got off to a slow start in the two games of the California Classic Summer League but Bronny has looked impressive in Las Vegas, particularly in his last two games where's totaled 31 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block in just over 48 minutes, shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
Defense will continue to be his calling card, something he acknowledged to reporters early in Summer League:
“It’s definitely made me think about being more aggressive on that end of the floor, but I can’t lose that defensive drive that will get me on the floor because there’s gonna be guys that can score 15, 20 a game ... I’m most likely not going to be that guy right now. To get myself on the floor, I’ve got to be a defensive menace."
Chasing a championship is going to make it hard for Bronny to earn big minutes this year, but there is a legitimate need for perimeter defense on the Lakers roster. He can deliver at that end, he just needs to make open shots, avoid mistakes with the ball and finish efficiently enough to stay on the floor. And doing all of those things in a complementary role next to his dad and Luka Dončić should be a lot easier than doing it in a lead role on this Summer League roster.
The expectations will be high, and the criticism will come quickly anytime he struggles. But Bronny looks much more ready for actual NBA minutes than he did last season, and that means a lot for his future and that of the Lakers.