If you follow any level of basketball, there are two names you have undoubtedly heard over the last few months at the professional level -- Bronny James and Caitlin Clark. James is looking to follow into his father's footsteps, and Caitlin Clark brought in quite the audience for women's college basketball with her Step Curry-like talents. We saw WNBA viewing numbers jump drastically when Clark entered the league, now Bronny seems to already have that same effect.
Heading into the NBA draft, questions swirled regarding James. Should he go back to college? Will someone take him in hopes of signing his father in free agency? Could he go undrafted and be signed as a UDFA?
Ultimately, the Los Angeles Lakers took it upon themselves to unite him with LeBron by selecting Bronny with the 55th-overall pick.
Bronny James brings viewership records to NBA Summer League
On Saturday, July 6, the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Sacramento Kings in the NBA California Summer League. This was the first NBA level appearance by James. Bronny only spent one season in college at USC and averaged 4.8 points a game to go along with 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
Whether it was due to his underwhelming college experience or just because he is the son of arguably the best basketball player to ever live, fans wanted to see what Bronny brought to the court. This game averaged 534,000 viewers on ESPN, which turned out to be the largest audience for a Summer League game that was not in Las Vegas.
With an abundance of eyes on him, James proceeded to score four points on 2-of-9 shooting, collect two rebounds, two assists and a steal in 21 minutes of court time. Bronny essentially matched his college averages in this game, but what stood out was his comfort on the court. Regardless of the stat line, Bronny had no problem getting to the spot he wanted and taking shots.
While the numbers are not so appealing, a lot of his missed shots are what shooters would call good misses. There were numerous times the ball just hit the back iron and bounced straight out, proving that Bronny's release point is there. Now,he just needs more touch and experience.
That should come in more summer league games, and perhaps in the G-league should he earn a spot.