{"id":112748,"date":"2024-12-17T15:45:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T20:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=112748"},"modified":"2024-12-17T15:45:32","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T20:45:32","slug":"lakers-lebron-james-bronny-g-league-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/17\/lakers-lebron-james-bronny-g-league-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers\u2019 LeBron James Opens Up About Bronny\u2019s G League Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesbr02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bronny James<\/a> remains on G League assignment as the organization continues to work on his game. With the G League Winter Showcase just around the corner, this means the No. 55 pick will get to play in the annual event.<\/p>\n<h2>Lakers\u2019 LeBron James Opens Up About Bronny James\u2019s G League Games<\/h2>\n<p>In a brief statement given to ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin, Lakers gigastar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> spoke on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/43025239\/bronny-james-play-g-league-showcase\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">his son\u2019s developmental journey<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust keep stacking the days, keep putting in the work,&#8221; James says. \u201cThe work always prevails at the end of the day. It&#8217;s just great to see him getting back into the flow, getting back to his game, getting back to him just playing free and going out and just playing the game that he loves and knows how to play. I loved his aggressiveness.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The younger James has caught his stride in his last three G League outings, averaging 20.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game on 43.1 percent shooting from the field. He\u2019s still trying to find his range, as he\u2019s converted just 26.3 percent of his threes in that span. However, he\u2019s clearly turned a corner with his comfort and confidence.<\/p>\n<p>With that being said, it\u2019s easier to believe in one\u2019s ability when shots are starting to fall. When the work that\u2019s been put in behind the scenes manifests itself in games that count towards a win-loss record, not just practice, a player can start to see a brighter future. James has seen that chink of light and nor he\u2019s running towards it. He\u2019s dunking through it.<\/p>\n<p>As his father says, he\u2019s been aggressive.<\/p>\n<h3>Nepotism Or Not\u2026<\/h3>\n<p>Frankly, if there was a nondescript rookie selected 55th overall, he wouldn\u2019t be given this much attention. Yet, if that player had a blistering stretch that included a 30-point performance, it would still be a head-turner. Taking that tact when assessing James\u2019s recent games may be best, especially for those who believe he\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/13\/nepotism-isnt-the-problem-with-lakers-plan-for-bronny-james\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the beneficiary of nepotism<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When considering that James is now 18 months removed from a near death experience, it adds a sentimental element to his evaluation. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/07\/25\/bronny-james-collapses-on-court-but-recovers-after-cardiac-arrest-scare\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">his cardiac arrest<\/a> isn\u2019t just a reason to root for his success. It could be at the root of why he hadn\u2019t looked like the player who turned heads just before his commitment to USC.<\/p>\n<h3>Not Just Circadian Rhythm<\/h3>\n<p>When he was forced to step away from basketball, his on-court rhythm was effected, not just <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/16\/lakers-bronny-james-airs-anxieties-caused-by-heart-condition\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">his circadian rhythm<\/a>. This led to rust and that led to a slow start. His slow start all but forced former USC head coach Andy Enfield to give him a simplified role. By the time his freshman season ended, James had displayed flashes but not consistency.<\/p>\n<p>So, after <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/21\/2024-nba-draft-bronny-james-reveals-reason-for-going-pro\/\" target=\"_self\">deciding to declare<\/a> for the 2024 NBA Draft, James was thought of as a 3-and-D prospect. He might have even started to believe that\u2019s what his best role himself based on his shot-selection. However, James\u2019s recent G League performances coincide with him being on the ball more. When operating as an attacking guard, his first step and slithery shot-creation stand out as tools he can build around.<\/p>\n<p>Had he been relegated to a primarily off-ball role, he might not have discovered that this soon.<\/p>\n<h3>Better Than 55th?<\/h3>\n<p>James still has plenty to work on, particularly offensively. Regardless, his newfound aggressiveness and craftiness has <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/13\/lakers-bronny-james-career-games-alter-trajectory\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">altered his career trajectory<\/a>. Whether he can break into the Lakers\u2019 rotation before the season remains to be seen. However, he\u2019s starting to look like a player who could legitimately help Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>If so, some of the next storylines about James could be about how he\u2019s outplayed his draft position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Bronny James remains on G League assignment as the organization continues to work on his game. With the G League Winter Showcase just around the corner, this means the No. 55 pick will get to play in the annual event. Lakers\u2019 LeBron James Opens Up About Bronny James\u2019s G League [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":112763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1608,62,556],"tags":[4572,38,98,1332],"class_list":["post-112748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-bronny-james","tag-lebron-james","tag-nba-draft","tag-nba-g-league"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112748"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112767,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112748\/revisions\/112767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}