{"id":168278,"date":"2025-11-28T16:27:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=168278"},"modified":"2025-11-28T16:27:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:27:16","slug":"lebron-on-bronny-james-nba-development-walk-through-the-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/11\/28\/lebron-on-bronny-james-nba-development-walk-through-the-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron on Bronny\u2019s NBA Development: \u2018Walk Through the Fire\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mounting injuries to the <\/span>Lakers<\/span><\/a> have meant an increased opportunity for <\/span>Bronny James<\/span><\/a> to prove himself beyond being in his father\u2019s shadow. <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a> recently shed light on his eldest son\u2019s development in the league, guiding him as best he can while allowing him to carve his own path.<\/span><\/p>\n

LeBron on Bronny\u2019s NBA Development: \u2018Walk Through the Fire\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n

While discussing the Lakers\u2019 season to this point on <\/span>\u201cMind the Game,\u201d<\/span><\/a> co-host and Hall of Famer <\/span>Steve Nash<\/span><\/a> asked LeBron what he has thought of Bronny\u2019s development. James replied:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s been great. You know, not only as a father, but just as a student of the game. To see someone kind of use what he was able to do last year in the G-League, use that, get more comfortable, then go into summer league and be even more comfortable. And when his time has been called this year, just continue to feel good about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think \u2026 for a young player, the more and more time that you get, the better you get, the more and more of the nuances you get. You get better with the speed, you get better with the strength, you get better with everything.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Nov
Nov 15, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James Jr. (9) passes the ball away during the first quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

James was particularly proud of how Bronny handled a back-to-back stretch against the Miami Heat (Nov. 2) and Portland Trail Blazers (Nov. 3). In that game against Portland, <\/span>James Jr.<\/span><\/a> had five points but tied a career-high six assists.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was just super proud of him, of the maturation process of him, to not only play well at home and then have a back-to-back in a tough environment in Portland and then do it again. That’s what the NBA is all about. Not only \u2018What have you done for me lately? Can you do a back-to-back?\u2019 So that was pretty cool.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

LeBron\u2019s Balancing Act<\/b><\/h3>\n

When Nash pondered how LeBron balances roles as a father and team leader, James acknowledged the \u201cfine line\u201d he walks in those regards.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we’re in practice and in games and things of that nature, you know, it’s the leadership. It’s, you know, me being I’m one of the guys and one of the leaders of the team. But we have our side time where I can tell him about what I’ve seen, what I saw.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I just want him to\u2014he has to walk his own journey, and I can give him the blueprint and I can give him some of the things that I’ve seen, but I want him to walk through the fire as well. It’s going to be the best teacher for him for him to be able to go through these experiences and come out the best way he knows how. So, I mean, he loves the game and that’s what’s most important and he loves the work, you know, and there’s no substitution for hard work. So, you know, that’s what it comes down to.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bronny May Have Golden Opportunity vs. Mavericks<\/b><\/h3>\n

Though Bronny\u2019s stats do not jump off the page\u20141.9 points and 1.7 assists across 11 games this season\u2014he has shown solid potential on both sides of the ball, hustling as an on-ball defender while sharing the wealth offensively. Stepping up amid injuries will only help his confidence and comfortability in the league, a chance he may have tonight ahead of a marquee matchup with the Dallas Mavericks.<\/span><\/p>\n

While <\/span>Deandre Ayton<\/span><\/a> has been upgraded to probable following a knee contusion, <\/span>Marcus Smart<\/span><\/a> is listed as <\/span>doubtful<\/span><\/a> due to back spasms, marking his third absence in LA\u2019s 17 games. With the Lakers\u2019 guard depth relatively thin, that could open the door for JJ Redick to call Bronny\u2019s number. As he\u2019s done throughout his young career, James Jr. will need to maximize his opportunity if it comes tonight, living up to the <\/span>\u201cdefensive menace\u201d<\/span><\/a> mentality he set out to have this season while making smart plays for himself and others.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The mounting injuries to the Lakers have meant an increased opportunity for Bronny James to prove himself beyond being in his father\u2019s shadow. LeBron James recently shed light on his eldest son\u2019s development in the league, guiding him as best he can while allowing him to carve his own path. LeBron on Bronny\u2019s NBA Development: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":168283,"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":[1608,26,62,3],"tags":[4572,2279,38],"class_list":["post-168278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-bronny-james","tag-jj-redick","tag-lebron-james"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168278","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\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168278"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168288,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168278\/revisions\/168288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}