LeBron James is taking the long-term view as son Bronny unofficially begins his NBA career this summer after being drafted by the Lakers in the second round of the 2024 draft.
“Just get his feet wet with the NBA,” LeBron said of his hopes for Bronny in an interview with ESPN. “The pace of the game, the speed of the game, the physicality of the game. But what he does in the California Classic and Summer League, it doesn’t matter if he plays well, and it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t play well. I just want him to continue to grow, practices, film sessions, his individual workouts.”
There may be more eyes on Bronny in this year’s Summer League than any other second-round pick, stemming from who his father is.
Some have questioned the pick and whether the 19-year-old — who underwhelmed at USC following a cardiac arrest incident last summer leading into his freshman year — deserved to be drafted.
The Lakers viewed Bronny worthy of the 55th overall pick, which certainly did not hurt their chances of retaining LeBron.
LeBron later agreed to a two-year, $101.35 million deal to stay in Los Angeles.
Now that he’s a pro, Bronny will have his chance to prove his standing among his peers this summer and show if he’s potentially ready to help as a rookie.
Bronny made his professional debut Saturday in the California Classic, scoring four points on 2-of-9 shooting, along with two rebounds, two assists and one steal in 22 minutes.
LeBron, while preparing for the Olympics, watched Bronny’s first basket, a layup, on his phone and proudly commented: “C’mon, man, that’s tough.”
“The atmosphere, it was more than I expected,” Bronny said after Saturday’s 108-94 loss to the Kings, according to the Associated Press. “It’s a big game for me, but I didn’t know the people of Golden State would come and rep for me, so that was pretty nice to see.”
He added: “Looking at my mistakes and looking at the things I did right is really good for me. But also just game by game growing that comfort in my playing my game, I feel like that’s a big part of why I come out here and get those reps in.”
Bronny missed Sunday’s game, the second of a back-to-back, due to trace swelling in his left knee, according to ESPN.
The Lakers next play in the California Classic on Wednesday against the Heat before the Summer League begins Friday in Las Vegas.
“You can’t take anything stat-wise from the California Classic and summer league and bring it to once the season starts. So the only thing that matters is him getting better and stacking days,” LeBron said, per ESPN.
“He missed a big part of the season last year because of the incident less than a year ago. So he’s behind as far as where he would have been if he would’ve played the full season obviously. But I think every day he said he’s getting better and better every day, so every day, every practice, every film session he feels like he’s getting better and better and that’s the only thing that matters.”