It may be only four games into Bronny James’ professional career, but he’s already receiving applause from some of the NBA’s best.
On the heels of a 13-point performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers in which he added five rebounds, three assists and two blocks, James was lauded on X by Thunder center Chet Holmgren.
“Looked like a total pro” Holmgren wrote in response to a tweet summarizing James’ outing.
James, who played just one year with USC before entering the NBA draft, churned out several highlights from the game, including a slick step-back 3.
The 55th overall selection has been up and down throughout his limited Summer League tenure, although he’s now stacked two encouraging games in a row.
On Wednesday against the Hawks, James totaled 12 points, one rebound and one steal.
During his first two games, James mustered only 10 points on 3-of-19 shooting.
During James’ second Summer League game against the Boston Celtics, star forward Jaylen Brown was revealed to seemingly rip James and his skillset.
While Brown later clarified his remarks on social media, the ripple effects of his perceived opinion carried over into Thursday.
When asked by a fan if he was clapping back at Brown when praising James, Holmgren responded “No.”
The 22-year-old center previously leveraged his own Summer League play into a fabulous rookie season in which he tallied 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 blocks per game, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama.
Holmgrem formed a vaunted trio with MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams in Oklahoma City, propelling the Thunder to the best record in the Western Conference before being eliminated by the Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs.
Prior to his first healthy year, Holmgren — who was sidelined for all of 2022-23 due to a broken foot — played in two Summer League matchups, averaging 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3.5 blocks per game.
James and the Summer League Lakers will next battle first-round pick Matas Buzelis and the Bulls on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.