Bronny James is expected to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers through their upcoming five-game road trip. After that, however, the rookie will begin splitting time between the Lakers’ active roster and the team’s G League affiliate, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin.
James played three minutes in the Lakers’ season opener on Tuesday, giving fans and media what they wanted to see in taking the floor with his father, LeBron James. He shot 0-for-2 from the floor, including 0-for-1 from 3-point range, and grabbed one rebound.
The Lakers have two more home games — Friday versus the Phoenix Suns and Saturday against the Sacramento Kings — before opening their road trip on Monday in Phoenix. The five-game stretch from Oct. 28 through Nov. 6 includes a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which should be a special moment for the James family.
LeBron James played 11 seasons overall with his hometown Cavaliers in two separate stints. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft out of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. With the Cavs, LeBron won Rookie of the Year honors, two NBA MVP awards and the 2015-16 NBA championship. Bronny was born in 2004 just before LeBron’s second season in Cleveland.
After being selected in the second round (No. 55 overall) of the 2024 NBA Draft, Bronny signed a four-year, $7.9 million contract with the Lakers. Yet his agent Rich Paul negotiated a standard deal — not the two-way contract under which prospects splitting time between the NBA and G League typically play.
“It’s one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever got from the man above and I’m gonna take full advantage of it.”
LeBron speaks on how special it was playing with Bronny tonight 🙏 pic.twitter.com/28Fh1FCliF
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 23, 2024
However, there was always an understanding that playing in the G League with the team’s South Bay affiliate would be part of his development, according to ESPN. LeBron acknowledged the likelihood while speaking to reporters at media day, emphasizing that the Lakers and South Bay are part of the same team.
“His job is to put the work in and get better and better, just like the rest of us,” LeBron said, via ESPN. “And we want to hold him accountable, and he’s going to hold us accountable. And if we all do that, we all get better, because we’re all one team. We’re a reflection of South Bay; South Bay is a reflection of us.”