Dave McMenamin
Los Angeles – “Bronie! Brony!” Noisy chat Crypto.com Arena Pine’s crowds regularly occur late in Lakers Home Games to watch them play in garbage time.
Lakers’ coach JJ Redick – almost half of his roster came out due to injuries as Los Angeles completed his sixth game in eight days, but did not require cajoling from fans to put James during the Lakers’ 118-89 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.
Rather than cheering James as a sideshow, the Lakers Guard took the centre stage, going 1-1 against two MVP Giannis Anteto Compo in the first half.
His father, LeBron James, dressed in street clothes, dribbling the ball across the arc, with Bronny James crossing his back to the left, “Ah” and “Ah” filling Anna, defending him in front of the Lakers bench.
The play ended with James losing the ball from the bounce – but he forced Entokounmpo into paint in the past, with the Bucks star grabbing him and not making a mouth whip from the referee.
“He’s way bigger than me,” the 6-foot-3 James said of the 6-11 Anteto Compo. “So I somehow managed to find a way around him. Maybe he was fouled. That’s for discussion, but it’s what it is.
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“I tried to get a bucket.”
That sequence may have brought sales, but he turned his playing opportunities into a career night, scoring a season-high 17 points on a 10-7 shot, adding five assists, three rebounds and blocks in 30 minutes of playing time.
“I won’t be surprised tonight,” Reddick said of James. “I think his confidence is growing. …I think the next step is becoming an elite athlete.
James’ rookie season, selected on the 55th pick after his only season at USC, didn’t include many highlights until Thursday. He averaged 1.6 points in 21 appearances before Thursday, shooting 26.3% (3-22.7%) in 4.7 minutes per game.
But he’s gotten much better for the South Bay Lakers, LA’s G League affiliate. South Bay averaged 20.6 points in 33.5 minutes in nine contests, with 43.1% shooting (3-36.1%), 5.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steel.
Despite its production, given his age (20) and draft status, he was a lightning rod for criticism.
“I’ve just been impressed by the person he’s there,” Reddick said. “And honestly, to deal with the bull—who is his father, and just keeping his level of head about it, becoming a class act, and saying a lot about him.
Bronnie James said the faith of Redick and others on the coaching staff in him helped him settle to a professional level after his college career compromised when he suffered from cardiac arrest.
“Every coach will trust me and keep it in my head, what they believe in me and what I can do as a player,” James said. “Tonight, while I was sitting on the bench and getting a rep in the G League, I was given the opportunity to go and show what I was working on.
A year and a half after the heart incident, James said he is beginning to trust his body more.
“I feel like it’s all back,” he said. “Just for that long, I was doing what I had to experience in the wind and like a lung… I think I’m more comfortable with getting a person under me, getting a game, practicing and learning from the bench and stuff like that.
James said he focused on “controllability” by working as hard as he could to protect himself from the outside scrutiny that comes with being the son of the league’s greatest scorer ever.
And he continues with the same approach. Now he can show a little more for that job after his performance against the Bucks.
“I’m heading to the gym tomorrow and ready to work as hard as I did yesterday,” he said. “The same approach every day in my job.”
