The past 12 months or so have been a whirlwind journey for Bronny James. The son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was taken by the Purple and Gold with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, and after struggling during summer league and early this season, it looked like the critics were right.
Many said the younger James wasn’t ready for the pros or didn’t even deserve to be there. But the criticism was really directed at his father, who was accused of funneling the guard into the league and onto the Lakers so the 40-year-old could achieve his lifelong dream of playing alongside his son.
The rookie guard admitted during an interview that the pressure affected him.
Via Fox Sports:
“I was under a lot of pressure,” Bronny said. “It was getting to me a little bit.”
But the younger James withstood the pressure and started playing well later on. During the G League regular season, he averaged 21.9 points, 5.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals a game while shooting 44.3% from the field and 38% from 3-point range, even though he was frequently shuttling back and forth between the G League and the NBA.
The fact that he withstood all that scrutiny seems to suggest he has a good deal of mental toughness, which will only help him moving forward.
He will be playing in the Las Vegas summer league this July, which will give him another opportunity to sharpen his skills. Perhaps spending all of the 2025-26 campaign in the G League will result in him being able to become a legitimate rotational player in the big leagues afterward.
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