LeBron James is thinking long term, with his son, Bronny, unofficially starting his NBA career this summer after being selected by the Lakers in the second round of the 2024 draft.
“I want him to gain experience in the NBA,” LeBron said of his expectations for Bronny. In an interview with ESPN“The pace of the game, the speed, the physical aspect. But what he does in the California Classic and the summer league has no bearing on whether he plays well or not. I just hope he continues to develop with practices, film sessions and individual training.”
Bronny may garner more attention than any other second-round pick in this year’s summer league because of his father’s talent.
Some have questioned the selection and whether the 19-year-old deserved to be drafted after suffering a cardiac arrest last summer and coming off a disappointing performance at USC.
The Lakers view Bronny as worthy of the 55th overall pick, and that didn’t hurt their chances of retaining LeBron.
LeBron then agreed to a two-year, $101.35 million contract to remain in Los Angeles.
Now that he’s turned professional, Bronny will have a chance this summer to prove his place among his peers and show he could contribute to the team as a rookie.
Bronny made his professional debut on Saturday at the California Classic, recording four points on 2-of-9 shooting, two rebounds, two assists and one steal in 22 minutes.
While preparing for the Olympics, LeBron watched Bronny’s first basket, a layup, on his phone and proudly commented, “Dude, that was tough.”
“The atmosphere was better than I expected,” Bronny told The Associated Press after Saturday’s 108-94 loss to the Kings. “It’s a big game for me, but I didn’t expect the people from Golden State to come out and cheer me on, so it was really nice.”
He added: “It’s really good for me to look back on my mistakes and reflect on what I did right, but I also think that with each match I get more comfortable with how I’m playing and that’s a big reason why I’m here and working hard.”
Bronny missed Sunday’s second game of a back-to-back because of slight swelling in his left knee. According to ESPN:.
The Lakers next face the Heat in the California Classic on Wednesday before Summer League begins in Las Vegas on Friday.
“You can’t take a statistic from the California Classic or the Summer League after the season starts, so the only thing that matters is that he gets better and continues to have successive days,” LeBron told ESPN.
“He missed a majority of last season due to an incident that happened less than a year ago, so obviously he’s behind where he would have been had he played a full season. But he said he’s getting better and better every day, and he feels like every day, every practice, every film session, he’s getting better and better. That’s the only thing that matters.”
