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The rookie season for Bronny James has come to an end and it was quite the journey for the Lakers guard out of USC. After one season with the Trojans, he was selected with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Playing with his father in Los Angeles was the story of the league early in the season. After that, the younger James didn’t get a ton of action, appearing in just 27 games.
James did not see the floor during the postseason, where the Lakers were knocked out in five games by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The last time Bronny played was on April 13, when he logged 38 minutes in the regular season finale against Portland.
After that game, he was asked about his first year with the Lakers and admitted he had some growing pains early on.
"It's a huge difference. In my confidence. From the start of the year, I was under alot of pressure, and it was getting to me."
Bronny James speaks to the media after the #Lakers 103-96 loss to Minnesota, ending their season losing 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/aGGTu8S42n
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) May 1, 2025
James finished his rookie campaign averaging just 2.3 points and 0.8 assists per game. He often struggled with his shot, hitting only 31.3% from the field and 28.1% from deep.
He also talked a bit about what’s next for him, mentioning his performance against Milwaukee — a 17-point game in 30 minutes — as well as the time he spent in the G League, which helped him build confidence.
When asked if he planned to play in the NBA Summer League in Vegas this offseason, James didn’t hesitate.
“Oh, yeah.”
The other Lakers rookie this season with a lot of promise was 6-foot-6 forward Dalton Knecht. He was the team’s first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Knecht had a solid season, averaging 9.1 points over 78 games. He appeared in just two of the five playoff games for the Lakers.
More must-reads:
- Warriors' Stephen Curry believes NBA players are 'underpaid'
- No end in sight in Jonathan Kuminga-Warriors 'staring contest'
- The 'NBA Summer League MVPs' quiz
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Former Lakers Guard Signing in Israel to Continue Career
The Los Angeles Lakers have been trying to figure out what they are going to do with the bench and the backcourt. There were some rumors that they could look at re-signing a former Lakers guard for help off the bench. Lonnie Walker IV has been trying to stay in the NBA and had apparently received some interest from other teams. He has played with a few different teams in his NBA career. Walker IV won't be making a return to the NBA in the next few weeks of this offseason, however. The former Lakers shooting guard has signed a contract for a new overseas team. More news: Former Lakers Star Shaquille O’Neal on NBA All-Star: ‘I F---ing Hate’ Him Sources tell Marc Stein of The Stein Line that Walker IV will sign a deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. He also has an NBA buyout until August 1st. After ending this past season with the Philadelphia 76s, he has decided to sign overseas and become one of the highest-paid players in Europe, since he just played in the NBA. Walker IV has proven to be a pretty good spot scorer, but his limited upside at age 26 hasn't been enough to warrant an NBA team being interested in bringing him in on a guaranteed contract. The Lakers were never really thinking of signing Walker IV to help off the bench, even if he would have been cheap. Any NBA team offering him a deal would have only offered him a veteran's minimum deal. Walker IV is still likely good enough to play in the NBA, but it's unlikely that an NBA team is going to activate that buyout later in the offseason or during the actual NBA season. More news: 3 Players Lakers Should Have Signed to BAE Instead of Marcus Smart The Lakers liked Walker IV when he was on the roster, but he just wasn't consistent enough to earn a rotation spot in 2022-23 or a roster spot the next season. Now he'll get paid a lot of money to play in Europe. The details of Walker IV's contract aren't immediately available, but he must like the numbers to head over there instead of holding out hope for signing with an NBA team. This past season with the Sixers, Walker IV averaged 12.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in 20 games played. More news: Lakers Receive Massive Jarred Vanderbilt Update Ahead of Upcoming Season For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.
NASCAR driver disqualified after Truck Series race at IRP
What was a third-place effort for Stewart Friesen in Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park turned out to be all for naught. Friesen's No. 52 Toyota was disqualified in post-race inspection for failing front height measurement, relegating him to a last-place (35th) finish. The stage points he earned were also stripped. Friesen qualified 21st, but drove into the top five and was running second in the closing laps before he was passed by Corey Day. Friesen's team, Halmar Friesen Racing, issued a statement following the announcement. "The Halmer Friesen Racing team will be going to the NASCAR Appellate Board after our third-place disqualification in the TSport 200 race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 25," the team said. "We believe the post-race heights disqualification was caused by a part malfunction that occurred during the race by circumstances out of our control." The DQ drops Friesen to 11th in the regular season standings, but the 42-year-old driver is already locked into the Craftsman Truck Series playoffs by his win at Michigan International Speedway on June 7. Layne Riggs won Friday's race at IRP. The Truck Series will return to action at Watkins Glen on Aug. 8.
New York Yankees Superstar Aaron Judge Facing Major Injury Scare
Right fielder Aaron Judge is not in the New York Yankees' starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Judge is dealing with an elbow issue, and that the 33-year-old superstar had trouble throwing the ball in from the outfield on Friday. Judge has undergone imaging, but he is still awaiting results. The severity of the injury, as well as the potential timetable for his return, is still unknown. Judge went 0-for-3 in the Yankees' 12-5 series-opening loss to the Phillies. He is batting .143 with a .600 OPS over his last eight games. Even taking that slump into account, Judge leads MLB with a .342 batting average, 1.160 OPS and 6.8 WAR through 103 games in 2025. He has racked up 37 home runs, 24 doubles, 85 RBIs and 90 runs, making him the heavy favorite to repeat as AL MVP. Judge missing any amount of time could give Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh a bump in the awards race, though, on top of hurting the Yankees' chances in the AL Wild Card race. New York reached the World Series for the first time in 15 years last October, but now boasts the ninth-best record in baseball.
Raiders HC Pete Carroll expands on decision to release DT Christian Wilkins
For the first time since the Las Vegas Raiders' shocking release of DT Christian Wilkins on Thursday, head coach Pete Carroll fielded questions about the move. "To make our decision, we watched our way through the whole thing," Carroll told the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vinny Bonsignore. "We're keeping really clear with what we said. I think there was no clear path to his return, and we just had to move on." Wilkins was injured in Week 5 against the Denver Broncos last season, suffering a foot injury that would put him on the IR after five games. It was not what the Raiders had hoped for after then-general manager Tom Telesco signed him to a four-year, $110 million deal in March 2024. Initially, Wilkins did have surgery, but wasn't healthy by the time organized team activities started, and his rehab proved to be a "challenging process" as described by Carroll a few months ago. According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Las Vegas reportedly wanted Wilkins to undergo another foot surgery, but he declined, which led to the release of the six-year pro from Clemson. The Raiders are attempting to void $35.2 million in remaining guarantees that Wilkins was owed on his contract. The NFLPA filed a grievance against Las Vegas as a result. Wilkins was brought in to help star pass rusher Maxx Crosby create problems for opposing offenses. The Raiders got a brief look when Wilkins recorded 17 tackles, two tackles for loss, six quarterback hits and two sacks before he got injured in the second quarter. The injury was unfortunate for Las Vegas, which had counted on Wilkins to produce similar results, as he had in his last three seasons with the Dolphins, recording 17 sacks, including nine in 2023. Perhaps Raiders GM John Spytek saw this coming when the silver and black selected Tonka Hemingway and JJ Pegues in the 2025 NFL Draft. While there is still time to find the next player to fill the void left by Wilkins, there is a massive hole in the interior line.
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