Bronny James Gets Honest on 1-for-12 Shooting Performance in Lakers Preseason Opener

The Los Angeles Lakers' 2025 preseason began with an unceremonious double-digit defeat to a Phoenix Suns squad almost no one expects to make the 2026 postseason.

Of course, the fact that it's merely the preseason may have had a lot to do with this fairly meaningless result. LA's two best players, five-time All-NBA guard Luka Doncic and 21-time All-NBA power forward LeBron James, both sat out with fairly mild injuries.

It's unclear if James will even be available at any point during the Lakers' exhibition game slate as he rehabs from a pinched nerve in his glute, but Doncic could return after this weekend. Los Angeles will face off against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night in San Francisco.

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Still, when it comes to the rest of LA's roster, some intrends narratives have already emerged.

Austin Reaves, easily LA's third-best player but a bit of an uneasy fit with James and Doncic, already appeared to be in midseason form, scoring 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor an 7-of-7 shooting from foul line across just 20:50 of game action.

Forward Rui Hachimura was the only other Lakers player to score in double digits during meaningful games, with 11 points on just 3-of-12 shooting. Rookie Exhibit 10 signing RJ Davis notched 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, although he got most of his run with the game already out of hand and subs in for both sides.

An Inconsistent Offensive Night for Bronny James

What about the Lakers' most written-about second-year player, Bronny James?

The eldest son of teammate LeBron had a rough offensive night, but liked the quality of his takes, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register.

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“I felt like they were pretty good shots,” James said of his looks. “I didn’t rush, wasn’t forcing anything. I didn’t have my legs under me as much as I wanted to, so I left a lot of them short. But most of them were on line and I felt like I could have made them. I took some good shots.”

The 20-year-old USC product shot just 1-of-12 off the bench for LA, but did get to the line six times, nailing five of tries there. He also pulled down five rebounds and dished out two dimes in 23:54 of action.

With Marcus Smart and Gabe Vincent already ailing (and both no strangers to missing tons of regular season games), Bronny James has a real opportunity to crack JJ Redick's rotation as a key point-of-attack defender to start the season. But he needs to shoot better than 8.3 percent from the floor.

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