Charles Barkley Makes Bold Comments on Bronny James

Dan Patrick asked Charles Barkley his thought on Bronny James and the Lakers. Barkley strongly believes that Bronny should have been developing his game with the South Bay Lakers.

“That kid (Bronny), I wish him nothing but the best,” Barkley said. “He should be in the G-League getting better as a player. He should have been in the G-League all year.”

Bronny and his father LeBron James took the floor together on opening night, making them the first father-son duo to ever play together in an NBA game. In his rookie season, Bronny has only played in 23 games. He has scored a total of 52 points on 17 for 54 shooting from the field. 

“I think it was a great story for them (Bronny and LeBron) to go on the court together, but he should be in the G-League,” Barkley said. “You don’t get better sitting on the bench.”

Bronny has been playing more for the South Bay Lakers recently, and he has shown dramatic improvement from game to game. 

Bronny James Improving In G-League With South Bay

Bronny James has now played in 11 G-League games for South Bay. He is averaging 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 5.5 assists on 44.3 percent shooting from the field. About a week ago, Bronny dropped a G-League career high 39 points on 14 of 21 shooting from the field. 

There is a strong case to be made that the Lakers should keep Bronny with South Bay and not call him back up to the NBA level until he shows that he’s ready, because he’s clearly not at the level of an NBA player that can get minutes as of now. Additionally, the Lakers are in a playoff seeding push as the season winds down so rotations are going to get very thin. There’s not a lot of room for any Bronny minutes outside of the occasional late game garbage time. 

Bronny has not played consistently since high school and if the Lakers want him to eventually be a player they can put in their rotation, they should have him focus in on the G-League for the time being.