Bronny James. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Lakers alter course with Bronny James, and it's working

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Dec 13, 2024 5:03 AM ET

The Lakers received considerable criticism for restricting Bronny James' G League appearances to home games at the start of the season. Many analysts felt the son of LeBron James was receiving special treatment and that such a move could irk his teammates on the South Bay Lakers.

All that changed Thursday when Bronny suited up for South Bay during an away game against the Valley Suns. The 20-year-old would shine in his G League road debut, pouring in 30 points, three rebounds and two assists in just 25 minutes, albeit in a 106-100 loss.

Bronny James dropped an @nbagleague career-high 30 PTS tonight! pic.twitter.com/UAcBT6Hhvi
— NBA (@NBA) December 13, 2024

Bronny's breakout performance came after he struggled mightily in three previous G League starts and seven games off the bench with the Lakers. The young guard had gone 0-of-14 from three (10 in G League, four with the Lakers) and had trouble finishing around the rim, too.

On Thursday, he shot 3-of-9 from deep but muscled his way to the rim and feasted from midrange. Bronny also displayed the ability to come off screens and stop on a dime for several pull up jumpers. It was evident that South Bay Lakers coach Zach Guthrie made a concerted effort to get him involved in several actions, unlike in previous games when Bronny handled the ball on fewer occasions.

One wonders if playing away from the bright lights of Los Angeles helped Bronny regain his confidence. While it's premature to put too much stock into one performance, he showed why the Lakers selected him with the No. 55 pick in this year's draft.

Bronny James said “I just want to play” about coming with South Bay Lakers to face Valley Suns for his G League road game debut (30 points).

James called TyTy Washington Jr. (22 points), after guarding each other in the game, an “amazing player” he’s known since their HS days. pic.twitter.com/mh877QHg9p
— DANA (@iam_DanaScott) December 13, 2024

Bronny is now averaging 14.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists from four G League starts.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

More must-reads: