Bronny James has taken his place in Los Angeles’ starting lineup and his professional career has officially begun after making his debut for the Lakers on Saturday.
He wore the number 9 jersey, not to be confused with the number 6 jersey worn by his father and current teammate LeBron James before switching to the number 23 jersey.
The younger James, who was drafted by Los Angeles with the 55th overall pick in the second round out of the University of Southern California, finished 2-of-9 for four points, missing all of his threes, with a pair of assists, two rebounds and a steal in just under 22 minutes of playing time. while the Lakers lost 108-94 to the Sacramento Kings in the Summer Competition.
James missed his first two shots while playing nearly six minutes in his first run of action – he grabbed a defensive rebound and then missed a 21ft jump shot moments later. He came up short on a 26ft three-point try at the 4:23 mark of the first quarter before getting a breather.
James received cheers and warm applause when he returned to the court in the second quarter. Then James finally scored his first NBA points with a layup 5:51 before halftime. He missed a pair of free throws at 4:43 in the third period on his first trip to the line.
At one point during his warmups, the 6-foot-2 guard stood with his hands on his hips in a pose reminiscent of his father. He likely will get another chance to play on Sunday, when the Lakers take on the Golden State Warriors in their next game of Summer League, an offseason tournament in which teams experiment with younger players, free agents and backups.
If all goes according to plan, 19-year-old James and his father will become the first father-son pair to play in the NBA at the same time — and on the same team, no less.
Bronny is the eldest son of NBA all-time leading scorer LeBron. Bronny survived a cardiac arrest during a team practice at USC last July and was later diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. The younger James signed a four-year, $7.9 million contract this month.
“It definitely added to the pressure,” Bronny James said last week when he was officially introduced by the Lakers. “I’ve seen it in [social] media and on the internet and things that are talked about [how] “I may not deserve a chance. But I’ve been dealing with this stuff my whole life. It’s just the way it is. It’s definitely amplified, but I can get through it.”
Dalton Knecht, the Lakers’ first-round draft pick this year, scored 12 points on Saturday. Adonis Arms led the Kings with 32 points.