Bronny James, the son of NBA icon LeBron James, has been demoted to the G-League, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
After playing a few games with his father with the Los Angeles Lakers, the team announced that Bronny is now headed to the South Bay Lakers.
According to Charania, Bronny will be on the Lakers’ roster for their Friday night game against the Philadelphia 76ers before joining his new team on Saturday.
The report also adds that the plan is to move Bronny between the South Bay and Los Angeles, but coach JJ Redick adds that those plans could change.
“Our plans are always fluid, based on real time,” Redick said before a game against the Phoenix Suns in October. “I think there are two guys getting dressed today, but we haven’t gotten dressed since yesterday.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James has been demoted to the South Bay Lakers of the G-League
“The plan for Bronny to move between the Lakers and South Bay has always been the plan since day one. [General manager] Rob [Pelinka] and I talked about that. “Lebron has talked about that.”
In the season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Bronny and LeBron became the first father-son duo in NBA history to play in a game together.
Bronny has played in four games so far in his NBA career, including Wednesday night’s 131-144 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
He scored his first points on October 30 in a 134–110 loss to his father’s first team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
His totals early in his NBA career are four points, one rebound, two assists and a steal in just 13 minutes of playing time.
Bronny was selected by the Lakers with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft after playing one season of college basketball at USC.
Before Bronny was drafted, Bronny’s representative – Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul – advocated for a standard contract rather than a two-way deal.
However, Paul was open to a G-League situation so Bronny could develop.
Bronny played alongside his father, LeBron James, several times in his four NBA appearances
LeBron expressed his openness to allowing his son to develop outside of the NBA team
That’s something that LeBron has also opened up about, speaking about it at the Lakers’ media day in September.
‘Just now [looking forward to] “I see him continuing to grow as a basketball player, whether it’s here with us or with the G League team, and just keep getting better and better,” LeBron said.
“His job is to work hard and keep getting better, just like the rest of us. And we want to hold him accountable, and he’s going to hold us accountable.
“And when we all do that, we all get better, because we’re all one team. We are a reflection of the South Bay; South Bay is a reflection of us.”
The South Bay Lakers play in the city of El Segundo in Los Angeles County. The G-League season starts on Friday.