Early this past season, Bronny James was the subject of tons of criticism across the basketball world. Many felt the Los Angeles Lakers had taken him with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft only to appease his father, LeBron James, and that he didn’t belong in the league.
That viewpoint seemed to be justified when the younger James struggled during the tip-off tournament portion of the G League season but was shuffled back and forth between the G League and the NBA.
After the guard went 5-of-17 versus the Oklahoma City Blue in an early February game, South Bay Lakers coach Zach Guthrie made him a promise, per ESPN.
“It was just like, ‘You’re the point guard, we’re doing this,'” Guthrie told ESPN. “I was just like, ‘It’s your show, let’s go.’ ‘The ball’s in your hands the entire game. We’re living and dying with it.'”
All the younger James had to do was something he happens to be skilled at.
“‘All I’m asking is you got to guard,'” Guthrie told the younger James. “‘And I’m going to hold you to a crazy standard. And if you’re not defending, if you’re being lazy … I’m going to sub you out, I’m going to show it to the team. And that’s it. And then you’re going to play to exhaustion.'”
The 20-year-old finished the G League regular season with averages of 21.9 points, 5.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals a game. He shot a respectable 44.3% from the field and 38% from 3-point range, and he overcame the 30-point barrier twice in 11 regular-season appearances with South Bay.
In a March 20 game with the big-league Lakers, the younger James even dropped 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and five assists against the Milwaukee Bucks. He just had a solid showing in the Las Vegas summer league, and now the conversation surrounding him has changed considerably.
He still has a long way to go before he can prove he’s deserving of being a rotation player in the NBA, but he seems to be on a trajectory that will take him there in the not-too-distant future.
Sometimes, all it takes is someone in charge to have confidence and belief in a player such as the younger James for the latter to start to blossom.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers G League coach made a promise to Bronny James
