EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Bronny James made his much-anticipated G League debut for the South Bay Lakers on Saturday night, posting six points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals, one block and five turnovers in 31 minutes in the Lakers’ 110-96 blowout win over the Salt Lake City Stars at UCLA Health Training Facility.
James made two of his nine shot attempts, missing all four of his 3-point looks. He went 1-for-1 at the free throw line.
The game sold out more than 48 hours in advance, with resale tickets starting at $200 and the arena filled to capacity with 676 attendees. The courtside crowd included most of Bronny’s immediate family — his father, LeBron, his mother, Savannah, his younger sister, Zhuri and his grandmother, Gloria — along with teammates Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell, Lakers coach JJ Redick and Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka.
James was introduced last during the starting lineup introductions — often the spot reserved for the biggest star or best player — and drew the loudest ovation of the evening. The 20-year-old guard started at small forward as the Lakers opened with a three-guard lineup.
1⃣st bucket of the season pic.twitter.com/mnuEnQ7oip
— South Bay Lakers (@SouthBayLakers) November 10, 2024
James, the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, has appeared in five of the Lakers’ nine games, averaging 0.8 points (on 16.7-0.0-100.0 shooting splits), 0.2 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 0.2 steals in 2.8 minutes per game.
He has frequently drawn “We want Bronny!” chants this season, both at Crypto.com Arena and at road games. James’ first NBA appearance came during opening night on Oct. 22 in Los Angeles, where he and LeBron shared the court for a stint that lasted less than three minutes but made them the first father-son duo in NBA history to play together. In James’ second appearance, on Oct. 30 in Cleveland, he scored his first basket after the hometown crowd chanted his name and erupted in celebration when he entered the game.
Redick has referred to James as “test case No. 1” for the organization’s new player development program. The Lakers’ plan is for James to shuffle between the official Lakers’ roster and the South Bay roster during the season.
“Our plans are always fluid based in real-time,” Redick said. “You base things in real-time. And the plan for Bronny to move between the Lakers roster and the South Bay roster, that’s always been the plan since Day 1. Rob and I have talked about that. LeBron’s talked about that.”
The South Bay Lakers play again on Nov. 15 against the Santa Cruz Warriors.
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(Photo: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)
