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Los Angeles Lakers' Bronny James' Aggressiveness Surprising NBA All-Star

Former USC Trojans guard Bronny James has spent much of this season with the Los Angeles Lakers G-League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. James's style of play recently has stood out to former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, whose son Alijah Arenas is a five-star USC commit.

Cory Pappas

Feb 1, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) drives to the basket against New York Knicks forward Jacob Toppin (00) and center Ariel Hukporti (55) during the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Feb 1, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) drives to the basket against New York Knicks forward Jacob Toppin (00) and center Ariel Hukporti (55) during the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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Former USC Trojans guard Bronny James has become a polarizing figure since being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft. 

After playing one season at USC, many believed that Bronny was not an NBA caliber player and was only selected because his father, NBA great LeBron James, was on the Lakers. The other side of the argument believes that the pick was in the second round of the draft, so why not take one of the greatest player of all-time’s son for the potential upside. 

Bronny has appeared in 17 Lakers games this season and has scored a total of 23 points while shooting 7/28 from the field including 3/13 from three-point land. Bronny has started to play more in the G-League for the South Bay Lakers, where he has been able to further develop his game. He is averaging 22.8 points, 4.7 assists and 5.3 rebounds for South Bay.

Former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas shared his thoughts on what he has seen from Bronny.

Gilbert Arenas Impressed By Bronny’s Aggressiveness 

Feb 1, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) checks in for forward LeBron James (23) durin
Feb 1, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) checks in for forward LeBron James (23) during the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Gilbert Arenas spoke on his podcast, Gil’s Arena, about what he has seen recently out of Bronny. Bronny has noticeably been taking more shots and becoming more of a scorer.  

“I didn’t think that he’d be this aggressive early in his career,” Arenas said. “This type of play…I thought that would be three years from now.”

Throughout Bronny’s basketball career since high school, he has never been considered a high volume shooter or scorer. Rather a pass first guard that hasn’t looked for his shot with the ball in his hands. 

“His senior year (in high school) he averaged 12-13 points. AAU, he never was dropping 30-40 points. College, he averaged 3-4,” Arenas said. “How he looked at the beginning of the year, soon as he got the ball, pass it…Dribbling to make passes. This is a whole different mindset.” 

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Bronny James At USC

Feb 29, 2024; Pullman, Washington, USA; USC Trojans guard Bronny James (6) walks off the court after a game against the Washi
Feb 29, 2024; Pullman, Washington, USA; USC Trojans guard Bronny James (6) walks off the court after a game against the Washington State Cougars at Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum. Washington State Cougars won 75-72. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images / James Snook-Imagn Images

Bronny James played his lone year of college basketball for the USC Trojans in the 2023-2024 season. He averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game with the Trojans.

James suffered a cardiac arrest prior to the season causing him to miss a chunk of the year and delayed his USC debut, but thankfully was cleared and able to participate in his freshman season.

Alijah Arenas Commits To USC

Apr 7, 2012; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies point guard Gilbert Arenas (10) shoots the ball from behind the arch during
Apr 7, 2012; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies point guard Gilbert Arenas (10) shoots the ball from behind the arch during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at the FedEx Forum. Memphis Grizzlies defeat the Dallas Mavericks 94-89. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-Imagn Images / Spruce Derden-Imagn Images

Gilbert Arenas will be much closer to the USC Trojans basketball program moving forward. His son, Alijah Arenas, committed to USC in late January of 2025. Alijah is a 6-6, 195 pound shooting guard that is ranked as the No. 7 overall player in the class of 2025 per 247Sports.

He is the top recruit landed by Trojans coach Eric Musselman since taking over this past offseason.

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Cory Pappas
CORY PAPPAS

Cory Pappas is sports writer for USC Trojans On SI and Oregon Ducks On SI. Since starting in March of 2024, he has been writing breaking news stories, game previews, game recaps, and more across College Sports, the NFL, MLB, NBA, and Olympics for Total Apex Sports. In addition to writing, Cory is also a sports data scout for Sportradar. He covers live sporting events ranging from college athletics to semi-pro and professional. Before joining the industry, Cory graduated from the University of Oregon in 2022. He ran track for Oregon's club Track and Field team. Before Oregon, he played varsity basketball and track and field in high school in Walnut Creek, CA. Cory is using his lifelong passion for sports and writing together.

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