Lakers News: How Many Points Did Bronny James Score vs Suns?

Jeremy Hanna | Oct 26, 2024

Oct 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) and forward LeBron James (23) warming up before the game against the Phoenix Suns at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers came out on top for the second game in a row, defeating the Phoenix Suns 123-116.

The game was defined by All-Star center Anthony Davis, who reccorded 35 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.

Other standout players included guard Austin Reaves who had 26 points with eight assists and four rebounds and NBA legend LeBron James, who recorded 21 points, eight assists, and four rebounds.

However, Lakers fans still have one player on their mind: rookie guard Bronny James. How did he perform against Kevin Durant and the Suns?

The answer is simple: he didn't. Head coach JJ Redick had designated Bronny as DNP-Coach's Decision.

This isn't particularly surprising since Bronny went 0-for-2 and recorded a single rebound in the opening game of the season. However, this doesn't mean fans won't see Bronny in the future.

Redick had previously emphasized that the point of bring Bronny James on the team wasn't to play with his father, but to develop the younger James into "an excellent NBA player."

"For us, prioritizing player development, we view Bronny as like, case study one, because his base level of feel, athleticism, point-of-attack defender, shooting, passing, there's a lot to like about his game," Redick said in July, per Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin of ESPN. 

"And as we sort of build out our player development program holistically, he's going to have a great opportunity to become an excellent NBA player."

Right now, it looks like Bronny is going to spend time going back and forth between the NBA and the G League to help develop his skills as a role player, particularly on defense. And his father is all for it.

"Just [looking forward to] seeing him continue to grow as a basketball player no matter if it's here with us or if it's down with the G League team and him continuing to get better and better and better," LeBron said.

"His job is to put the work in and get better and better, just like the rest of us. And we want to hold him accountable, and he's going to hold us accountable. And if we all do that, we all get better, because we're all one team. We're a reflection of South Bay; South Bay is a reflection of us."

While we may not see much of Bronny in the immediate future, there is another rookie who is beginning to show their skill: Dalton Knecht

Selected with the 17th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Knecht recorded eight points, two assists, and one rebound across 13 minutes in the Lakers' game against the Suns.

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