Lakers News: LeBron James Offers Realistic Expectations of How Much Bronny Will Play

The 20-time All-Star projects his son's rookie season contributions.

Sep 30, 2024; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (left) poses with son Bronny James during media day at the UCLA Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

20-time All-Star Los Angeles Lakers combo forward LeBron James appears to be taking a realistic, long-term approach to his son Bronny's development in the league, writes Greg Beacham of The Associated Press (via NBA.com).

“If we get a couple of opportunities on the floor throughout the course of the season, obviously that’s going to be amazing,” LeBron said. “It will be awesome. We’ll wait for that moment when it happens, and then go from there.”

Whenever they do take the floor together, LeBron and Bronny James will make some unique NBA history: they'll be the first-ever father and son to play at the same time in a league game. Multiple generations have played in the league before, but never simultaneously — and certainly never as teammates. Yes, Bronny James is probably not going to be a major piece of the Lakers' rotation in 2024-25, but the raw 19-year-old isn't expected to be.

Bronny James was selected by L.A. with the No. 55 pick out of USC in June's 2024 NBA Draft. His father, 39 and the league's oldest active player, inked a two-year, $101.4 million deal to stay with Los Angeles through at least the first two seasons of Bronny's career. Bronny signed a four-year, $7.9 million, fully-guaranteed contract with the Lakers this summer — a fairly robust sum for a late second round draft pick.

“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,” LeBron James noted.

Bronny James is set to serve a lot of his debut pro season with the Lakers' NBAGL affiliate squad in El Segundo (they share a practice space with the Lakers), the South Bay Lakers. It sounds like the Lakers will essentially treat him like a two-way player, though he's officially a standard roster player.

“We want to hold him accountable. He’s going to hold us accountable, and if we all do that, we’ll all get better, because we’re all one team. We are a reflection of the South Bay. The South Bay is a reflection of us," LeBron James said. "We’ll continue to grow, stacking days. I know he’s going to do that, because that’s just what he’s about.”

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