NBA Insider Sheds Light on Peculiar Bronny James G League Situation

An NBA insider shares insight on how Bronny James isn't a normal everyday G League player.

Nov 8, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) runs past Philadelphia 76ers guard Lester Quinones (25) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Bronny James has taken the NBA world by storm. Although he has hardly played for the NBA Lakers team this season, he is getting a ton of attention, and rightfully so when you're the son of NBA legend and future Hall of Famer LeBron James.

That's the territory that comes with being the son of arguably the greatest basketball player ever. As we've seen time and time again, Bronny is not being treated like any other rookie, certainly not like any other rookie drafted late in the second round.

Bronny's case is abnormal, and that is evident in how he's been handled in the G League. Bronny is only playing home games for the South Bay Lakers this season, but NBA insider Shams Charania gave us insight on how Bronny isn't your average everyday G League player.

“Bronny James isn’t just your normal, everyday G League player, for all the reasons we just mentioned. His name is Bronny James, and there are some things with him that just go with it, right? Like, I mean, I don’t know if it’s a security thing, but there’s a different level of fanfare when he’s on the road for these G League games—a different level of everything when he’s with that G League team. So how do you manage that on the road? I don’t think the door is necessarily completely shut on him playing in those road games as the G League season goes on. But right now, that is the plan the Lakers have laid out, and they want him to continue to shuttle back and forth, spending as much time on the active roster as possible. It is very typical for a second-round pick to shuttle back and forth with the G League.”

Shams Charania says that Bronny James isn’t a normal everyday G League player

“Bronny James isn’t just your normal, everyday G League player, for all the reasons we just mentioned. His name is Bronny James, and there are some things with him that just go with it, right ? Like, I… pic.twitter.com/WvkZWMdkul

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 19, 2024

Part of the reason the Lakers drafted Bronny was that LeBron is his son. As it usually has in his life, nepotism worked in Bronny's favor; this wasn't the first time, and it certainly won't be the last.

The Lakers selected Bronny with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft. They knew that he would be a work in progress. Bronny needs and will need a ton of reps in the G League just to reach the status many think he could in the NBA.

Bronny may be treated like a star player, but his game is far from that at the moment.