Bronny James collected an inbound pass in the corner and ran down the lane against two guards to complete a tough layup—the 19-year-old’s first bucket in the preseason. However, sitting on the courtside, LeBron James barely moved his facial muscles. Unfortunately, it came when the LA Lakers trailed by 20 points with under one minute left in the game. That has been the story of the rising star in the last year since his grave heart condition. Nevertheless, King James sought support to set things right!
The eldest son of one of the greatest ballers of all time had a tough run in the last few months. Apart from dealing with the criticisms and trolls, Bronny also overcame a heart condition that almost put an end to his basketball dream before even setting foot on the NBA court. During the starlet’s preparation for the freshman year season at USC, he suffered a cardiac arrest at the practice facility.
After recovery, James Jr. stepped onto the court after the green signal from the doctors, but by then it was already too late. He played as a rotational bench player, averaging 4.8 points in 25 games. Speaking of it after the preseason debut, LeBron James echoed, “You got to think that he lost pretty much almost like a third of the season last year because of the condition.”
Nevertheless, at the same time, the 4x champ believed that his son would get back to his element, saying, “When he went from middle school to high school, high school to USC, and now to the pros, it’s always an adjustment to make… you get better and better the more time is put on the floor.” Moreover, he credited the vets, that is Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell, saying, “He’s (Bronny) up to us as the veterans and the guys out here to try to help him.” Importantly, Bronny undoubtedly found a place in James’ good books, but what about the head coach, JJ Redick?
Did Bronny James impress JJ Redick with his debut?
First of all, it wasn’t a pretty coaching debut for JJ Redick. The team had a blowout 107-124 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Nevertheless, the star coach showed signs of brilliance when he managed to cut down a 21-point deficit to one point in the second half. But, it wasn’t enough to finish the game on high.
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On the other hand, the team saw sparks from Max Christie and Dalton Knecht, as they dropped satisfying 11 and 16 points, respectively. A true value addition for Redick’s 9-man rotation policy. However, Bronny wasn’t left out. Even though the guard didn’t make much dent on the scoreboard, dropping 2 points with 3 blocks, he impressed JJ with his defensive abilities.
Speaking of him, after the game, Redick said, “We’re really happy with his progress… The kid, you know, he can do some things defensively at his size that are really unique and can, I think, turn him into a really disruptive defender, and that kind of manifested.” And just like his dad mentioned, Bronny has to get better and better every day to find himself a permanent place in the league. What do you make of Bronny’s debut? Let us know in the comments.