It’s no secret Bronny James has not looked good in NBA Summer League. The Los Angeles Lakers guard, who was picked 55th in the NBA draft last month, went 0-11 from three in his first two matchups in Las Vegas before putting together a quality performance Wednesday evening in a win over the Atlanta Hawks.
James finished with 12 points on 5-11 shooting, knocking down a pair of threes – including a game-tying triple in the fourth quarter – while also flashing good pick and roll navigation in the early going.
James has been the recipient of a bevy of criticism the past year, stemming from the decision to declare for the NBA draft after a mediocre performance as a freshman at USC.
Players with his level of production (4.8 points on 36.6% shooting from the field and 26.7% from three) and lack of size (6’1 without shoes) rarely even stay in the draft process, nevermind get selected and signed to a multi-year guaranteed contract.
However, James is not your run-of-the-mill teenage basketball prospect: he’s the son of NBA superstar LeBron James, who – despite walking this statement back – made it clear at one point he wants to play with his son at the next level (side note: who wouldn’t want that?).
Still, Bronny not producing in college, or at the NBA combine, and now struggling in Summer League has given the anti-LeBron crowd, and the larger anti-nepotism crowd, plenty of ammunition to criticize the James family.
While Bronny’s solid performance on Wednesday almost certainly won’t quiet the haters – nor should one game turn the tides much – it’s at least a sign that an NBA caliber player is hidden in there somewhere.
The bar to clear as the 55th overall pick is quite low, and while he will never be judged fairly based on his draft stock, any level of NBA production would be a win for the Lakers and another incredible story to add to LeBron’s legacy before he rides off into the sunset.
Wednesday’s game was a start.