Lakers Make Major Decision on Bronny James: Report

Getty Bronny James #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on.

The Los Angeles Lakers made a major decision on Bronny James, assigning him to the G League, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Bronny James, the No. 55 pick, will make his G League debut with the South Bay Lakers on Saturday, November 9, against the Salt Lake City Stars in El Segundo, California in front of an expected sellout crowd.

The Lakers’ plan, according to Charania, is for Bronny James to only play in South Bay’s home games as they intend to make him shuttle back and forth with the Lakers.

Currently, Bronny James is not part of the Lakers rotation. He’s appeared in four of the Lakers’ first eight games, including his historic debut where he played with his father LeBron James.

LeBron and Bronny James became the first father-son duo to play together in an NBA game on Oct. 22 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He scored his first basket in the NBA at his hometown Cleveland when the Lakers visited the Cavaliers on Oct. 30.

In four appearances, Bronny James averaged one point, 0.5 assists and 0.3 steals in 3.2 minutes.

Bronny James is Lakers’ Test Case No. 1

Lakers coach JJ Redick touted Bronny James as “test case No. 1” for their new player development program.

“We really want to take kind of an innovative and new look at how players are developed,” Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka told reporters after the 2024 NBA Draft on June 27. “And that archetype will be wrapped around Bronny, and the other players that we get on to ways as we bring guys in and the young players we already have on our roster. So I just think it’s a perfect time as coach builds out his player development staff to really pour into the guys that we have here.”

Bronny James’ progress will be closely watched as his selection and his standard NBA rookie contract pushed the Lakers roster to the limit which kept them from using their taxpayer midlevel exception to sign a veteran free agent who could immediately help them this season.

He is expected to play alongside Quincy Olivari, the Lakers’ two-way player who endeared himself to the fans and the organization with his superb and passionate play in the preseason.

Who is Bronny James’ G League Coach?

Former Washington Wizards assistant Zach Guthrie will coach Bronny James in the G League.

The Lakers hired Guthrie in September, replacing Dane Johnson, who parted ways with the Lakers in August, just a few weeks after coaching James in the NBA Summer League. Johnson compiled a 26-24 overall record in the G League.

“I’m incredibly honored to step into this role as head coach of the South Bay Lakers,” Guthrie said in the official team press release. “Helping players unlock their full potential is critically important to me. I let players know it’s a partnership and it’s our collective mission to help them succeed in every way possible. I couldn’t be more excited to work alongside Coach Redick and his staff to build a developmental program dedicated to excellence at every level.”

Guthrie’s coaching philosophy perfectly aligns with the Lakers’ vision of a new player development program under the franchise’s rookie head coach JJ Redick.

“I think right now, we as coaches have a tendency to be too siloed,” Guthrie said on “The Basketball” podcast with Chris Oliver from Basketball Immersion in August 2023. “We want to just look at the micro, the little skills and the drill and this play and this thing. I think it’s all about connecting it to the game and understanding the context.

We want to have these boutique, 1-on-1 sessions. Everything’s about [the player] and his development and his growth. But you have to understand how that transfers to the team, to the 5-on-5 element. We take so much of this out of context and we get so lost in this individual skill when it’s about how does it transfer to the team and how can we get as much team growth as possible… That’s what I mean by the holistic approach.”