EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James is expected to travel on the team’s upcoming road trip from Oct. 28-Nov. 6 and then begin shuttling between the active roster and the franchise’s South Bay G League affiliate, sources told ESPN on Friday.
The Lakers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in Tuesday’s season opener, making history as LeBron James and Bronny James became the first father-son duo ever to play in an NBA game together. L.A. next faces the Phoenix Suns on Friday night (ESPN) at Crypto.com Arena and then hosts the Sacramento Kings on Saturday before traveling to Phoenix, Cleveland, Toronto, Detroit and Memphis.
LeBron, of course, spent 11 of his first 21 years in the league with the Cavaliers. He was about to begin his second season with the Cavs when Bronny was born, Oct. 6, 2004, in Akron, Ohio, making for a momentous occasion when the Jameses return there next Wednesday.
The G League draft is Saturday and team training camps run through Nov. 7.
As Bronny James and his representative, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, discussed development throughout his predraft process with NBA teams, sources told ESPN that the concept of the G League was welcomed. Those sources said Paul advocated for a standard contract — not a two-way deal — during predraft while making clear he and Bronny, selected by L.A. in the second round with the No. 55 pick, were fully aware and open to the development process.
When LeBron made his first comments about plans for Bronny’s rookie season at media day last month, he spoke about how in sync the Lakers are with their G League affiliate.
“Just [looking forward to] 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 and better,” LeBron said. “His job is to put the work in and get better and better, just like the rest of us. And we want to hold him accountable, and he’s going to hold us accountable. And if we all do that, we all get better, because we’re all one team. We’re a reflection of South Bay; South Bay is a reflection of us.”
It’s typical for players picked in the mid- to late-second round to spend time in the G League, gaining opportunity, coaching, game repetitions and structure in their respective teams’ programs. Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka and coach JJ Redick have both discussed creating the proper synergies around the Lakers and their South Bay squad.
Redick, who was hired with no prior head-coaching experience in part by selling his vision of establishing an elite player development program for L.A., has stated that Bronny’s trajectory will be the first chance for him to implement his approach.
“For us, prioritizing player development, we view Bronny as like, case study one, because his base level of feel, athleticism, point-of-attack defender, shooting, passing, there’s a lot to like about his game,” Redick said in July. “And as we sort of build out our player development program holistically, he’s going to have a great opportunity to become an excellent NBA player.”
South Bay also has a new coach this season, with L.A. hiring Zach Guthrie last month to replace Dane Johnson.