Lakers Set Target Date for Bronny James' Return From Knee Injury
By Jovan Alford
Bronny James Jr. made his NBA Summer League debut in the California Classic over the weekend against the Sacramento Kings. The second-round pick didn’t do much on the floor as he posted four points, two assists, two rebounds, and a steal in 22 minutes of action.
However, if you are a basketball or Lakers fan, it was great to see James out on the floor and get that first taste of NBA experience. After only scoring four points in his debut, LA fans were looking forward to seeing James play on Sunday against the Golden State Warriors.
But James surprisingly didn’t play in the second game of the back-to-back as he was dealing with some trace swelling in his left knee, according to Mike Trudell. Trudell added that James is expected to play in the Lakers’ California Classic finale against the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
Bronny James has some trace swelling in his left knee, and will be held out of today’s second day of a back-to-back for precautionary reasons.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) July 7, 2024
He’s expected to play in Wednesday’s final California Classic game vs. Miami.
Lakers News: Bronny James Plans To Play Against Heat
After the Lakers wrapped up their second summer league against the Warriors, head coach Dane Johnson gave an optimistic update on the rookie. Johnson told reporters that they held James out as a precaution but are “taking it day-by-day,” per Trudell.
Coach Dane Johnson after the game, re: Bronny: "Taking it day-by-day, just being precautionary about it. The plan is for him to play (Wednesday)."
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) July 8, 2024
The Lakers’ SL coach added that the plan is for James to play on Wednesday before the team heads out to Las Vegas for the NBA 2K25 Summer League 2024.
Since James had an abbreviated freshman year at USC, the summer league is the perfect spot for him to adjust to the NBA game and work on various skills. In his first summer league game, James went 2-of-9 from the field and 0-for-3 from three-point range.
On the surface, people might look at those stats and that’s not good, which is true based on the percentages. However, in the summer league, the Lakers likely want to see him be aggressive and take his shots. It will help Bronny get better in the short and long term.
He already has the skills and athleticism to be a solid defender, which he showed a little bit in his debut. It's about putting that all together for the rest of the summer league. James will get another opportunity to work on his game on Wednesday.
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