Cue the 80’s montage music.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said that for Lakers rookie Bronny James to succeed, the son of future Hall of Famer LeBron James must learn how to fail.
“He’s very coachable,” Redick told reporters Tuesday ahead of Los Angeles’ road game Thursday vs. the Kings. “I’ve told him this — he’s got to get to the point where it’s OK to fail and I think he has a real reservation to fail. I think a lot of that is he’s had a camera on him since he was eight-years-old.
“I can’t image (sons Knox and Kai) having cameras at their rec-league games. He’s had attention on him, I’m cognizant of that. Once he develops that, he’s going to take off. Literally take off. He will do anything we ask him to do, he’s done everything we ask him to do. It’s just part of player development, not just the physical skills and the physical development it is the mental development as well.”
As Redick noted, Bronny is not your usual rookie since his father is one of the greatest players in NBA history. He’s always going to be trying to live up to his father’s legacy.
There’s also the debatable narrative about whether he should have been drafted after an underwhelming freshman season with USC or if the Lakers did his father a favor by selecting him with the 55th pick.
Regardless of which side of that argument one stands on, the reality is Bronny needs plenty of seasoning before he can provide meaningful minutes at the NBA level.
He’s averaging just 0.6 points and shooting 12.5 percent (1-for-8) from the field spanning 2.6 minutes per game across seven contests.
To aid his development, the Lakers sent Bronny to the G League and he’s been playing better as of late.
After two tepid performances, Bronny has averaged 20.7 points over his last three contests. This stretch includes his first 30-point effort on Dec. 12 for the South Bay Lakers.
This hot stretch comes before Bronny will participate in the G League Winter Showcase from Dec. 19-22, according to ESPN.
“I think where I’ve seen [his progress] on court in the G League, I think some decision-making with the basketball, being on ball and making good decisions both as a scorer and as a playmaker,” Redick said Tuesday, per ESPN. “Continuing to see the flashes defensively of what we’re really excited about.”
LeBron has been pleased with his son’s progress.
“Just keep stacking the days, keep putting in the work,” LeBron said. “The work always prevails at the end of the day. It’s just great to see him getting back into the flow, getting back to his game, getting back to him just playing free and going out and just playing the game that he loves and knows how to play. I loved his aggressiveness.”