BRON THIN ICE
‘Load managing already?’ wonder concerned NBA fans after Bronny James is forced to miss Lakers summer league clash
Bronny's summer league coach has admitted he needs more experience
NBA fans are concerned Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James is already having his workload managed.
The 19-year-old was drafted with the 55th pick of the NBA Draft to link up with legendary dad LeBron in California.
3
3
3
Bronny endured a tough summer league debut - shooting two for nine for four points against the Sacramento Kings Saturday.
He was held out of the Lakers' 92-68 loss to the Golden State Warriors yesterday, reportedly as a precautionary measure over trace swelling in his left knee.
"Lebron will outlast his son in the NBA," posted one fan on X.
"This is going to go down as the worst draft pick and use of guaranteed money in the history of the League. Bookmark it," added another.
READ MORE IN BASKETBALL
"Bronny James load managing already?" a third asked.
"Load managing at the age of 19," a fourth ventured.
James is expected to play in Wednesday's game against the Miami Heat.
"The hope is [and] the plan is for him to play the next game here. But that's all the information we have so far," Lakers summer league coach Dane Johnson said.
Most read in Basketball
"Our trainers deal with all of that. They just give me updates.
"So, hopefully, you guys can have information on that later."
'Bronny has earned this' JJ Redick slams back at critics after claims he was drafted just because he's LeBron James' son
In the fourth quarter Sunday, fans in Chase Center began clapping and shouting, "We want Bronny! We want Bronny!"
LeBron, 39, watched his son's debut on his phone in Las Vegas while training for Team USA's Paris Olympics bid.
The guard's first bucket as a Laker came in the second quarter, as Bronny drove into the paint through traffic and finished an easy lay-up.
"C’mon man, that’s tough," LeBron exclaimed watching the clip, as Bronny sunk his layup.
"That’s tough, get loose!" an impressed LeBron added.
"The atmosphere, it was more than I expected," Bronny said on Saturday.
"It's a big game for me, but I didn't know the people of Golden State would come and rep for me, so that was pretty nice to see.
"Every first game that I step on the next level there's always some butterflies in my stomach.
"But as soon as the ball tips and we go a couple times down it all goes away and I'm just playing basketball. It's always going to be there but get through it."
Johnson plans to give James plenty as much game time as he can.
Read More on The US Sun
"We're going to try to integrate him and get him as many reps as we can," he said.
"He needs more experience playing."