SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Outsized headphones on his ears and wearing full Lakers gold as he equipped for his NBA Summer time League debut, rookie Bronny James seemed a lot like his well-known father it brought on some individuals at Chase Middle to do a double-take.
Even all the way down to their acquainted mannerisms, facial expressions and the best way they run and shuffle again on protection. Then, Bronny James took his place within the beginning lineup for Los Angeles and his skilled profession was formally underway Saturday — sporting jersey No. 9, to not be confused together with his dad’s former 6 uniform he sported earlier than switching to 23.
The youthful James wound up 2 for 9 for 4 factors, lacking all three of his 3s, with a pair of assists, two rebounds and a steal in slightly below 22 minutes of court docket time — 21:43 to be precise — because the Lakers misplaced 108-94 to the Sacramento Kings.
James missed his preliminary two pictures whereas taking part in practically six minutes in his first run of motion — grabbing a defensive rebound 1 minute, 20 seconds into the sport then lacking a 21-foot soar shot moments later. He got here up brief on a 26-foot 3-point attempt on the 4:23 mark of the opening quarter earlier than getting a breather.
James obtained cheers and a heat ovation when he returned to the court docket on the 8:17 mark of the second quarter. He was initially whistled for his first profession foul on a 3-point try by Sacramento’s Xavier Sneed on the fitting wing with 7:23 remaining, and James argued briefly earlier than the play went to replay evaluation and was overturned. James missed a 3 off the entrance rim from the highest of the arc at 7:04.
Then, eventually, James scored his first NBA factors on a driving layup 5:51 earlier than halftime. He missed a pair of free throws on the 4:43 mark of the third interval in his first journey to the road.
At one level throughout his warmup routine, the 6-foot-2 guard stood with palms on hips in a resemblant place to considered one of his father, LeBron. And throughout the sport, the son leaned over by the baseline 3-point nook, gripping his knees whereas ready for the offensive possession to start.
Drafted by the Lakers with the fifty fifth general choice within the second spherical out of the College of Southern California, Bronny James began in opposition to the Kings in his much-anticipated debut on the California Traditional within the San Francisco area residence to the Golden State Warriors.
He’ll seemingly get one other likelihood to play Sunday, when the Lakers face the Warriors once more on the Chase Middle.
If all goes as deliberate, the 19-year-old James and his dad would turn out to be the primary father-son pair to play within the NBA on the similar time — and on the identical staff no much less.
Bronny is NBA profession scoring chief LeBron’s oldest son. He survived cardiac arrest final July 24 throughout a casual staff exercise at USC and it was later decided he had a congenital coronary heart defect. The youthful James signed a four-year contract that may pay him $7.9 million.
“It’s for positive amplified the quantity of strain,” Bronny James stated this previous week when formally launched by the Lakers. “I’ve already seen it in (social) media and on the web and stuff speaking about (how) I may not deserve a chance. However I’ve been coping with stuff like this for my entire life. It’s nothing completely different. It’s extra amplified for positive, however I can get by means of it.”
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