The Los Angeles Lakers and the family of LeBron James got a cool moment in an otherwise difficult loss on Wednesday night when Bronny James scored his first points in the NBA. After what has been a rollercoaster of a year for Bronny, to get his first points as a professional basketball player signals an incredible accomplishment for him and his family.
LeBron has spoken on several occasions about Bronny’s journey over the last year. He suffered a cardiac arrest in the summer of 2023 that required surgery. He then had to work his way back just to be able to play basketball again at all before playing a near-full season at USC and getting taken by the Lakers at No. 55 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft.
All of that led to Wednesday’s first bucket. And LeBron once again spoke about what it meant for him and Bronny and how impressive it is to see his son doing what he’s doing given the circumstances, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“He’s better than I would have been in that situation — 20,000 fans screaming my name to get in the game and wanting me to be in the game, and if the role’s reversed, I don’t know if I would have been able to handle it,” said LeBron, who scored 26 points but had six turnovers as he lost in Cleveland as an opponent for only the third time in 12 games. “To see him get his first NBA basket in this arena where he grew up not too far away from here, it’s an unbelievable moment.
“An unbelievable moment for him, first of all. For our family. It’s just pretty cool to be a part of it.”
The Lakers have made it clear that Bronny is a project that will require some work in the G League before he is truly NBA ready. However, it’s important that they get moments like these out of the way so he can turn his full focus to development instead of milestones.
He has now made his debut, alongside his father, and scored his first NBA points in front of a Cleveland crowd that was rooting him on.
Bronny James discusses special moment
Bronny James grew up in Cleveland until LeBron James signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018. That means that a majority of his biggest moments growing up were around the Cavaliers organization, and it holds a special place in his life. There perhaps couldn’t have been a more meaningful place for him to get his first ever NBA points.
The Lakers rookie spoke about what it meant for him to receive such a warm welcome in Cleveland and getting a chance to play in front of a crowd that was very much home for him.
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