1 week Ago By Jamie Gordon
Bronny James made his first Los Angeles Lakers start in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and didn’t light up the scoreboard.With JJ Redick resting pretty much his entire roster for the 109-81 loss, Bronny was given the chance to impress.GettyBronny slams down a dunk against Portland[/caption]Ahead of the game, the Lakers head coach was asked to grade the rookie and his decision made many wonder if he had confused the second-rounder and his perennial All-Star father LeBron.
“I give him and A-plus. How he has personally handled a lot of attention, good and bad, he doesn’t even break character,” Redick said via the SoCal News Group. “He’s the same guy every day and he doesn’t allow the good attention to get to him.
He doesn’t allow the bad attention to get to him and he just continued to work.“I thought [coach] Zach [Guthrie] and his staff did a phenomenal job with him when he was down with the South Bay Lakers. “He’s improved and we saw this particularly, I went to some early games and seeing his confidence grow from October, November, to really that second part of the G League season, post Showcase, was phenomenal.
“And I think every time he’s been on the court for us in the second half of the season, you can see that level of confidence and level of comfort. “He’s a guy you can tell things to and they don’t let it affect their work or their attitude. I told him, I’m very high on him long term being a part of our rotation.
”Bronny has faced intense scrutiny in his maiden NBA season thanks to his illustrious family name.LeBron confronted outspoken ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith courtside in March after growing frustrated with the narrative.
The younger James has averaged 21.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.
3 assists in the G League regular season after taking some time to find his feet.LeBron dreamed of playing alongside his son in the NBAGettyGettyRedick is delighted with Bronny’s mental strength[/caption]But heading into his first NBA start he had managed just 2.2 points, 0.
6 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game in 26 outings.His stat line against Portland showed that he isn’t quite ready to blaze a trail in The Association just yet and fans shared their thoughts on social media.
“Dude was awful today! You guys will try to do anything to push this Bronny agenda,” wrote one.“This pr is genuinely ruining his whole rep,” added another.Bronny had four points, three rebounds, six assists, and four steals in 38 minutes, shooting just 2-of-10 from the floor.
Redick’s Lakers take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.NBA's GreatestGreatest NBA players in the world right now – from Luka Doncic to Spurs phenom Victor WembanyamaBest players in NBA history to never win a championship – James Harden and Carmelo Anthony to Allen Iverson and Karl Malone10 richest owners in the NBA – family empires, media moguls and investment gurusMichael Jordan’s top 10 scoring games – counting down MJ’s most extraordinary totalsLos Angeles hosts Game 1 on Saturday as LeBron and Luka Doncic take on fellow superstar Anthony Edwards.Guard Austin Reaves thinks the franchise has enough firepower to go all the way.
“As a team, I feel like we can win a championship, to be honest with you,” he said. “And the reason of that is I know that everyone in that locker room believes that and is also bought in to whatever your role is to help us do that. “You can go down the line with everybody in there and ask them what their role is and they’ll tell you exactly what it is.
“We’re not unrealistic with each other, and that’s what you have to be to be a good group. You have to be honest with each other, that’s why I give this coaching staff a lot of credit. “They come in and they implanted their system and they held guys accountable to whatever they ask them to do and everybody bought in to that.
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