The Los Angeles Lakers had a unique Summer League experience this year, with the team attracting an unusual amount of attention due to Bronny James’ place on the roster.
The 19-year-old was often the talk of Summer League due to his family ties, even though he was just a second-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
James had an uneven Summer League stint, struggling at times before having a couple of strong performances to wrap things up. All throughout the journey, he was in the spotlight.
That may have caused some Summer League tension for the Lakers.
“The attention he attracted was ‘very frustrating’ for the players to see, and his alleged star treatment caused friction among the team, which went 0-5 to start the tournament, per a Lakers insider,” wrote Steve Brenner and Damian Burchardt of the US Sun.
“‘That kind of tension didn’t help the group of players to build chemistry,’ said the source, who noted they have ‘nothing against’ Bronny.
“‘And you could feel that there was no unity [between] this group of guys as Bronny was the main guy and the others didn’t feel that it was right, that he deserved that.'”
Overall, the Lakers went 3-5 in Summer League play, finishing 0-3 in the California Classic and 3-2 in Las Vegas.
“Along the way, Bronny’s reps made the guard unavailable for media availability on several occasions, which the source labeled as ‘not nice’ toward his teammates and other franchise members,” wrote Brenner and Burchardt.
“‘This isn’t a good look for us,’ the insider said.
“‘And with dealing with Bronny’s attention and treatment, plenty of the other young guys that are trying to make the roster for next season couldn’t show their best side and show their A game.'”
One anonymous member of L.A.’s Summer League team spoke candidly about the impact of the attention that surrounded James, claiming that it was tough to enjoy playing with “almost everything” centered around James.
He added more.
“I mean, he was treated as someone apart, not like all of us, and that is very annoying as we didn’t feel any chemistry in this group of players,” the player told the US Sun.
The player continued.
“I ended up being very frustrated because I was never put in the best situation, or even put in some plays or game plans because they wanted Bronny to show his skills and shine,” he said.
“If you talk to any other player that was part of the roster of the California Classic and the Summer League, most of them would tell you the same thing.
“The tensions were visible, and pretty much we were all thinking about the end of the Summer League to get out of here and focus on our next step in our careers.”
Across two Summer League appearances in the California Classic, James averaged just 3.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 25.0 percent from the field and failing to make a 3-pointer.
Across four Summer League appearances in Las Vegas, he improved his numbers, averaging 8.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game while shooting 35.0 percent from the field and 15.8 percent from deep.
His final two games in Las Vegas offered some hope, with the youngster dropping 25 combined points over those two appearances.
But the anonymous player in question doesn’t seem to think that James is ready for the NBA.
“The player suggested that the special treatment of Bronny and the ‘tense atmosphere’ it created isn’t necessarily the Lakers rookie’s fault,” wrote Brenner and Burchardt.
“He even felt ‘a bit bad’ for James Jr. — who overcame a cardiac arrest before his freshman year at USC — ‘as he is not ready for all this, and he isn’t ready for the NBA in my opinion,’ the player said.”
The anonymous player summed up his thoughts in a few more words.
“It was pretty much Bronny On Tour,” he said.
James will likely remain a relevant figure in the NBA this coming season even if his playing time is limited. That’s because he and his father LeBron are set to become the first father-son duo to share the floor together in league history.
The elder James, even as he approaches 40 years of age, remains of the best players in the NBA. He just wrapped up a season in which he averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game while shooting 54.0 percent from the field and 41.0 percent from beyond the arc.
The younger James is facing some tough expectations as he enters the NBA due to his family name. Nothing makes that reality more evident than the fact that he has been a popular Rookie of the Year pick, even though he was the 55th player off the board in the draft.
That may be the type of attention that rubs some folks the wrong way, even if it’s out of his control. All he can do is focus on improving and showing that he belongs in the NBA. The University of Southern California product is expected to split time between the NBA and G League this coming season.
