George Karl blasts Bronny James after underwhelming G League debut

Bronny James, the son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, made his G League debut with the South Bay Lakers against the Salt Lake City Stars on Saturday. He saw over 30 minutes of playing time, yet he scored just six points while shooting 2-of-10 from the floor and missing every one of his five shot attempts from 3-point range.

The younger James didn’t exactly make up for his inefficient scoring outing by contributing in other ways either. The youngster totaled more turnovers than assists (five compared to four) and pulled down only three rebounds.

After the younger James’ anticlimactic debut in the G League, former NBA head coach George Karl expressed that he wasn’t surprised by the 20-year-old’s subpar performance.

The younger James totaled the fewest points of any starter for South Bay against the Stars, as Jalen Hood-Schifino was the next lowest scorer amongst the starters with eight points on 3-of-7 shooting from the floor.

The 2024 second-round pick played in his first G League game just one day after he saw the floor for a brief period in Los Angeles’ game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He played under two minutes in a game the Lakers won by 10 points to improve their record to 5-4 on the season.

The younger James has appeared in five of the Lakers’ nine games since the start of the 2024-25 regular season, and the 2024 second-round pick is averaging 0.8 points while shooting 16.7 percent from the field along with 0.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He made his NBA debut when the Lakers took on the Minnesota Timberwolves to kick off their campaign back on Oct. 22.

Ostensibly, the former University of Southern California player’s next opportunity to play with South Bay in the G League will come when the team takes on the Santa Cruz Warriors — the Golden State Warriors’ G League affiliate — next week on Nov. 15.

While the younger James seems to have the potential to one day mold into a solid NBA player, his recent G League performance indicates that he’s still a ways away from being a consistent contributor at the highest level.