LeBron: Lakers’ draft and coaching moves were great, Bronny’s Summer League performance doesn’t matter

On July 7th, the NBA Summer League kicked off in San Francisco, with LeBron James’s eldest son Bronny’s debut attracting considerable attention.

Also on this day, the USA Basketball team completed its first training session in preparation for the Paris Olympics.

James, in anticipation of this summer’s Paris Olympics, had arrived in Las Vegas a day earlier to join the US team for a four-day training camp.

Before the Lakers’ game began, James was spotted in the upper deck of the UNLV Thomas & Mack Center answering questions as both a USA player and a Lakers player.

James expressed his excitement about playing alongside a familiar new teammate. In the upcoming 2024-25 season, he will join forces with his son Bronny at the Lakers, becoming the first father-son duo to play for the same NBA team.

When asked about this opportunity, James said it was a dream come true and seeing it become a reality was unbelievable.

“It’s a dream come true,” James told reporters. “… Our family, even up until now, we still don’t have the words to explain how we felt at that moment.”

The Lakers selected Bronny with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and signed him to a four-year contract on July 3rd. On the same day, they also inked a two-year, $104 million deal with James.

After the interview, as James descended the stairs, his phone displayed a replay of Bronny’s first dunk in the Summer League, watched from a father’s perspective.

“Come on, man, that was tough. He looked so relaxed,” James said with a grin after hitting play. “

On Sunday, James’s thoughts were scattered across multiple locations.

In their first game, the Lakers lost to the Kings 94-108. Bronny played 22 minutes, shooting 2-of-9 for 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal.

James said people shouldn’t read too much into Bronny’s summer performance in terms of his long-term value. He explained that summer basketball is more about acclimatization.

“I just want him to get his feet wet in the NBA—get a feel for the speed of the game, the physicality, the pace,” James said. “Whether he plays well or not in Summer League, it doesn’t matter. The best thing like practicing, watching film, individual workouts, I just want him to continue to grow.”

“It’s hard to get meaningful stats from Summer League, but once the season starts, you take what you learned and apply it. Right now, the most important thing is that he gets better and builds on what he learns each day,” he added.

“Playing in the NBA has always been his dream,” James said. “This kid has put in so much work to get to this point. So many things have happened to him over the last year, especially with the cardiac incident not even a year ago. When they called his name, I was with our friends and family, and it was super surreal.”

Regarding his Summer League debut, Bronny mentioned the biggest surprise: “Maybe the game atmosphere, it exceeded my expectations. I mean, this was an important game for me, but I didn’t know there would be so many people here supporting me. So I was happy to see that.”

Lakers Summer League coach Dion Johnson said the plan is tentatively to have Bronny participate in every game this summer, as the Lakers want to give him as much playing time as possible.

“Bronny has good basketball instincts, and now it’s about finding consistency within those instincts; he’ll build that consistency throughout Summer League and the upcoming season,” Johnson said.

Additionally, James praised the Lakers’ other significant moves this summer, hiring JJ Redick as the new head coach and selecting Dalen Knecht with the 17th pick.

James commented, “Aside from Bronny, Dalen was my favorite college player, and I didn’t expect him to drop to 17th.”

Coach Johnson on Dalen’s performance today: “He’s been outstanding these past few days. Today, he missed a couple of shots, but he works hard and is energetic in practice. He just plays hard, does whatever you ask him to do… He’s been fantastic in camp so far.”

Despite the Lakers’ lack of notable moves this offseason, James didn’t criticize the team’s inactivity.

Dalen, the Lakers’ 17th pick, shot 3-of-12 for 12 points, while Blake Hinson scored 17 points, including 5-of-7 from three-point range.