Bronny James has finally begun to prove doubters wrong with his play in the NBA G League. Most NBA fans will know James as the eldest son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James who was drafted in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, making history by sharing the court with his father.
Since his joining the Lakers was likely influenced by his father, many wondered what the younger James’ future in the league could look like. After witnessing his recent play in the G League, Gilbert Arenas discussed James’ rapid growth and the potential explanations for it.
Bronny James Impressing Former NBA Star in NBA G League
After sustaining a cardiac arrest and undergoing surgery while attending USC as a freshman, James did not live up to expectations during his first and only season of college basketball and averaged just around five points per game (4.8). Therefore, many critics believed he was completely undeserving of a spot on an NBA roster.
While James hasn’t yet had any big moments in the NBA, he has continued to work on his game. He has averaged 17.8 points, 4.2 assists, and 4.3 rebounds in 13 games in the G League between the Tip-Off Tournament and regular season.
Arenas has been watching James’ games in the NBA G League and revealed that he had noticed a far greater amount of aggressiveness from the young star. Arenas claimed that James had a “f**k all this” mentality and was not hesitating to throw up 15 to 20 shots a game.
Given that James had only displayed a docile playstyle so far in his career, even dating back to high school when he competed on a stacked Sierra Canyon School basketball team, this change in mentality and approach has drastically improved his numbers in the NBA G League.
Arenas also marveled over the fact that James managed to continue developing despite receiving an extraordinary amount of criticism from the media and fans.
Bronny James is tearing up the G League because he is attacking 😤 #gillion pic.twitter.com/dTDRcDMowg
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) February 26, 2025
Although it is good to see that James is doing much better in the G League, fans still believe that he has a long way to go before he truly earns a spot on an NBA roster. Many fans opined that James rushed the process of joining the NBA and should have spent more time in college.
If he continues to work on his game in the G League and makes it back to the Lakers, the critics will no longer have much reason to criticize James. However, that will always be possible for them given the fact that his father is considered by many to be the greatest player in the history of the NBA.
