The Los Angeles Lakers got hammered on Thursday night, losing a decisive 118-89 ball game to the Milwaukee Bucks. Was anyone really surprised by the result, considering how many bodies the Lakers were missing for this one?
Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith, Rui Hachimura, and Jarred Vanderbilt were all major rotational pieces who got the night off against the Bucks. The Lakers chose to take the cautious approach with their players amid a stretch of playing their sixth game in eight nights.
With so many key figures missing from the game, an opportunity was created for a handful of players that do not normally see the court as often in Los Angeles. Who took advantage of that opportunity the most? Undoubtedly, that would have been Bronny James.
Bronny delivers the best game of his NBA career
Bronny has been at the center of some interesting talking points recently. The son of LeBron was a big reason as to why the all-time great recently butted heads with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith.
Smith has been highly critical of both the older and younger James this season for Bronny's spot on the Lakers. The well-known basketball figure has tended to leave out a lot of context in his approach to 'analyzing' the performances of the first-year Lakers guard.
Bronny has not been ignorant to all the chatter either. The younger member of the Lakers from the James family said as much in a recent comment made to the media.
“I see everything that people are saying, and people think I'm a f***ing robot, like I don't have any feelings or emotions, but I just take that and use it as fuel," James told Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
In his game against the Bucks, it will be tough to be critical of the individual performance on display by Bronny. James delivered a career-high 17 points, adding five assists, three rebounds, and one block into the mix too. Those 17 were tied for the most scored by any Laker on Thursday night.
For a defensive-oriented guard, a lot of the media coverage has tended to focus on Bronny's offensive abilities. Thursday night displayed the growth that the 20-year-old has seen in that department.
James looked far more comfortable with the ball in his hands. His jumper showed a lot more fluidity too. Bronny even delivered an outlet pass to Markieff Morris that was surely taught to him by his dad, showing shades of a pass that LeBron has thrown a fair amount of times throughout his career.
Bronny nearly FULL COURT TD PASS to Markieff Morris 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/aIFzYaJMx5
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 21, 2025
"[I'm] gaining my confidence and gain my comfortability over reps, and getting out there and taking advantage of my opportunity if it's given. So, just being ready at all times is the biggest thing for me," James told The Associated Press.
No one should be expecting Bronny to get a certified spot in the rotation moving forward in 2024-25, despite the big performance. However, this game offered even more reassurance that James can firmly establish himself as a solid pro in the future.
"It was obvious to me from the moment I started spending time with him on the court this summer, he was certainly going to be an NBA player. And I still believe that. He'll be an NBA player," JJ Redick told AP NBA.