Bronny James is on the come-up (at least for one game).
The Los Angeles Lakers second-year guard Bronny is getting a notable promotion from the team — he is moving into the starting lineup for Saturday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers announced the news about half an hour before tip off at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisc.
This marks the first start of the season for Bronny, 21, and just the second start of his young NBA career. He drew one start for the Lakers last season, but that was in the final game of the regular season with playoff seeding already locked up and the team resting all of their usual starters.
The Lakers, who are on the second end of a back-to-back, are shorthanded right now. Bronny’s dad LeBron James (sciatica) and Gabe Vincent (ankle) are in the midst of extended absences. Meanwhile, Marcus Smart (illness) and Rui Hachimura (calf) were both ruled out of Saturday’s game as presumably more short-term absentees.
Bronny has gotten a little bit more run for the Lakers so far this season and already made eight appearances off the bench prior to this. In those appearances, Bronny managed to average 2.3 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 1.9 assists over 12.1 minutes per game. He has also shot 29.2 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from three, and 100 percent from the foul line.
During one of Bronny’s more recent game appearances, he ended up getting badly bullied by Victor Wembanyama. Bronny will be hoping for more luck on Saturday against Milwaukee though, especially now that he is moving into the starting lineup.
