Bronny James will get to know the route between El Segundo and Los Angeles really well.
The son of superstar LeBron James was assigned to the Lakers’ NBA G League affiliate and will play his first game for South Bay on Saturday against Salt Lake City, ESPN reported.
It’s part of a planned shuffle between the NBA and G League for the rookie as the Lakers manage his development this season.
The plan is for James to play for the Lakers on Friday night when they face the 76ers at Crypto.com Arena, and then he’ll return to South Bay’s roster.
The Lakers are planning on managing his minutes at both the NBA and G League level and the plan is for James to only play in home games for South Bay, according to ESPN.
“The plan for Bronny to move between the Lakers and South Bay has always been the plan since day one. [General manager] Rob [Pelinka] and I have talked about that. LeBron’s talked about that,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick told reporters back on Oct. 25.
James was selected in June’s draft with the 55th overall pick by Los Angeles, which drew some criticism over the perception that the Lakers made the pick in order to appease LeBron.
After a preseason that left something to be desired, James was on the Lakers’ roster to start the season and has appeared in four of the Los Angeles’ first eight games.
James has played a total of 13 minutes with four points.
“His job is to put the work in and get better and better, just like the rest of us. And we want to hold him accountable, and he’s going to hold us accountable. And if we all do that, we all get better, because we’re all one team. We’re a reflection of South Bay; South Bay is a reflection of us,” LeBron said in September about Bronny.
