Bronny James bounced back from a tough night in Philadelphia to score his NBA career-high 5 points, as fans in Washington showered him with MVP chants during the Lakersโ dominant 134-96 win over the Wizards.
The 20-year-old rookie, who went scoreless against the 76ers on Tuesday, played the entire fourth quarter and showed flashes of his potential despite shooting just 1-for-6 from the field.
โHe did a lot of really good things tonight,โ Lakers coach JJ Redick said after the game. โDefensively he was great.โ
The young James made his presence felt beyond the scoring column, grabbing two rebounds and dishing out two assists. In one impressive sequence, he snagged a steal and fired a perfect long pass to Dalton Knecht for a thunderous dunk.
He wasnโt done there. Later in the game, Bronny showed off his playmaking skills by tossing up a sweet alley-oop that Christian Koloko slammed home.
The Washington crowd seemed to embrace LeBronโs son, breaking into โMVP! MVP!โ chants when he stepped to the free-throw line late in the game. He calmly sank both shots.
โHeโs had eyeballs on him his whole life. Heโs used to it,โ Redick explained, relating to the pressure of being a highly-watched rookie. โI remember not playing a lot my rookie year and second year. The Orlando fans would sometimes chant โWe want JJโ in blowouts โ itโs a weird feeling.โ
The coach was particularly impressed with how Bronnyโs handling the spotlight.
โThereโs that audible sort of anticipation every time you shoot the ball. Itโs a lot,โ Redick said. โHe has handled everything with dignity, grace, class, all that stuff. Heโll continue to grow.โ
For the younger James, itโs another small step forward in his NBA journey โ one thatโs being watched by basketball fans everywhere.
